SOIL DISTURBANCE AND GRASS SICKNESS

Wundahorse

Wundahorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 July 2011
Messages
723
Location
Maidstone,Kent
Visit site
i wonder if anyone knows if disturbing soil increases the risk of grass sickness,as our yard owners insist they will be burying the manure in paddocks on a rotation basis.My other concern is the worm burden.We have tried expressing our concerns to the YO's,who are not horsy and basically have no idea (they are in it for the money),but their reaction is to inform us if you don't like it we can move.I did print off some info re grass sickness causal factors to aid their awareness,but to no avail.I also printed some stuff from the environmental health website which states manure must not be buried.
 
Just contact environmental health as soon as they start... They'll soon put a stop to it, especially if near a water course.
Personally I'd not want to stay on a yard where the owners think this is acceptable practice
 
Grass sickness is associated (there isnt a definitive proof of cause) with a combination of the following

certain temp patterns
soil type - acidic and sandy
(the above 2 are common in the NE of Scotland where grass sickness is most common - our neighbour lost a young horse to it :-((
soil disturbance
not removing dung
horses out 24x7 with no alternative forage
younger horses
stressful experiences

So yes there is a definite association. How risky it is will depend on whether the other factors are present and how many, but it would cause an increase in risk from the base background risk that is there all the time.

Maybe you could find an allotment association or someone who would take the muck instead? Or club together and offer to bag up the muck so they can sell it at the gate. Or even club together to pay for it to be periodically taken away.

Failing any of that you might have to move - as it doesnt sound as if they have too much of a clue....
 
This is why I am loathe to turn my field over even though it really needs it but I would never forgive myself if my horses contracted grass sickness - I would always wonder what if I hadn't done that.....
 
There is a published article somewhere that suggests that using mechanical poo suckers increase the risk of grass sickness due to disturbance of the soil.
 
Thank you all for your advice,but i fear the owners will not budge and the bottom line is with them that we can always move,which is not an easy option in my area.Also the yard is basically very nice,fellow liveries are great and the facilities are good.As they were provided with info i hope they allow time to actually read it.We are at the mercy of yard owners who seem to think they can do as they please without considering the health and welfare of the horses.Some of the liveries say we are clients buying a service,which is true,and the YO's should listen to our concerns rather than dismiss them.They also assume we know nothing and try to suggest there will be no contaminants in the soil after 12 months.This i know is a lie.
 
Agree that a combination of soil disurbance plus other factors are linked to grass sickness
I am puzzled as to why they want to 'bury 'manure .
If you can rest fields on a rotational basis them can't the manure be spread on the fields in the spring rather han buried.
We muck spread the field we cut for hay in March and got a lovely crop of hay cut in July .
It gets rid of the entire winter muck heap and does a good job of fertilising the field.
Surely burying it will not only disturb the field but also the substructure causing loss of grass and poor drainage.
 
Totally agree and we have tried to advise YO's on options,but they refuse to listen to logic and reason.They are quite inflexible thinking and cannot think outside of the box.They are not interested in the horses,just making money as far as we all can see.They dug up a small paddock last year to bury the poo,and quite frankly it's a quagmire,full of rocks,stones,glass and debris which is unsafe for grazing,although they expect people to graze horses on it.
 
It is difficult as we have tried to talk to YO's but they refuse to listen and are hell bent on burying the manure,which incidentally is full of ragwort we have all dug up over the last few months,as they stopped burning it,for some inexplicable reason as they burn everything else including rubbish and plastic.The manure is not fit to be put on the land because of this. They do like using the digger and i guess this is an excuse to play with the thing.YO's like their toys.They have said nothing to us since last Saturday so we cannot elicit what their plans may be.The irony is they say they are doing this under BHS and Defera guidelines !!,and tell us the soil will be contamination free after 12 months.They must think we are stupid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top