Unfortunately, we found grass cuttings had been thrown onto the land of our pony sanctuary, either with malicious intent or by people who didn't realise how dangerous grass cuttings are for horses. This meant that we had to get ALL our horses examined and tested by the vets, meaning a huge vets bill. Most of the horses had slight damage, but fortunately nothing life threatening. However, Freckles, a 25 year old pony who has lived at Two Oaks for 10 years, had very high readings, with the scan also revealing damage to his liver. All horses will need treatment, and Freckles will need constant care so we are desperate for funds to cover this.

Why are grass cuttings so dangerous for horses?
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When grass cuttings are fresh they are fermenting (this is why they are warm or even hot when you put your hand inside a fresh pile of clippings). As the cuttings have been chopped up small (by the mower) the horse does not need to chew them and therefore swallows the clippings without mixing them with saliva (which is what happens when a horse chews its food normally).

This means that the clippings arrive in the stomach already fermenting and without the benefit of saliva to ‘dilute’ them. The gases given off by the fermenting clippings can expand to the point that they rupture the stomach (which is fatal). If the cuttings do not cause rupture of the stomach, they can result in colic (abdominal pain) due to complications further down the intestinal tract.

Horses have a "one way valve" in their stomachs which prevents them vomiting (or even burping) so when they have a high level of gas build up in the stomach, they cannot release it so it builds up until it causes serious or fatal results.