Conference noted::equitation

    Sorry to hear about this. It must be horrible waiting to see if your
    horses come down with "whatever".
    One thing I would suggest, is have someone call Tufts New England Vet
    Medical Center (part of Tufts University School of Vet medicine).
    Their number is 508 - 839 - 5395.
    They may have come across something like this.
    Remember the time change. I'm not sure who's available after 5pm.
    
    
    GOOD-LUCK!
    			Cindy
    

The cause has been identified.  It was in the feed.  I, along with a number
of other owners, were very relieved that the source of toxin was found. 
Apparently  small animals, either rodents or rabbits were picked up in the
hay combine and processed along with the hay into cubes.  In compressed
cubes, the natural decay of the animal parts occurs in a vacuum creating
Clostridium, type C botulism. Needless to say, all the horses are getting
baled hay.  I now see this is one major drawback of cubes; Fifteen horses
had to be put down. 

    Re: .0 & .2
    
    That had to have been an awful experience. Hope your 4 are still
    among the uninfected.
    
    We have one horse who has a dust alergy so we feed cubes to him.
    
    Is there any brand, date, lot No. information that is available
    for the cubes you all used?  Was this "cuber" a local or a national
    distributor.
    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    
    		Dick

    FYI, there is an article about botulism in the Nov/Dec issue of
    Horse Care magazine. Pages 25-29.

    
    
    A fungus that has spread to nearly all northern alfalfa-producing
    states since first being reported in the United States in 1977 has
    suprised researchers by surviving in warmer climates.  Verticillium
    albo-atrum causes a disease, commonly called veticillium wilt, that is
    becoming and increasing problem in Souther California.  The disease has
    been confirmed in Riverside, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbera
    counties.
    
    Although there is no known danger to horses eating infected alfalfa,
    the fungus should be of concern to horsemen because it results in lower
    crop yields. The infected plants have a wilted, bunchy appearance and
    have leaves with yellow V-shaped lesions on the outer margins.  The
    infected plants also are shorter than their healthy counterparts.
    
    The fungus can be spread from the manure of horses which have injested
    infected plants.  The fungus also is spread through mowing, because it
    can be carried on machinery blades used to cut infected plants.
    
    If a grower knows one of his fields is infected, he should mow that
    field last, according to Dr. Donald Erwin of the plant pathology
    department at the University of California at Riverside.  Dr. Erwin and
    graduate research assistant Amy Howell are studying the fungus'
    survivability and are about one year away from developing a nondormant
    variety of alfalfa that will be resistant to it.
    
    Dormant varieties that are resistant to the fungus already are
    available.  The Certified Alfalfa Seed Council has a publication
    listing those varieties.  The book, called ALL ABOUT ALFALFA VARIETIES,
    can be obtained by writing P.O. Box 1017, Davis, California 95617.
    
    The Blood Horse dated Mar. 3, 1990.

    If the originator of this note is still active, I would like to know
    what barn you were at.  I am in the Orange Co. area and would like to
    find some fellow noters in this area.
    
    virginia   cwo