July 2003

Know Your Clover

Most of these flowering legumes are fine for grazing, except for the alsike clover.

Your horse enjoys grazing a variety of grasses and legumes.

Most horses love the tangy taste of clover, and the legume adds mineral diversity to pastures. But clover can also cause slobbers, diarrhea and fatal toxic reactions.

Slobbers: Grazing clover can cause excessive salivation, due to the irritating chemical slaframine, produced by a clover fungus. It’s usually not harmful, and red clover is most commonly affected. If the horse eats a large amount of the diseased clover, some diarrhea may result. The toxin is also present in infected clover hay but disappears with storage. Slobbers is a problem in spring and summer. …