Maraschino visits Woodhill Sands

Maraschino had never been to Woodhill Sands before. I really want to utilise it this winter, with both of them, so off we went this afternoon - it was such a lovely day (again) - we have been so lucky with the autumn weather. Coco didn't see us go and I yelled out to him we were off but he was eating...head down, bum up. Some visitors told me they called in and he was running round a bit... but he was ok when we got back... not like he doesn't need the exercise.

Maraschino had been in the yards till Jools came to trim their feet, then in the round pen for an hour till we left, and he was calm as, so signs of the mycotoxins effecting his brain.

For those of you overseas who don't get mycotoxins in your grass... this is a summary...

A horse with mycotoxin exposure will have clinical symptoms that are often not obvious or unique. Behavioural problems are the most obvious and include spooking, bucking, rearing, girthiness, lethargy, poor performance and aggression to name a few. These symptoms are the tip of the iceberg though, a large acute dose of some mycotoxins can kill a horse but the biggest problem is chronic sub-lethal or low doses. These can cause organ damage to the liver and kidneys, suppress the immune system and ultimately lead to secondary bacterial infections and general unthriftiness. This is often expressed in digestive disorders such as diarrhoea, feed refusal, colic, weight loss and dermatitis. 




Yes, he's lost weight - it definitely makes them hallucinate and imagine all sorts!! Scary stuff.

So he's off grass and on a toxin binder, extra salt, then I'll add magnesium.

So - we arrive at Woodhill and Maraschino had never been there before so he was a little alert but nothing too bad. I was working Garbo on the 45ft line and my friend had Maraschino and just started working him a little. Then I saw what happened - the extra movement and exercise actually caused the toxins to circulate more I think and he got so high on adrenalin - nothing could make him calm... sure he licked and chewed but he'd be snorting at the next scary thing within nano-seconds. The poor boy - he was completely covered in sweat within minutes - another thing that seems to happen with mycotoxins.

Garbo being really good even while Mr M far away ..

What are you going to think about doing here Garbo?

The good news was that Garbo was NOT effected by Maraschino's stress - amazingly. I was really pleased, so pleased I got on and had a wee walk around - we walked along with my friend leading Maraschino too for a bit - Garbo even tried to 'snap him out of it' but nothing did.

Mr M positively terrified but looking stunning!!

The few seconds he was standing still

Garbo's like 'whatever'

What was that??????

I am sure it's going to eat us Garbo

After a bit we headed back to the float and after a while we loaded - thank goodness he still loaded well, one missed approach - thank goodness we started well with floating!

Michelle babysitting the boys while I went and paid my ground fee.