05/06/2026
An interesting piece of kit, designed to combat Ragwort has been developed and will begin field trials in Dorset, England.
The article does cover the risks that ragwort poses to livestock, including horses, as well as the important role that ragwort also plays in supporting wildlife, including pollinators, bees and butterflies.
Whilst horses will not choose to eat Ragwort if there is enough grass/forage available, horses who are grazing very sparse paddocks and are on restricted grazing or have been neglected and are starving, will - and do - eat Ragwort. The Ragwort does have a bitter taste when the plant is fresh/alive, however when cut and dried it does become more palatable and can be easily consumed when found within hay bales or if cut/pulled and discarded at the side of the field.
The plant, or parts of it, can also be inadvertently consumed by horses when grazing the grass around the plants, particularly in restricted grazing environments.
The toxin contained within Ragwort is quickly absorbed via the horse's gastro-intestinal tract (that's the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and a**s) and in short, metabolised by the liver, causing irreversible damage. The toxins disrupt the DNA functions in the liver cells and these damaged cells lose the capacity to regenerate. It can take a very small amount of the Ragwort plant to cause extensive damage to a horse's liver and sometimes you won't see any symptoms for days, months or even years. As such, it is always recommended that Ragwort is removed from in and around horse's fields.
Keep an eye out for our Central Equine Vets Learning Hub episode on Ragwort which is coming out soon, giving a much more detailed breakdown of Ragwort, its life-cycle, the risks posed to horses, other grazing animals and humans, why it is such a risk to horses, handling the plant, and the best and most cost effective way to tackle it.
The robot, called Raggy, will begin field trials at a range of farms and land in Dorset this summer.
