Sycamore issues

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Have just been reading Facebook and other forums............

Just wanting to extend sympathies to all those affected by the awfulness of this.

Why is it such an issue this year in particular though??? After all, its nothing new to have sycamore trees around where horses graze; but maybe its got something to do with the last winter we had? i.e. extraordinarily wet???

So awful, poor poor horses; poor distressed owners, horrid, just horrid for everyone involved.

Just expressing sympathy & hugs basically. One feels so helpless in this sort of situation.

We don't have sycamore trees here, or in the immediate area, to my knowledge (am keeping a sharp lookout). But just feel for anyone with the dilemma of having sycamore trees where there horses graze; and no-where else to put them.

 

[mil1212]

I am surrounded by sycamores and have up till now considered that my horses have been safe in the same fields for 30 years, but now there are so many cases, I feel I must keep them in for the time being. Our vets have issued several statements about it and it does seem to have become very widespread. So sad for the many horses I have read about the last few days

 

[Pinkvboots]

The seeds are everywhere here never seen them so bad in the previous two winters I have only seen the odd few, my drive is covered in them everyday and they are in my fields, all the sycamore trees near me seem to have some sort of black spot all over the leaves and some look like they are dying, I really hope some do die off as we have so many opposite my fields and house.

Its weird as have not seen any acorns this year yet last year there were hundreds of them, my apple trees are bare this year compared to last year maybe it was the wet weather we had that has caused it.

It is an awful condition I also feel for anyone that has experienced it and it seems to be getting more and more common

 

[hairycob]

I think 2 things are going on
1) more awareness
2) weather, more seeds, better germination so more seedlings.
I know my vets share that view. It's always been around, just not diagnosed. Horse found dead/dying in a field usually diagnosed as colic/heart attack/?, if not insured no vet at all. I've seen several posts were people have said that their horse died in a similar way a few years ago at this time of year & didn't know why, now they wonder if it was AM Vet at a talk last week said with hindsight he is sure he has seen & not diagnosed several cases in the past.
There had been horses at my old yard for decades with no apparent problems, maybe the wind blew the seeds further or in a different direction. Last year was also a high seed year. Also the toxicity varies from year to year & also even between seeds on the same tree which makes it impossible to assess the risk. You could be lucky & have low toxicity seeds or the prevailing wind blows them away from the field & then one year have high toxicity seeds or a storm comes from a different direction & the whole risk picture changes completely. All owners can do is be aware & act fast if a horse is showing potential symptoms. It might be an idea to buddy up with someone who goes to the yard at a different time so the horses are being checked more frequently in high risk periods.