Sycamore debate

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Emma Liddiard

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Hi All. I wonder if I can ask advice on the ongoing sycamore poisoning stories. I have limited grazing, over half of which is affected by sycamore trees. I have no option to use other grazing and was using both fields quite happily without incident for 7 years until I read about the sycamore issue. I tried to weed by hand (too many)(weeds not hands) spray them individually (didnt work) and seemed to hit on a solution to borrow sheep who seemed to eat them down in the spring, but not this year.
I have also read that there are two strains of the tree, one which isn't poisonous. I understand now that the autumn drop is more dangerous and the horses have been in the field every autumn as I had thought it was the spring growth which was the problem. So my question is how to do others manage? Any miracle solutions? Any corrections to what I have already tried?
Thank you
 
Sorry, there are no miracle solution but the RVC do offer testing now. Re the strains you may be thinking about Field Maple which is now believed to be safe(ditto Norway Maple).
It's now also believed that the seedlings have a higher concentration of toxins but usually the greater availability of grass mitigates against that. Not always,though - mine 2 got it in April in a year with an early spring and masses of grass.
 
I can't really answer all your questions as I'm not sure anyone knows the reasons why sycamores affect some horses and not others. The farmer at our yard has just cut down all the sycamore trees as we had a pony go down with the poisoning just before Christmas. Horses have been grazing in those fields for years and the pony in question was a 5 year old healthy (a bit over weight) mini cob, who had to spend 5 nights at the vets but happily survived. The pony had been stabled at nights, the grazing wasn't bare plus he'd been given hay in the field and he still got it.
 
I remember all through pony club that poisonous plants and trees were talked about - sycamore was never on the list.

From what i can establish its not the tree / seeds itself but something to do with the spores / bacteria they generate in the soil ... wonder if it has anything to do with milder autumns?
 
My mare died from eating the seedlings in April 2015, none of the other horses in her field were affected and there have been no cases of it on the yard since. The trees are still there, no one is grazing on the field she was in but there are horses next door.

After a scare in the autumn I was so focussed on the danger of the seeds that I under estimated the danger posed by the seedlings, with very heavy consequences.
 
The poison is called Hypoglycin A and is present in the seeds and seedlings..not sure about the leaves.
The amount of Hypoglycin A present seems to vary from tree to tree and year to year. I'd be very surprised if any sycamore could be guaranteed to be safe...even field maple has been under suspicion. There is a theory that more Hypoglycin A is produced when the tree is under stress.
Having said that, I have grazed horses in fields surrounded by sycamore for many years before the problem was known about without issue. Now that we know we are systematically removing all sycamores from our land...but some are not on our property so I guess we'll have to continue mowing off the seedlings in spring and shutting off parts of the fields in winter.
 
My mare was on our paddocks which were surrounded by Field Maple - she was on them for 20 years and came to no harm. Her son was also on for around 4 years. It's quite bizarre how these trees have "suddenly" become a problem. As someone said, maybe it could be something to do with the milder winters?
 
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