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Clover and Slobbers
This is my third year at my current boarding facility and my third year of slobbers for my horse.
My research shows this is caused by a mold on the leaves of clover that grows in the pasture. The owner replanted the pastures once in the three years in an attempt to improve the situation. I think the clover is up this year worse then the previous two. I imagine the horses were put back on the newly seeded area too quickly after planting the new pasture seed.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what can be done? I understand the slobbers are not harmful as long as the horses get plenty of water so they don't get dehydrated. But, you can tell they do not feel good when it's affecting them and they are slobbering all over and have gobs of drool coming out of their mouth most the day.. They just act sluggish.
Anyone have any ideas to help?
Tags: Slaframine Poisoning, clover, grazing, horse care, horse health, pasture, pasture management, slobber, slobbers
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on -
Hi Shirley,I'd not heard of Slobbers until I read your blog. It can be caused by more than red clover ( it's mostly red clover that has the fungus on it). If you google Vesticula Stomatitis you might find some other interesting facts. When the pasture was re-seeded I don't suppose it was with red clover?
Cheers Geoffrey
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Permalink Reply by Shirley on -
Hi Geoffrey, I WISH I'd not never heard of Slobbers! It is just NASTY! Our pastures don't seem to have RED Clover. To look out over the pasture it is looks like it has a light snow cover.
No the pasture wasn't re-seeded with Red or White Clover. They used a mix of pasture seed.
I am wondering because it was re-seeded in the early fall and then the horses were put back on it pretty soon after it was seeded, was the clover just the hardiest thing that survived. I do not know why it was decided to re-seed the way it was. Didn't seem logical to me but I'm not educated in this area at all. Maybe common sense should have been considered here. I don't know, they grow winter wheat. But this plan of fall planting sure was not successful.
Thanks for the google idea. I've read what I could find a couple of years ago but I'll do some more research for my own satisfaction. I'm disgusted and disappointed and frustrated. There is at least 10 women unhappy with the situation so maybe that will help encourage some new effort and repair for the pasture. I'm hoping! In the meantime I will be spending much time sitting in the lawn with my horse letting him eat where there is much less clover. At least I find that relaxing and works for good bonding with my horse.
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Permalink Reply by Shirley on
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Geoffrey, Did you find something pertaining to Slobbers when you googled Vesticula Stomatitis? I searched the info it came up with for quite a while but did not see facts pertaining to the Clover Fungus that causes Slobbers. Am I missing something or did this go off into a different subject. I'm thinking maybe it talked about a type of equine cancer that makes them drool/slobber also. We've had this issue for three years now and the vet has said each time that it's a bad year for the Slobbers. Many of the horses get affected.
I did find some info in one other place that gave some helpful info to help with the pastures. I think it was at Rutgers~Equine Science Center. It suggested mowing the pasture and there is a chemical that is supposedly safe to put on it. I thought I'd copied it along with a bunch of other interesting research on the subject but I managed to copy the wrong pages on that site.Darn! I've already been on here a few hours too long. It's time to get up and I'm going to bed. I like doing my research when it's quiet at night but I don't like it so well the next day when I'm dragging.
Keep Horsen Around! Shirley
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Permalink Reply by Deborah Hopkins on -
The horse I was riding last summer had a case of slobbers. We were alarmed to say the least!
The vet suggested rinsing the mare's mouth with the hose to get rid of the spores. The drooling
slowed down after that, and was mostly gone by the next day. That of course still leaves you
with the problem of eliminating the food source of the problem. Good luck, and let us know
how things work out ...
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Permalink Reply by Shirley on
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HI Deborah, Thanks for sharing your vets suggestion about rinsing the horses mouth out with a hose.
You got your horse to allow this? It sounds like a great idea if I can accomplish the task. One of the boarders horses just stood in the cross-ties last night with the yuck running out her mouth like a faucet open very low...a constant stream. That has got to be stressful. I am concerned the stress of it is going to cause problems like colic that I have seen mentioned. My own horse kept trying to rub his mouth so I'm assuming there is some itching involved. The farm owner isn't sure what to do now. He realizes something needs to be done but of course would like to know what is a solution cause most anything he does is going to cost some bucks. Good that he realizes something does need to be done. He tilled it all up and replanted 1.7 years ago. The suggestion to talk with a local agriculture extension office sounds like a good thing to try.
The good news is, I had a great day with the horses yesterday. I lunged two horses that do not belong to me and then spend several hours with my own. I sat near him while he grazed in a smaller (less clover) pasture, played off line in the indoor, practiced on foot walking, trotting and whoa! Then we did the same on his back. I think we are progressing...he's going easier and stopping faster when asked. He used to just stop often on his own. I'm feeling his trot slow and get smoother. I feel like we are working more together and my tension is easing up some too. I hope things continue in this direction of improvement.
Ride on! Shirley.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Salo on -
Hi Shirley, Slaframine Poisoning (Slobbers) tends to crop up more in wet weather (not sure where you are located, but Southern Ontario is producing prime weather for "black patch" over the past few months). Rhizoctonia leguminicola (the fungus seen as black specs or "patches" on the plant), causes the mycotoxin slaframine (which causes the slobbering to happen). As you know it is non-life threatening, but if you have a pregnant mare on the pasture I would remove her because there maybe a link to abortion. Otherwise clover is actually a good source of protein and fibre (since it is a legume). If the owner is bailing off of the field or a similar field, be aware that the fungus can stay active for a long time after bailing it into hay.
I would think the best way to get advice on reseeding or removing the plant would be through your local agriculture extention, they are usually very helpful with plant and weed removal advice that is safe for livestock, good luck and I hope you get things cleared up, it is not fun to see your horse drooling all over :( I think Deborah has a good suggestion, possibly hosing out their mouth once a day might help to reduce the build up?
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