It’s Gone

 

After a week of going up to the main paddock almost daily with gloves, trimmer, step stool (to sit on and take the ache out of my back and knees), and my water bottle in hand, I’ve finally got control of all the sage by aggressively cutting, trimming, and pulling…..and a whole lot of sweat and sore muscles.

It’s finally gone.

You can see the *Before* photo with This Link.

Here are the *After* photos:

(You can still see the stumps of the sage left behind, which I’ll get help pulling them out with the tractor soon) Oh…and it rained not long after I took these photos. Not much, though. It sure is dry and dusty around here. We only got enough rain this summer for about 3 weeks of grass growth. It’s all dried up and brown already.

A couple of you asked if Bella might have gotten sage sickness too, because of the way she acted so out of character and bucked my twinling Jax. It’s possible. Bella really liked the back paddock and spent much time in there. After we sent her back to the horse rescue, I did a walk-thru of that paddock and noticed that two sage bushes had been destroyed, as if she had attacked them.

(Here’s a pic of that back paddock. Bella destroyed the sage bushes, so it’s sage free)

And she had also eaten the bark of the juniper and pinon trees, too. Apache doesn’t even do that. But considering that Bella was staying here to help her lose some weight and was only getting one flake of hay three times a day, and no grain, due to her insulin resistance, it’s a real possibility that the change in diet, eating less food, caused her to be hungry enough to binge on large amounts of sage.

Which is kind of sad if that happened, because I really liked Bella and felt she fit in well here, even though she had health and boundary respect issues. Apache really seemed to like Bella, too.

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This is a view from the back of the main paddock looking towards our house. Notice all the sage is gone now. Only the yuccas and trees are left. You can see the large grey log, just left of center, that Jen and I are sitting on in my blog header.

 

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Apache seems quite confused about the loss of all of her yummy sage shrubs.

(Do you have any idea the amount of courage it takes me to get anywhere near the backside of my mare? I about had a panic attack after this photo was taken, because I was sort of wedged into the corner of this paddock, between two fences and her body, only about 3 feet from her butt.  She had come to me for some scratching and petting when she got jealous seeing me petting Annie, my neighbor friend’s mare.

And when I was done petting her, Apache turned away to walk up the hill. I didn’t relax until she was over 10 feet away from me. whew! After getting kicked in the face, the back side of any horse is not ever where I want to be.)

Apache did stay very close to Jenna and I the entire time we cleared away the sage and weeds. I caught her eating the sage and some other weeds while I was pulling them out. I think she was mostly doing that because she wanted me to stop pulling sage and pay attention to her instead.

 

During all the clearing of the sage, I also discovered a couple of other suspect weeds that I’m removing, too.

Does anyone know what this weed is? It’s those green mounds down to the left and right of Jen’s feet. She took a break from hauling weeds to love on Val’s Arabian mare, Annie.

Close up. Notice the little berry-like fruit. They remind me of mini unripe tomatoes.

After doing some research on the Guide to Poisonous Plants Search Feature, I’m guessing Horse Nettle, which can be toxic to horses if eaten in large amounts. ugh! It’s growing all along the fenceline and I watched Apache grab a bite of it just the other day.

I also found this plant.

I think it’s a Chinese Lantern or Ground Cherry, a member of the Physalis family, which can be poisonous to horses if ingested in large amounts, causing colic, bloat and diarrhea. What a mess!

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I had some help clearing the weeds. My daughter Jen loaded up piles of sage and weeds and hauled them up to the hill to the goat paddock and compost pile.

And the goats and llamas sauntered down to help munch on the little bits of sage and weeds that I missed.

Apache really likes the goats and tries to groom them and nibble on their tails.

Unfortunately, the goats aren’t as open-minded about Apache’s attention and usually run-off. Except Latte, my mini-mancha doe. She seems to be a little more tolerant of Apache’s affection and curiosity.

Apache really likes Dobbie, too. She’s always trying to nuzzle and lick my little dog.

Apache tolerates the llamas, but sometimes tries to herd them around, which usually ends up with Apache getting spat upon. 

But the llamas really like Dobbie and try to nuzzle her, which leads to Dobbie running away and hiding behind me.

(That’s Catlinite, my gelding guard llama sniffing, Dobbie. And my sweet Angora doe, Luna is walking down on the left)

This is Cataleya, Catlinite’s half-sister. She’s my good llama who enjoys going for walks and getting out and exploring. I taught her how to carry her own pack. Catlinite, on the other hand, is a worry wart and doesn’t enjoy stepping off his own home turf.

 

And Dobbie likes to pretend she’s a herding dog when she’s around the goats. They don’t seem to care for that behavior very much, and are always sure to let her know. Dobbie still has fun anyway.

(In this video, you get to see Dobbie “herding” the goats, me getting pestered by a goat, and Apache feeling left out and coming over to join the craziness)

Artemisia ~ Wormwood ~ Sage (Sage Sickness)

 

It’s been 16 days since Apache’s first ataxia symptoms began and 15 days since I’ve put Apache back on her regular diet, plus as much straight grass hay as she desires. It’s been 5 days since I started cutting and removing the sage from our pasture and paddocks (Still have a lot more to go, but I’m getting there little by little).

Finally, and thankfully, it’s been 12 days since I’ve noticed any ataxia and stumbling symptoms.

I’m still guarded, but I believe Apache is out of the woods and on the way to recovery. Her behavior and attitude seem much improved and more like the Apache I know and love. She’s not as irritable, annoyed, impatient, and overly reactive as she was last month when the symptoms began.

I’m grateful for the internet that provides opportunities to do research, or else I would have never known about sage sickness and poisoning.

I’m also grateful for my vet who explained it more in detail and shared a most excellent book, “A Guide to Plant Poisoning of Animals in North America”, that every vet, and every animal owner should have on their bookshelf.

  

I’m pretty sure Apache’s been munching and nibbling on sage long before her ataxia symptoms began, because I could often smell it on her breath.

(This is a part of her pasture/paddock. Notice the sage bushes)

But when her diet changed during the week that I was incapacitated, Apache most likely went into a full-on binge eating of sage. And with less of her normal feed to eat, the sage toxins built up in her system and made her sick and intoxicated. Ranchman John also didn’t give her any apples or carrots like I do every day. (gasp!) Poor Apache.

  

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Just a little history for those of who dig that sort of thing. I thought it was way cool.

(Artemisia spp.)

Artemis was Apollo's twin sister and daughter of Zeus and Leto; she was the equivalent of the Greek Diana, great Olympian goddess of hunting, wilderness and wild animals.

She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage. Her twin brother Apollo was similarly the protector of the boy child.

(Artemis and Apollo)

Together the two gods were also bringers of sudden death and disease--Artemis targeted women and girls, and Apollo men and boys. Artemis, as the legend states, derived so much good from plants of this kind that all such plants are named for her.

 

Another interesting etymology: the genus is also said to be named for Artemisia, historical Queen of Caria (in present day Turkey) who was a "noted botanist, medical researcher, leader and scholar".

(That’s Queen Artemisia blowing her horn below.)

 

Did you know that "Wormwood" is the common name often applied to a number of Sage plants?

Wormwood, has been used for centuries as a moth repellant, general pesticide and as a tea/spray to repel slugs and snails. Before its' toxicity was known it was used as the name implies: a worming medicine for people and animals.

Historic references to wormwood go back as far as 1600 B.C. in Egypt. Wormwood leaves contain absinthin a substance which can be toxic to other plants. You may have heard of the alcoholic drink "absinthe" a green colored beverage that is now illegal in most countries. And rightfully so as it has been said that the painter Vincent van Gogh was imbibing of absinthe when he lopped off his ear to send to a woman.

The absinthin being water soluble will wash off the plant’s leaves and leach into the soil interfering and stunting the growth of other plants in close proximity. Which is why it’s rare to see other plants co-exisiting with sage. Artemisia tends to take over and be very invasive in fields and pastures.

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(Map of Range of Artemisia Filifolia

Numerous species of sagebrush grow in the western United States and are useful forage plants for wild and domestic ruminants. Horses also eat sage without problem provided they are not forced to eat it exclusively when other forages are scarce.

(There is basically nothing else to eat in Apache’s paddocks, besides short cropped grass, weeds and sage. You bloggers with fields of lush green grass to feed your horses all year, count yourself lucky.)

Under adverse conditions horses will readily eat sagebrush and will become intoxicated. A syndrome called "sage sickness" has been reported in horses that eat Sand Sage (Artemis filifolia).

Fringed sage or Silver sage (Artemisia frigida) also causes similar signs of poisoning in horses.

(This fringed sage is located in our backyard. We seem to have a number of different sage plants on our property)

Sage poisoned horses exhibit abnormal behavior characterized by ataxia especially of the front legs, and a tendency to fall down or act abnormally to stimuli that would not normally elicit such a response. (Well this just might explain why Apache over-reacted with me trying to desensitize her to a raven feather!)

(Apache is staring at my neighbor friend’s horses who are in a corner of their arena)

 

Normally docile horses will become excitable and unpredictable.

(Note: Apache kicked me in the face just 7 days before her ataxia symptoms appeared. I’m prone to believe that the sage toxins we’re already building up in her body, especially neurologically, in her brain, before the physical symptoms affected her.)

The smell of sage is often very noticeable on the breath. The clinical signs closely resemble those of horses that have been poisoned by locoweeds (Oxytropis and Astragalus spp). However, unlike "locoed" horses that do not recover once clinical signs are evident, sage poisoned horses generally recover once they are removed from the sage and are fed a normal balanced diet.

*Reference: Poisonous Plants on Colorado's Trails - Tony Knight of Colorado State University (www.vth.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants)

*Reference: A Guide to Plant Poisoning of Animals in North America (http://www.tetonnm.com/plantctoc.html)