Grass sickness research could hold the key to understanding the disease

Equine grass sickness — grass sickness horse

(Image credit: Professor Chris Proudman)

Vets and owners are playing a “crucial role” in grass sickness research, as it is hoped a project launched this year could hold the “key” to understanding the disease.

In May, as a result of the Moredun’s Centenary Fellowship Project, a research fellowship was formed, funded by the Moredun Foundation and the Equine Grass Sickness Fund (EGSF), with support from the British Horse Society (BHS). Researcher Kathy Geyer was recruited and led a project to launch a biobank to collect samples from horses and soil, in the hope of providing more information to understand the risk factors of the disease.

“We will continue to add to this over the next two seasons, so researchers have access to sufficient samples to make their research impactful. The support we have had from the horse industry, particularly the BHS, World Horse Welfare and Balmoral Stud’s stud manager Sylvia Ormiston, has been outstanding and very much appreciated. We are also working hard to encourage all vets and horse owners, throughout the UK and beyond, to support our biobank project.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

TOPICS

Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.

Hope grass sickness project could hold the key to understanding the disease

An EGSF spokesman said previous research into the disease had been hindered by a lack of suitable samples, but since the launch of the biobank owners and vets are now playing a “crucial role”. To date, more than 1,000 biological and environmental samples have been collected.

The next stage of the research will launch next year, with the Moredun Foundation and EGSF “teaming up” at a research event with scientists from a wide range of disciplines in the hope of “making a breakthrough”.

“It is highly likely that the key to this disease lies within these biobank samples, if we can ask the right questions,” said the spokesman.

You might also be interested in:

Grass sickness: how new research is shedding light on the disease

Call for owners to play ‘crucial’ role in equine grass sickness research

5 reasons why a subscription to HorseandHound.co.uk makes the perfect last-minute gift