Ragwort is about the worst, like a tall yellow dandelion with taller stem, and it branches out, flowers really bright yellow daisy shaped. There has been a great deal of it around this year for some reason, highly toxic to the equine species - presumably donkeys, zebras etc too?
I went and looked at my meadowsweet today and all parts look exactly like the photo. If this isn't poisonous I wonder if there was something else growing there as well which the pony ate at the same time
The nasty thing about ragwort is that it is more poisonous dead than living, so if it gets in hay it has very bad effects. It should be pulled out of pastures and hay meadows methodically every spring as soon as it appears, taken away and burned.
Meadowsweet can be beneficial for ruminants - I used to give it to my goats when their hooves swelled prior to kidding, as it eased the inflammation and kept them on their feet.
That being said, it's quite a tough and stringy plant at this time of year, I can imagine that it it could cause colic which as you probably know can be very serious for horses and ponies
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Ragwort is about the worst, like a tall yellow dandelion with taller stem, and it branches out, flowers really bright yellow daisy shaped. There has been a great deal of it around this year for some reason, highly toxic to the equine species - presumably donkeys, zebras etc too?
I went and looked at my meadowsweet today and all parts look exactly like the photo. If this isn't poisonous I wonder if there was something else growing there as well which the pony ate at the same time
In the sticks near Peterborough
The nasty thing about ragwort is that it is more poisonous dead than living, so if it gets in hay it has very bad effects. It should be pulled out of pastures and hay meadows methodically every spring as soon as it appears, taken away and burned.
Meadowsweet can be beneficial for ruminants - I used to give it to my goats when their hooves swelled prior to kidding, as it eased the inflammation and kept them on their feet.
That being said, it's quite a tough and stringy plant at this time of year, I can imagine that it it could cause colic which as you probably know can be very serious for horses and ponies
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.