When the Clover Took Over…

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Erin lives on a big farm. They had resown her horses’ field in a ‘pasture mix’ last year, but with the high rainfall this year, the clover went crazy.

The result after resowing in a 'pasture mix'.

Not surprisingly, horses LOOK like they are extremely WELL on this sort of tucker ( this also happens on dairy pasture and prime lucerne) but beware, there are serious metabolic disturbances brewing on the inside. Even a small amount of clover in the paddock can affect some horses!

Looking good but not feeling good!

Erin says, “Even though he had access to a round bale of teff 24/7. He wasn’t touching it, preferring the lush clover and lucerne in his paddock’.

She had slashed the paddock 3 times in 7 weeks to keep it low but, having 3 years ago been fertilised with urea, it was growing like hotcakes.

Her sensitive, but normally sane stock horse started to change. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and when asked, she listed other ‘symptoms’ which of course, once you know are the early warning signs! At the time she just figured he needed 'more work'!

He had become incredibly reactive and spooky.

Transitions from trot to canter were rushed and sometimes explosive.

There was an occasional head twitch (had he stayed on this pasture any longer he would most certainly have become a full-blown head shaker).

He had ongoing muscle soreness and ‘sacro-iliac’ issues.

Erin described him as "disconnected from me entirely".

Finally he bucked her off in spectacular fashion as seen in the picture above! (Fortunately, although very sore, there was nothing broken!)

Erin had had him on a small hard feed once a day with 45gms salt, minerals, joint and magnesium supplement mixed into a soy hull mash. But none of this had made any difference.

We advised that he come off that clover/lucerne paddock and yard him 24/7 with his round bale of teff hay. We also recommended increasing salt and adding SOS and AlleviateGold to his hard feed.

Two weeks on his new diet and he is back to his calm healthy self.

Thanks to Erin for giving us permission to use her photos and share her experience!

Sane again!

Working beautifully thanks to diet changes