Category: Weeds

Iron overload likely caused my horses’ laminitis

Posted on: July 12, 2015

Toxicology test on horses' iron level

Toxicology test on horses’ iron level.

Hematology test on horses' iron level

Hematology test on horses’ iron level.

Post reviewed Nov. 27, 2022

In “Clue” like fashion, I’m declaring the cause of my six horses’ laminitis over the last 18 years as an excess intake of iron from weeds, trace mineral blocks and well water, leading to insulin resistance and the insulin form of laminitis.

The insulin resistance and laminitis were exacerbated by me following veterinary guidance to restrict the horses’ hay, keep the horses on dry lots and prevent the horses from eating so-called “lush grass.” I now believe these moves were the exact opposite of what was needed to get the horses’ metabolism functioning properly.

In the game of “Clue,” I’d get immediate confirmation of whether my assertion is correct. Unfortunately, with the laminitis, I will receive no such feedback.

But a cascade of events led me to this conclusion.

In October 2014, I needed to have my leaking well fixed (the water pressure was down considerably, and a pond had formed to the west).

But I also wanted to have my horses’ iron levels tested at Kansas State University’s lab. I suspected iron as the cause of the horses’ laminitis for a decade but had no proof.

A previous iron test done through the local zoo did not provide useful results.

Several experts recommended KSU for these tests (I’m not making such a recommendation at the moment). I was hoping to do a three-test panel of serum iron, TIBC and ferritin (a hematology test) and a serum trace mineral panel (a toxicology test). I admit I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted some data.

There wasn’t enough money to do the tests and fix the well.

The iron tests for my two living horses totaled $400, including my vet’s fees. I chose to do the tests and hope for the best with the well.

My vet didn’t provide this iron test as a regular service but agreed to draw the blood if I did the mailing.

I sent the package in a vet-provided cooled envelope by overnight shipping on a Thursday. KSU said shipping on Thursday was fine as long as the package arrived Friday morning. I don’t know what happened to the package after it got under way. I don’t know when it arrived or was tested, and all may have gone as planned.

I received results from KSU that suggested my horses had toxic levels of iron (see images at top).

A university vet who provided comments on the tests said the toxic level “could be indicative of artifactual hemolysis” within the submitted sample. In other words, the blood got too warm or tainted in transit.

I talked to a lab person by phone, and the blood was indeed considered compromised.

I personally believed the results were correct as far as the horses having too much iron but couldn’t be sure, and I couldn’t do the tests again due to the cost.

I had my own iron level tested through a company I found online, Lab Corp, for considerably less money, and my iron level was normal, making me think the iron theory had come up short.

My sister told me my iron results did not seem normal, given that all the women in my family were anemic. She said I likely was anemic, too, and was being affected by the iron in the water.

Meanwhile, also in 2014, veterinarian Frank Reilly, a leading advocate for laminitic horses, posted on his website the iron levels of common pasture weeds (scroll down to the tab titled “Equine Insulin Resistance High Iron“). The iron levels are really high. Excess iron can fuel insulin resistance. His site provides plenty of research on that, too.

I knew my horses had been eating more weeds than anything else in recent years because I had intentionally ignored the grass, thinking that less grass was better. The grass went away, and the horses ate the weeds.

I was suspicious of the well water having too much iron, since the water turns everything rust colored and has eaten through the bottom of all my aluminum tanks. But I still didn’t have proof there. A water test in 2005 showed nothing suspicious.

I did find out that the horses’ trace mineral blocks were 25 percent iron, and I threw those away in 2012.

In November 2014, I emailed Dr. Reilly, asking how one might reduce the iron level in horses through supplements. He spent his Thanksgiving holiday investigating this idea. He emailed back that curcumin and ginkgo could reduce the iron level, and he provided suggested amounts and where to buy it. Purebulk.com sells the curcumin (250 grams, $70 at the time — it’s gone up). Reilly suggested feeding 1/2 tablespoon a day. Starwest Botanicals sells ginkgo leaf cut and sifted (1 pound bag). Reilly suggested feeding 1 tablespoon in the morning and 1 tablespoon in the evening.

After giving the horses the two supplements for a few weeks, I stopped because my gelding Kurt was breaking out in drenching sweats as we entered yet another frigid winter. We eventually figured out the sweats were caused by thyroid powder (no longer given).

Also, a friend had sent me a camping filter for the well head to filter out iron, but I don’t use the well head during the winter due to the hose always being frozen. I carry buckets of hot water outside. So I didn’t put on the filter.

All these things nagged at me, but polar vortex winters tend to keep one busy.

I considered putting the horses back on the curcumin and ginkgo, but I wanted to do the iron tests again to see if the previous tests were correct. Does one want to chelate iron from a horse that doesn’t have excess iron?

There was no money to repeat the tests, and the situation with the well was becoming more of an emergency.

Everything came together in May 2015, when I finally had the well fixed, and a well company employee blurted out, “You must have an iron problem” when telling me how deep the well was. The casing is 350 feet deep (very deep) and collects iron all along the shaft, which gets transferred to the water as the water sloshes through, according to the well guy, an industry veteran.

The irony is not lost on me that fixing the well gave me more information than the iron tests.

Climate change may be causing laminitis

Posted on: July 12, 2015

This paddock changed from sand to grass over 18 years before erupting in weeds in 2015.

Post reviewed Nov. 27, 2022

Climate change is having at least two effects on vegetation that may be increasing the incidence of laminitis in horses.

First, weeds are proliferating due to increased carbon dioxide, rain and heat in the atmosphere, according to scientists at Purdue University and France’s Climate-Environment-Society consortium in Europe.

The global concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — the primary driver of recent climate change — has reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in recorded history, according to NASA data.

One carbon dioxide expert (Dr. Charles Miller) says these CO2 values are more than 100 ppm higher than at any time in the last one million years (and maybe higher than any time in the last 25 million years).

Second, the increased acid in the atmosphere from coal plant and auto emissions is leading to higher acid in rainwater, which is changing the makeup of soil, depleting nutrients such as magnesium, and giving an even bigger advantage to weeds over native grasses.

Weeds have more nitrogen in their makeup in general, and nitrogen has been implicated in laminitis.

Perhaps more important, weeds hold a lot more iron, and excess iron is known to increase insulin resistance.

Dr. Frank Reilly, an equine veterinarian in Pennsylvania and leading advocate for laminitic horses, tested common pasture weeds for their iron level and posted the results on his website (scroll down to the tab titled “Equine Insulin Resistance High Iron“) in 2014 along with photos of the weeds. He said horses will seek out chickweed, and its super high iron content causes a huge surge in insulin levels.

He lists several scientific articles that discuss how iron drives insulin resistance.

In my state of Missouri, the soil is largely red clay, and the red color in the soil is due primarily to iron oxides, according to the USDA.

The weeds in my state have access to more iron to begin with, so acidic soil and weed proliferation are a recipe for disaster for a horse here.

Add to that the well-meaning but misguided addition of iron to everything horses eat.

My horses’ trace mineral blocks, which they had access to from 1997 to 2012, were 25 percent iron, according to the manufacturer’s website. I threw them away in 2012 and wish I had never heard of mineral blocks.

Applying weed killer to pasture for horse with laminitis

Posted on: July 12, 2015

One of the horse pastures covered with weeds on May 31, 2015.

The same pasture on July 12, 2015, a month after application of weed killer.

I can answer the question: Can you use weed killer on grass grazed by laminitic horses?

Yes.

Over three weeks in June 2015, I sprayed my whole farm using GrazonNext, which was recommended by my local feed store.

I have 8 fenced acres, plus 2 unfenced acres.

I sprayed the weed killer manually, walking around with a 2 gallon sprayer.

The feed store suggested I give the weed killer two hours of dry time before the next rainstorm hit. Given the fact that we had the wettest June ever, timing that out for each field was the hard part.

The cost for the weed killer and sprayer was less than $200, according to my memory, since the receipt has disappeared from my desk. Horse owners probably can find these products cheaper online, but I wanted the help of the feed store.

I wish I did this years ago, but I kept getting instructions from veterinarians that my horses should NOT eat grass. The last thing I thought I needed was good grass.

I’ve done a complete 180 on that. After I read equine nutritionist Juliet Getty’s post on how insulin resistant horses should be grazing all the time to turn around the disease, my goal is to ensure that the horses have great grass that they want to eat.

Research has shown horses on dry lots with weeds develop laminitis, though scientists often blame the weeds’ nonstructural carbohydrate level.

Veterinarian Frank Reilly warns that the high iron level in weeds can lead to insulin resistance.

My horses lived for years on dry lots with only weeds for nibbling, and the laminitic bouts happened over and over.

I won’t use fertilizer to improve the fields. Too many horse owners have reported their horses foundering right after pastures were fertilized. Perhaps the nitrogen in the fertilizer triggers the laminitis.

But I was willing to apply weed killer.

My farm in May 2015 was covered in weeds despite me mowing constantly. I was in panic mode when I went to the feed store for help on May 31.

GrazonNext is designed for pastures, and animals can go right back on the fields after the fields are sprayed, according to the maker.

I can’t swear 100 percent that it’s safe for horses to eat because my horses wouldn’t touch the vegetation after I sprayed it until after a few rainstorms.

I can say that we had no issues, other than some grumpy horse faces during the spraying process.

The feed store figured out how much I should use: 4 ounces per 2 gallon sprayer. A 2 gallon sprayer was supposed to cover 5,000 square feet (an area 50 feet by 100 feet).

I was fairly careful in measuring out the 4 ounces as I refilled the sprayer each time.

I didn’t measure off the feet I was spraying.

Within hours of spraying, the dandelions and other weeds keeled over.

GrazonNext won’t kill crabgrass, which is very high in iron. Some of my fields have patches of crabgrass, so we have some work left to do, but I’m really pleased with the fields, as are the horses.

I let the weed killer stay on the weeds about a week before I mowed (another recommendation by the feed store).

In fact, the best advice the feed store manager gave me was, “Quit mowing and start spraying.”

After the weeds died, it was much easier to mow the fields.

Some spots were left bare because only weeds had been growing in those areas. But we had a lot of rain in June and July, and those areas came back with grass, a big surprise to me. If the rain hadn’t been so well timed, the bare spots would have remained, I suspect.

I did a lot of research on this weed killer, because I wanted to spray it on the unfenced areas where deer and rabbits graze in the evening. The product appears to be safe for those animals, too. The deer and rabbits look unfazed.

I did notice one thing in my research that may matter to people who use manure to fertilize a garden. This weed killer has a residual effect. If a horse ingests plants with the weed killer on them, the pesticide will be in the manure and will still be active. If the manure is used on a garden, it will kill vegetables in the garden. Someone reviewing the product online said she found that out the hard way.

The feed store manager said I likely won’t have to apply the weed killer every year.

Some weeds have popped back up already, but they look dead on arrival. They don’t bloom. They just shrivel up.

I also have been applying lime to the fields. I almost believe liming is more important than applying weed killer because the lime lowers the acid in the soil, which slows the development of weeds. Weeds thrive in acidic soil.

The horses are eating the limed grass more than the other grass.