The onset of Autumn; warm sunny days, cooler night time temperatures accompanied by rainfall brings about a change in the nutrient profile of the grass. Having an understanding of how the grass can cause various health and behavioural issues can save you a lot of time and money potentially spent ‘barking up the wrong tree’!
The best tool to ascertain whether issues are grass related is to check the Horse Symptom Checklist.
Here are some of the classic issues we see in Autumn:
Edema’s: Swellings on various, sometimes odd, parts of the body such as the cheeks, shoulders, lower legs or lower abdomen. These are manifestations of disturbances to fluid volumes caused by diet related electrolyte imbalances and are relatively simply rectified.
‘Gaseous’ colics: The effects of consuming Autumn growth can be the rapid production of a lot of gas in the intestinal tract. This causes bloating, discomfort and colic symptoms often characterised by louder than normal gut sounds (gurglings and tinklings).
Recumbency or ‘inability to stand’: Unlike ‘colic’ there is no obvious abdominal pain, instead the horse just ‘flops’ down and lays flat. Can happen at any time. It is caused by a disturbance to calcium metabolism. Dissolve 50gms XtraCal in water and syringe over the tongue.
Staggers: Mild loss of coordination such as ‘stumbling over nothing’, knuckling over, difficulty going backwards or down-hill or full-blown ‘staggers’ where the horse can ‘give out in the hind-quarters’, appear ‘drunk’ and even fall over. Target mycotoxins with ToxDefy in conjunction with Alleviate Gold for mineral imbalances.
Dew Poisoning: Also known as ‘mud fever’ or ‘greasy heel’ it is a mixed bacterial, often fungal, and sometimes parasitic skin condition which crops up in Autumn with the moist conditions. Colloidal Silver gel applied daily can help ease this condition.
Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance: The crest hardens, puffiness develops around the eyes and sheaths of geldings, lumpy fat deposits above the tail-head, and behind the shoulders become more obvious and you will observe pinking of the laminae and tender feet. These are the warning signs that your horse already has sub-clinical laminitis and you need to take urgent action.
Laminitis/Founder: the former is where tenderness has progressed to severe inflammation with excruciating pain. At this stage it is still a ‘chemistry’ problem which can be reversed relatively quickly with diet and lifestyle changes.
What you need to avoid at all costs is for the laminae to ‘let go’ allowing the coffin bone to rotate or ‘sink’ (hence the term: founder). The problem is now a ‘mechanical’ one which entails up to a year of intensive care to keep the horse comfortable until a whole new hoof capsule grows down with brand new connection. Click here for more information on Laminitis.
Head-shaking/flicking, skin twitching, wanting to rub their nose on their leg: These are more manifestations of vital electrolyte imbalances commonly triggered by Autumn grass growth and clover in the pasture. Head-shaking is not the ‘incurable condition’ it once was considered.
Musculo-skeletal issues, ‘sacro-iliac’ or movement problems (inability to canter properly), tight muscles. At first glance these appear to be ‘physical’ issues when in actual fact a very high proportion turn out to be due to a disturbance to nerve impulse transmission and muscle function caused by the same changes in the grass, often first showing up in the hind-quarters due to the large muscle masses there.
Severe Itching: Another very distressing condition especially when horses rub themselves raw. Whilst there are various causes a disturbance to bio-chemistry of blood and body fluids is one of them. Click here for more information.
Addressing mineral imbalances in conjunction with topical treatments can mean you can avoid the use of steroids.
Please contact us for further details on how to help your horse – Ask our naturopath.
Feeding Grass Affected horses – Click here for details.
