Healthy Pastures, Healthy Horses

02/12/2025

~ It's Toxo Tuesday! ~

Stewards often ask if there are tips, tricks, or foolproof ways to identify toxic w**ds and plants. Our database has well over 400 plants toxic to equines and livestock. Even with a botany background it's a huge challenge to identify all of them.

It would be outstanding if all toxic plants looked like Audrey II but it's simply not the case, unfortunately. Nasty-looking appearance has little to do with toxicity, though any plants with awns, spines, stickers, thorns or sharp blades aren't something we want in our horse pastures. Even if they don't contain chemical toxins, those structures can still cause lacerations and lesions, lodge in eyes/nose/mouth, and possibly precipitate impaction or colic.

There are some general 'group' characteristics to watch for, though.

** We should always be cautious about downed limbs and wilted tree leaves in pastures. Many trees aren't toxic, but the wilted foliage of Prunus species (chokecherry, serviceberry, plum) and Acer species (maple, boxelder) is. Shavings of black walnut (Juglans spp.) cause laminitis when used for bedding, but there is also a possibility that fallen material from trees may precipitate laminitic events.

** A tell-tale sign of toxins causing photosensitization or dermatitis is the oozing of latex when foliage of plants is crushed. Not all plants that have milky sap are toxic, but enough are that it's well worth it to remove the plants containing it from pastures. Some toxic ones include Euphorbia spp. (spurge), Asclepias spp. (milkw**d) and Apocynum spp. (dogbane). One exception containing milky sap that is not toxic to equines under most conditions is the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), for which we are grateful!

** There is one characteristic of plants and w**ds that it's good to be on the alert for. This is the presence of allelopathy, which is the release of toxins that prevent other plants from growing nearby. While not all of these allelochemicals are toxic to equines a good number are, including some alkaloids and glycosides. Unless we're able to identify allelopathic w**ds and plants as being no danger to equines, they should be controlled. At the very least, their presence is inhibiting or preventing the growth of good forage grasses, and any aggressive w**ds have no place in pastures.

As we've mentioned before, protecting equines from plant toxicity is not about identifying every single toxic plant in the pasture. Rather, it's about awareness of the plants that are in our pastures and the promotion of plentiful healthy, nutritious forage through good pasture management.

A hungry horse is always a horse at risk.

02/12/2025

A note to our subscribers: there won't be an issue of the newsletter published for this past week. We just don't have the tech oomph here at the moment. We'll be back in the office later this week and will publish and email this coming week's issue at its regular time.

All subscriptions will be extended a week, as always. Thanks for your understanding and patience. 🤗

01/12/2025

Some thoughts on mud management for a rainy (here) Monday afternoon.

Here in the PNW (and many other areas) we're in mud season, which for some lasts for months. There are considerable challenges in having equines when it's muddy, especially if the mud is here for a long duration.

Other than the obvious pains (and costs!), there are other considerations with mud when it comes to equines.

• The first is safety, of course, both theirs and ours. Even the best boots still slide sometimes, and even the most agile equines can slip and get an injury.

• Another is that mud harbors parasites, and even if we have regular f***l tests done (without which wormer shouldn't be administered), it's possible for an animal to become reinfected within 48-72 hours after deworming. That's frustrating to think about, but managing mud can help prevent it.

• Diseases and disorders of the hooves are prevalent in muddy conditions. Some include thrush, hoof rot, and abscesses, and the prevention of healing of any of those. Another hoof issue is softness of hooves which permits damage to occur much more easily. Some equines develop respiratory issues from standing in wet or muddy conditions for prolonged periods. Rainscald or rainrot is another thing most of us have seen and would rather not deal with again.

• Muddy conditions are a ripe breeding ground for flies. They're not much of an issue yet this time of year but certainly can be in the spring and summer.

• Muddy, churned-up paddocks and alleys can prevent proper runoff, and manure isn't easily picked so it gets ground in, causing the issue to snowball.

A good mud management plan includes gutters and downspouts on all buildings, drainage systems in communal and low-lying areas, regular removal of manure, a covered manure compost system, a sacrifice area with appropriate footing, dry feeding areas with good footing, and rotation and maintenance of heavy use areas in the rainy season.

This can be done regardless of the size of operation or property. The processes are the same but simply on larger or smaller scales.

Our local soil and water conservation district or extension office has the personnel with good advice and ideas. They have loads of knowledge and materials to assist in creating a plan, and very often offer cost-share or grant programs that will help foot the costs of footing, eaves/gutters, and sacrifice areas.

Having our equines' heavily used areas be well-drained and safe means less discomfort for them and fewer headaches and vet bills for us. Looking into mud management may be the best gift we can give them and ourselves!

30/11/2025

29/11/2025

Still in the technology desert for a few days so here are a few bits of information on w**ds from past posts for the files.

Hope y'all have a safe and fun weekend with the fuzzbuckets!

28/11/2025

No FrIDay toxic plant & w**d ID quiz today. We're still literally in the w**ds and don't have the connection to check comments.

Here's a repost on a potentially damaging plant that a steward recently found in her hay and requested an ID on: cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum).

Even though cheatgrass can be grazed in early spring before seed heads arrive, it is an aggressive invader that degrades pastures, reduces forage quality, outcompeted desired grasses, and is a true fire hazard. We call it toxic because it has the ability to injure animals; in this case, physically.

Here's what we wrote about in in this booklet for the WA State Noxious W**d Board: (https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/pdfs/Final-WSNWCB-toxic-booklet_low_res.pdf)

Toxic to: Equines, Cattle. (Others may not normally graze it but seeds can lodge in eye/face/nostril.)
Plant part toxic or injurious: Seed heads/awns.
Toxin: Physically injurious to mouth and digestive tract.
Most toxic when: From early summer on; whenever seed heads are present.
Toxic in hay? Yes. Dried seed heads are the most likely to cause problems.

Clinical signs: Salivation, coughing, blood-streaked sputum;
esophageal infection; inability or reluctance to chew food; weight loss; oral ulcers; may lodge in eyes/eyelids/nostrils; may cause abscesses (lumpy jaw) colic in equines is possible but uncommon.

Action to take if signs are seen: Call the vet and remove animals from pasture or stop feeding suspected hay. Examine hay/pasture closely for cheatgrass presence. The vet will advise on the course of treatment based on signs and severity.

For control measures see the booklet, pp. 37-38.

Once established it's very difficult to control, so our best approach is to be proactive and practice good pasture management (and diligence in making our weekly pasture walks).

Like foxtails (Setaria and Hordeum spp.) and squirreltail (Elymus Elymoides), cheatgrass can cause tremendous pain and misery for our animals.

You don't soon forget if you've seen the damage these species can do to gums, mouths, and even eyes.

27/11/2025

Hoping your holiday is filled with all good things. Happy Thanksgiving from E2E!

26/11/2025

~ It's W**dsDay ~

Revisiting bull thistle

While bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) is not the most toxic plant we find in pastures, it is one of the more frustrating. It is large, grows quickly, spreads rapidly, and is a real pain to remove. Another challenge is that some equines find it palatable.

We were consulted on a case where a draft-cross horse experienced bouts of diarrhea, and a cause couldn't be found. A pasture inspection showed a large presence of bull thistle. The plants were mature with little herbivory of the leaves but had no blossoms. The client realized that she had seen the gelding biting them off but didn't think much of it. Puzzle solved: his episodes of diarrhea fit his pattern of gorging on the flowers. Then it would take the plants days to set more blossoms, so no diarrhea. When the flowers reappeared, he feasted, and suffered.

While this issue was easily fixed through removing the bull thistles and preventing new ones, toxicity can have more serious effects. Clinical signs may include diarrhea, colic, weakness, seizures, blue/brown gums and mucous membranes, unsteadiness, tremors, increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, and death. Toxic events aren't widespread but do happen.

The toxic principle in this plant is nitrate toxicity, which is much less of an issue for equines than for other grazing animals. However, that's not to say that it can't occur. It can be an issue, particularly in depleted pastures.

There are many thistle species, and identification can be confusing at times. However, this is one species that stands out visually for its size and leaf type. The link shows bull thistle at different growth stages; note the differences in young rosette leaves and more mature ones.

Again, this isn't the biggest threat to equine health in pastures, but it is one of the most common and persistent ones. It also displaces good forage and outcompetes native species in the landscape, so it's not one we want to allow to grow uncontrolled.

26/11/2025

We're on the road this week and part of next, and the cell service would be shamed by dial-up. 🤪 Not sure how much we'll be able to post or respond to comments and messages but we'll sure try.

If you have a toxic plant emergency try emailing us at [email protected] if we don't answer a message.

25/11/2025

~ It's Toxo Tuesday! ~

Let's look at last FrIDay's toxic ID quiz for today's toxic plant. It's horsenettle (Solanum carolinense). It is not a true nettle but a member of the nightshade family.

The toxins are glycoalkaloids, one of which is solanine, a common toxin in the Solanum species (potato and tomato family). Fruits are even higher in toxins than foliage, and unripe fruits are more toxic than ripe ones.

The severity of toxicity depends on the amount ingested. Clinical signs are generally centered around the digestive and nervous systems. They include dilation of pupils, diarrhea or constipation, lack of appetite, incoordination, depression, trembling, weakness, drowsiness, convulsions, colic, paralysis, hypersalivation, and more rarely respiratory difficulty.

Signs of toxicity should appear from 30 minutes to 12 hours after ingestion. It's essential to keep animals hydrated and eating, if possible, while waiting for the vet. All excessive activity should be avoided.

Horsenettle is not very palatable, but it may be eaten in the spring when forage is scarce and plants are young and tender. It is also toxic when dried and in hay, where it's more difficult to pick through and discard. If we identify its presence in hay, we need to be sure to notify our hay supplier so they can take the appropriate steps to alert other purchasers.

It is regarded as one of the more difficult plants to eradicate, due to its deep taproots and reproduction both by seeds and rhizomes. Because of the seedbank, tilling can actually increase its numbers. It can take several years of treatments or mechanical methods for control to be effective.

A couple of identification hints: there are conspicuous spines on the stems and midrib and petiole of leaves. This is a unique characteristic among nightshades, many of which appear similar. While horse nettle toxicity is of significant concern, no nightshade species are desired in grazing areas. Its berries are also yellow, while most ripe nightshade fruits are black(ish).

It's absolutely not a plant we want in or near pastures.

24/11/2025

Welcome to a new week!

We had good interest in our manure composting post last week so let's continue with more information.

A few thoughts on composting manure.

With climate change and the burden on the planet's resources as well as dwindling space for landfills, each of us is going to have to become aware of our impacts on our environment.

As equine stewards, we're not exempt from that responsibility. Our animals put out tremendous amounts of manure - about 5% of their body weight per day - and simply hauling it to landfills is not a viable option. Together with minimal bedding, that's about 3 cubic feet per day. If we have just two 1000 lb horses, they gift us with 2200 cubic feet a year. That's a 13x13x13' cube...not exactly a small impact in a landfill.

Hauling manure off-site can be expensive. It either requires a trailer or dump truck or a manure handling service, all of which have a significant price tag. Possibly more importantly, it's also an absolute waste of a tremendous free resource that we can use to boost soil nutrition, grow microbiota and wee wildlife, greatly increase forage production, and help to ensure the health and well-being of our equines.

Composting also destroys toxic plant and invasive w**d seeds, results in a decrease in fly and parasite numbers, and greatly reduces manure odors. The composting process results in a volume that's less than half of fresh manure. Our 13x13x13' pile above will be about 1/4" in depth if evenly spread over an acre. That's nowhere near an excessive amount...in fact, it's close to optimal.

Compost bins can be simple and cheap, or they may be more elaborate. Many people use pallets, which make sturdy sides and allow for air movement. It's best if they're on concrete, but if the ground is firm year-round, a concrete pad isn't an absolute must. Two more fairly inexpensive options are concrete blocks and railroad ties. If a tractor is used to turn and empty bins, each one must be wider than the bucket. Generally, a three bin system works well, but if space is limited, two may be sufficient. Otherwise, they can be as small or as large as an operation needs.

In the US, conservation districts (SWCDs) have knowledgeable staff who will help plan a well-functioning compost system. In addition, they often offer cost-share funding and sometimes even full grants. In some areas, extension offices offer like services. Other countries' ag departments may have similar programs.

The point is that as land stewards who choose to raise horses, we have as much of an obligation as farmers do to utilize our animals' manure in beneficial ways and not simply allow it to become yet another drain on the planet's resources.

Yes, it's a bit of effort, but that's one of the tradeoffs of being equine stewards. Given everything they bring us, it's kind of a small thing.

Our thanks to Leisha Gibson for the pics of her lovely setup!