The bright yellow ragwort flowering in July and August is highly poisonous to horses. Particularly fatal: All parts of the plant contain the toxins that remain in the hay even when dried.
Why is ragwort dangerous for horses?
Scarfwort is highly toxic to horses, especially when dried. Symptoms of poisoning can include loss of condition, personality changes, colic and blindness. Horse owners should remove ragwort from pastures and only feed ragwort-free hay.
So poisonous is ragwort
Mammals react differently to the toxins they contain. Horses are particularly at risk, as just forty to eighty grams of ragwort can cause death. A single stem of the flowering plant weighs about seventy grams and therefore contains a lethal dose of toxins.
Symptoms of poisoning
The signs of seneciosis (Schweinsberger's disease) may only appear in rudiments or individually, so that the horse owner does not immediately associate them with ragwort. Poisoning is characterized by:
- A decline in fitness
- Apathy
- Changes in nature
- In the final stage, tantrums
- Colic, constipation or diarrhea
- weight loss
- Frequent yawning
- Swelling and redness in the face and ankles
- Photosensitivity
- Walking Desease
- . Uncoordinated movements
- Yellowing of the eyes
- Blindness
- Hepatitic coma
The poisoning cannot be treated and inevitably leads to the death of the animal.
Removing ragwort populations from pastures
To protect animals, ragwort should be combated consistently:
- Dig up rosettes as early as possible. Consistently remove all root parts so that the ragwort does not sprout.
- Avoid stepping injuries.
- Reseed open areas in the turf consistently.
Destroy the plant parts by disposing of them in household waste. Alternatively, the plant can be composted in composting facilities or burned.
Tip
Horse owners should not be reassured by the sentence: “Horses are not stupid and they certainly won’t eat that!” Young animals in particular tend to eat ragwort in the pasture. The toxins are also retained in the hay. Therefore, only feed hay that has been declared free of ragwort.
