May and June are the commonest months for Grass Sickness to occur in this part of the country. This disease causes a paralysis of the digestive system of horses and ponies, and is usually fatal. Only a few mild cases can survive. Recent cool conditions may make cases more likely.
Unfortunately it has yet to be proven what causes this disease, but research is ongoing, and it is suspected to be a Clostridium Botulinum toxin that is responsible. It is present in most places and kept in check by horses’ immune systems. Particular factors may increase the risk of a horse getting Grass
Sickness. Some of these factors can be reduced or avoided.
Research has shown that cases are more likely to occur in young horses aged 2-7, in good to fat condition, recently moved or mixed with new horses, recently stressed or wormed, and grazing 24 hours a day. Certain premises and certain fields are more prone to have cases, disturbing the soil can make cases more likely, and over long grass or muddy conditions. However, cases can occur in any age or breed of horse, all year round, even if everything has been done to reduce the risk.
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Minimise exposure to pastures where previous cases have occurred
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Minimise any pasture/soil disturbance (e.g. harrowing or mechanical removal of droppings, pipelaying, construction work etc.)
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Minimise soil exposure (e.g. close grazing, poaching of fields, domestic birds/poultry)
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Avoid any sudden changes in diet (quantity and/or type of feed)
 Avoid the “over-use” of wormers (e.g. use a program with regular worm egg counts and strategic worming when required)
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Avoid changing field, mixing strange horses or stressful events where possible.
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Particular care with higher risk animals or situations – e.g. young, good to fat condition, recently moved, unavoidable stress, cases on premises before – take inside, or off the grass for some of each day.
The following have been shown significant in reducing likelihood of Grass Sickness cases occurring:
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Co-grazing with ruminants like cattle or sheep
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Regular grass cutting on pastures
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Hand removal of droppings
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Supplementary forage feeding (hay/haylage)
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It is possible that selenium supplementation increases protective antioxidants
The sudden flush of new grass in spring causes stress to horses and ponies digestive systems and overload of carbohydrate. This can trigger inflammation of the sensitive laminae in their hooves and a painful crippling disease called laminitis. Take care to ensure that horses and ponies, especially native

breeds, are having their grazing controlled to stop this from happening. Avoid lush pastures, rougher ground is better, if necessary keep them inside part of the time or use a muzzle to restrict intake.
If you notice slight stiffness in walking, or ponies lying down more than usual, and suspect mild signs of laminitis, don’t delay! A case caught and treated early and removed completely from grass and fed on hay etc will recover much more quickly and uneventfully than if left even for a few more hours on the rich grass.
Just a reminder that we recommend all horse and ponies are regularly checked for red worms and roundworms, and wormed when required. We can do faecal worm egg counts at the surgery for quick results.
These types of worms can cause severe or even fatal illness if not controlled, but resistant worms are becoming more common. We therefore recommend an annual worming with Equest which contains
Moxidectin and will deal with inhibited redworm larvae. This is best given in late autumn or early winter after conditions become colder and infective larvae are reduced on the pastures.
Once conditions warm up again in spring we recommend regular worm egg counts from faecal samples be done every 1-2 months, and worming then given when needed.
Premises with larger numbers of horses will need to be checked more frequently, and those with few animals less often, especially if poo-picking is done to keep pastures clean. New animals coming to a place should be wormed and isolated for a few days on arrival.
We recommend that a tape-worming dose should be given spring and autumn to all horses as we have been seeing many more cases of this in recent years. Tapeworms can cause obstructive colic as well as poor condition so should be controlled.
Older horses and ponies are sometimes diagnosed with “Cushing’s Disease”, an abnormality of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, leading to high steroids in the blood.
Symptoms can include long hair coat, drinking more, sweating, weight loss, and laminitis.
A more economical treatment is now licensed for horses. The company who make Prascend tablets,
Boehringer, have been offering vouchers towards ACTH tests for Cushing ’s disease, and several horses have been diagnosed by us after taking up the offer.
The offer ends at the end of June. If you think your horse may be affected please contact us.
More information is available online at www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk