After reading your articles on your website and in Horse Trader (New Zealand magazine) about Rye Grass, Clover and the effects it has on horses I had to write in and tell you our story.

 

In March of this year I decided to get back into the equestrian scene and leased a six year old Anglo Arab mare. Her paddock mate is a seven year old Clyde x Stationbred mare. My mare had been grazing on a hill with brown top grass, she was quiet and in great condition. I brought her down onto the flats with lovely, lush Rye Grass and Clover!

 

After a period of about two weeks on the Rye Grass my Anglo mare developed rain scald. I got rid of that and then came mud fever followed by behavioural problems. After a period of six weeks she began to sweat profusely, especially around her chest, neck and forequarters. Her coat was tacky from the sweat and it seemed to lather up and not brush out and the only way to groom her was to wash her. At the same time she started pacing the fence line, not for five minutes but for hours at a time and when her paddock mate would go out she would go berserk and stay in that state the whole time she was out, whether it was half an hour or four hours. She would run and run, she would be dripping with not a dry spot on her.

 

This nice, quiet mare had turned into a sweating, fretting crazed animal. She couldn't stand still, she seemed worried all the time, shaking for no apparent reason. When I saddled her up she became really sensitive with the girth trying to nip me, another trait she didn't have when I got her. When riding her out she became jumpy and spooked at anything and everything, the transformation was incredible.

 

Another mistake I made, I started hard feeding her with a coolfeed mixed with Lucerne chaff. She was only having a handful of the coolfeed and two ice cream containers of chaff but unbeknown to me the coolfeed was loaded with molasses. I now realise that this was like putting a kid in a candy store and saying "go for it!".

 

Unfortunately I was ignorant about different pastures and feeds and the effects it had on horses. At the same time my paddock mate's horse the Clyde had been having some quite serious health issues, not to mention behavioural problems to top it off. The Clyde had a weight issue for three years and of late she had gained even more weight, becoming obese. She was insulin deficient and her glands started swelling to the point that the udder was touching the inside of her back legs and she was lethargic.

 

The weight issue was a non stop problem, her owner could see that at anytime she could founder not to mention other problems. With untold visits from the vets, bills mounting and no solution to the weight gain or the swelling glands her owner was coming to her wits end. Nothing she did seemed to make any difference. Until she found your website.

 

When we read your information on Rye Grass, Clover, their effects and the stories about other horses and their ill health, we decided that we would give it a go and take our horses off grass and just feed hay. Luckily we had a paddock that had a mix of grasses. We changed the hard feed to meadow chaff, speedibeet, a blend of top quality, well balanced vitamins and minerals, a toxin-binder that doesn't bind nutrition, highly absorbable organic magnesium with boron plus extra organic calcium with no Rye and loads of (horse safe) hay.

 

It took six weeks for the Anglo to stop with the sweats and pacing. One of the first things we noticed after a couple of weeks was the spookiness was dissipating. It is three months since we changed the type of grass and hard feed and today we have our horses back. The Clyde has lost copious amounts of weight, the swelling has gone down by two thirds, she is no longer lethargic and enjoys getting out and the insulin deficiency has gone away.

 

The Anglo no longer sweats, frets or spooks, she stands still and doesn't shake and worry all the time. She is a pleasure to ride and handle, having a horse has gone back to being fun. Before it seemed an uphill battle and all because of the grass. Unbelievable really that something so simple can cause so much negative effect on your horse.

 

My paddock mate and I would like to thank you very, very much for your website. Without your information we think the Clyde would have ended up being put down. So with all our heart a big 'Thank You' for helping us save our horses!

 

Cathryn Colin - New Zealand.