Tumors/spinal paralysis and toxins.

[EmmasMummy]

In 2012 my horse was PTS as he lost motor function, due to a tumour or lesion on his spinal chord. Just over a week ago my dads neighbours horse died of the same thing.
About 4 years ago their other horse died suddenly, in my dads field.

It has got me thinking. What if something is poisoning them? The first one that died, they hadn't had it long, 6 months or so. No autopsy was done. My horse had been kept at home in that field on and off for 8 years, never for longer than 9 months though.

The field is surrounded by arable farmland and the crop alternates. There are trees that are just over the fence in the garden - beech, rowan I think. And a beech hedge bit in the field. Field has thistles down the bottom that pop up and are removed, and clover, and daisy and buttercups. It was originally seeded with a meadow seed mix - the farmer the house and field were bought from did it with a type good for horses - albeit this was in 1994!

Is there maybe something shockingly obvious I am missing? I am just a bit worried as will be taking my daughters pony back at some point and he will likely go there, but not if its something poisonous damaging the horses.

 

[STRIKER]

Could be lead in the soil anything, get a soil sample test done, check water drainage, soak off from other fields, muck heap being a farm, recheck plants,

 

[Evie91]

I'd second a soil analysis - got mine done, really simple to do and quiet cheap.

 

[Evie91]

Pretty sure Rowan is poisionous to horses

 

[Mike007]

No I cannot see anything that sets my alarm bells ringing (and I do pride myself in having a bloody good instinct for these things)Remember that to a horse ,one year is the equivalent of three to us. This makes the incidence of a mortality distorted to our minds . It always pays to be open minded but sometimes if you try to consider too many ifs and buts ,you just get bogged down in confusion. Horses are like sheep, they look for expensive ways to get ill . I have therefore explained clearly to my own dear Bob the nota cob that he has no veterinary insurance and had better not push his luck.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Pretty sure Rowan is poisionous to horses

No, it isn't.

 

[Evie91]

My mistake - have chopped any over hanging my paddock as I'm sure I read it was, never mind!

 

[EmmasMummy]

Could be lead in the soil anything, get a soil sample test done, check water drainage, soak off from other fields, muck heap being a farm, recheck plants,

I think I will look into it. Field is on a hill side/top and so drains into the other field. The only thing I could think of as a bio hazard is that in that field is an now filled in Sheep dip trough,m but that was last used about a year before the house was bought and it was filled in.

It could be nothing, but just seemed so strange for 2 horses that lived in the same place to die from the same thing.

 

[fatpiggy]

I think I will look into it. Field is on a hill side/top and so drains into the other field. The only thing I could think of as a bio hazard is that in that field is an now filled in Sheep dip trough,m but that was last used about a year before the house was bought and it was filled in.

It could be nothing, but just seemed so strange for 2 horses that lived in the same place to die from the same thing.

Hmm, you may be onto something with the sheep dip. My mare had epilepsy and it took me 4 years to realise that her seizures (every 10 days) were tied to her seasons. One vet advised me to give her only organic apples and carrots as "if you knew what was sprayed on them, you'd never touch one again". I changed straight onto organic carrots and she had no seizures at all for 6 months. Working at a university with a med school I asked a colleague who researches organophosphates and he confirmed that they are oestrogenic. A couple of pounds of carrots a week, that's all it took to aggravate her sensitivity.

Abolutely get soil samples taken, ideally at different times of the year. Another colleague of mine researches selenium and told me that he visited an area in Ireland to take samples and there was one field that the cows flat refused to graze on. Guess which field had the highest levels of selenium in the area!

 

[STRIKER]

Yes its amazing how horses can start acting very weird due to lack of or too many vits and mins

 

[EmmasMummy]

Hmm, you may be onto something with the sheep dip. My mare had epilepsy and it took me 4 years to realise that her seizures (every 10 days) were tied to her seasons. One vet advised me to give her only organic apples and carrots as "if you knew what was sprayed on them, you'd never touch one again". I changed straight onto organic carrots and she had no seizures at all for 6 months. Working at a university with a med school I asked a colleague who researches organophosphates and he confirmed that they are oestrogenic. A couple of pounds of carrots a week, that's all it took to aggravate her sensitivity.

Abolutely get soil samples taken, ideally at different times of the year. Another colleague of mine researches selenium and told me that he visited an area in Ireland to take samples and there was one field that the cows flat refused to graze on. Guess which field had the highest levels of selenium in the area!

Selenium is one thing the soil up here lacks! We have a local supplement firm that makes special supplements based on the NE soil.
I think I will look into the soil samples.