Sycamore-to move or not?

mega spoilt ponies

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Ok, so i have been at my current yard with three horses for a couple of months now. Today whilst in my horses field i noticed a sycamore helicopter in their likit tub - i removed it. However, when i cast my eyes upwards to find the source, to my horror i noticed an enormous sycamore tree on the fence line and massively overhanging in the field. On closer inspection of the rest of the field i have found two huge sycamore trees.

my question- how worried should i be? They are all over the property so no opportunity to move fields. I am a worrier by nature but i am wondering whether you guys think this is enough reason to consider moving yards (i am otherwise happy)??

thanks
 

debsflo

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im a worrier too but have mine at home with some large sycamores close by. i strip graze and manage to remove the seedlings in spring. I f you can be vigilante you should be fine. mine have been there for 20 years.
 

mega spoilt ponies

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Thanks for the response, i have been out there today and grabbed all the branches i can reached and burnt them! One of my horses is a pig and often does a giraffe at the trees, im worried he may take a mouthful or ill go up one day in autumn and all of the leaves/seeds will have jumped off of the trees overnight into myfield!
 

coffeeandabagel

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I am in a similar situation - been at the new yard for less than a month. Moved there totally ignorant about sycamore. However all ther paddoclks are totally surronded by them with lots of saplings. Yard owner has spoken to her vets who say as long as horses have grass they wont eat the shoots. Since I dont trust my horse to not eat them I am going to do 10 minutes a night weeding duty in her paddock and see if I get helpers to join me.
 

L&M

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If you remove the sycamore, you are also removing valuable shade/shelter.

I would just be vigilant in the spring and autumn, and try and remove the seedpods and seedlings as you see them.

We also own land that has several sycamore - horses have always been grazed on it and 'touch wood' no issues. I am convinced there is more to AM than this tree - otherwise there would be 1000's of horses dropping down dead all over the country.

I hope I don't live to regret these words though, and every sympathy to anyone who has lost their precious horse to AM.
 

Adopter

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If you read some of the research you will see that there are times when it is most risky, things like out 24/7, sparse grazing increase risk. You might want to section off areas under the trees when seeds start to fall until you can clear them up.

My sister kept horses ponies for years on her fields surrounded by sycamore with preservation orders on, but they were stabled at night and given additional feed.
 

mega spoilt ponies

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Mine are out 24/7 and on sparse grazing as one in particular is 7yrs, retired and very fat!

Im not worried about the shelter issue as they have tonnes of shelter areas and other big trees.

I have a feeling if i mention it to YO she wont have a clue what my concern is and will think im just being OCD (not unheard of!)

Thanks for the advice guys
 

PorkChop

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There was a thread on this recently! I have sycamores here, never have given it a moments thought, been here seventeen years. I do think certain conditions, whether that be the weather or local soil do have a bearing.
 

lelly

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I was speaking with my vet about this today when she came to do vaccinations. I have numerous trees in and around my paddock. She said they have lost a few to AM and only saved one caught in the very early stages. Her thoughts were it seems to be more of a problem in wet ground or fields that have rivers through them. It seems to happen after prolonged amounts of heavy rain and especially if the field stands in it for a while. We have to be vigilant and clear up as much as possible and always make sure they have grass or hay to eat.
 

Evie91

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It's actually been good to read this thread, thanks for posting:)
Moved my horse home to retire, before I spent ££££,s fencing etc had soil tested and scoured potential paddock for dangerous plants, shrubs, trees. I have oak and know the risks.
Didn't realise about sycamore until day before the move, before them I'd just considered they would Make lovely shaded spots in the summer,literally my paddocks are surrounded by them, the whole area seems to be. Called the vet to check it out, his advise was not to move near sycamore due to associated risks!

In the end I've had no choice, I've fenced the trees off as best I can. There is plenty of grass, they are out overnight and in during the day with additional feed. Other horsey contacts have stated not to worry - horses been turned out with sycamore for years without a problem - same as oak - they 'should' only sat it, if nothing else - saying that there are always exceptions to every rule!!
 

stencilface

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It's funny isn't it, we had an oak tree overhanging our field for years, the horses never bothered with it, probably a good 20 years. Then 5 or so years ago mine decides acorns are the bees knees, his poos were shiny with acorn casings. We fenced it off, and they kept breaking in! Thankfully the old tree lost half in a storm where all the boughs on our side came down so thankfully we don't have to worry anymore.

Let's hope that ash doesn't start to cause problems, ours love ash!
 

PollyP99

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The main issues seem to be if you are surrounded by trees which include sycamore and have one side boarded by a stream, we had exactly this, lost one which is claimed not to be AM in the autumn then this spring youngster also got hit with it, this time he was lucky vets more savvy and I saw post on here warning of it. Needless to say there are no horses grazed in that paddock now!
 

EstherYoung

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The trees are everywhere round here - and the seeds fly all over the place. It's not like oak where they neatly drop in nice piles and can be fenced off. I've been picking up seeds when we poo pick (which I think must have worked last year as we barely had any seedlings in the spring) and we make sure they've always got hay. What else can we do? Moving isn't an option as its my only bit of land, and besides every livery yard in the area will have the same issue, often compounded with oak.
 

hairycob

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Ok - from bitter experience I can tell you that in some circumstances horses WILL eat sycamore seedlings even if there is grass. In my case it was cobs who would eat literally anything, in a field with masses of seedlings. In my case there was no sycamore directly adjacent to the field but there were a few nearby.
Trouble is they are everywhere & the seeds blow a long way. All you can do is try & avoid the most troublesome areas except in summer. You will have trouble finding a yard without the trees worryingly close. Making sure there is always plenty of grass & feeding hay, if in doubt, will reduce the risk. Also, learn to identify types of seedlings, there are pics if you google. I assumed the seedlings in our field where Ash because there were 2 big ash trees on the boundary. Though at the time I didn't know the seedlings were a problem.
There was a stream on the site but there was a track & a verge between it & my field.
 
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