Ragwort kills horses. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t just happen overnight as it takes time for the ragwort to get into the’s horses system, but ingesting ragwort can and does cause irreversible liver damage. Know as ‘the washing machine’ of the body, the liver’s purpose cannot be underestimated and it cleans the blood removing toxins from the body.

 

Unfortunately, by the time the symptoms of liver poisoning appear it’s often too late – irreversible damage has taken place.

I travel many thousands of miles each year and I’m increasing frustrated by the number of horses I see grazing in fields where ragwort is growing, and the roadside verges and the motorway embankments covered in the ‘yellow peril’.

I urge everyone to pull up ragwort that they come across in their field or out walking or riding (wear gloves) and check their hay or haylage for dried ragwort which is particularly palatable for equines.

Ragwort poisoning causes a slow and painful death for horses; surely as a nation of animal lovers we can all do our bit to prevent any more needless deaths?