Slobbers in Horses

Diagnosing Slobbers in Horses

A slobbers diagnosis begins with an examination of the suspected infected plant. With a microscope or the naked eye, your vet can examine your horse's food source for signs of Rhizoctonia leguminicola fungus. This examination can be done using cultures and chromatography on hay thought to contain slaframine. Additionally, swabs from a horse's mouth or milk may be examined. A diagnosis will be made by correlating your horse's symptoms and exposure to affected fungi and hay.

Treatment

No treatment for slobbers is necessary except for changing the horse's food and limiting its access to pastures that contain infected fungi. Mowing the pasture can help control infected plants and promote healthy regrowth. Since the growth of the black patch fungus is dependent on weather, some years will be worse for slobbers than others. It may be harder to detect and eradicate affected pieces in the hay. The toxicity of the fungus will decrease as hay ages, so it may be a matter of waiting several months before feeding the existing hay again. In the meantime, hay replacement is best.

Prognosis for Horses With Slobbers

Most horses recover quickly without treatment so long as access to the infected plant is restricted. If your horse's slobbers is untreated for a long time and complications develop, visit your vet for an expert opinion.
 

How to Prevent Slobbers

There's very little that you can do to prevent slobbers other than limiting access to vulnerable vegetation during cold, wet weather. It isn't practical to try to remove alfalfa and clovers entirely from your pastures, as they make a valuable contribution to your horse's nutrition. Monitor your horse's health and pay attention to what it eats year-round.