A collaboration between soil specialists at the Hutton, animal health experts at Moredun Research Institute and the Equine Grass Sickness Fund is hoping to find clues to the origins of the deadly disease by comparing what’s in soil from a hot spot of EGS in Aberdeenshire with biological samples from actual cases. The work is one of the latest avenues being explored to unlock the cause of this debilitating disease, which was first recognised at an outbreak in an army camp near Dundee in 1907and is estimated to kill one in 200 horses in the UK every year. Processing of the samples at the Hutton has had initial support thanks to a £4,000 donation from Aberdeenshire business owner Emily Anderson, whose sister, Scottish Champion dressage winner Gillian Green’s warmblood horse Jed is one of the few to survive the disease. “It was a horrific experience to see Jed stuck with the chronic form of this terrible disease,” says Green, who is also manager of the National Soils Archive at the Hutton and is in charge of processing the samples. “He survived, thanks to a lot of support and effort from Emily, the stables and the wider community, but most don’t. Hunt for cause of deadly horse disease turns to Hutton soil science Efforts to discover the mystery cause of a devastating horse disease called equine grass sickness (EGS) have turned to soil science. 16 Hutton Highlights “By matching the soil samples with biological samples from horses that have contracted EGS, we hope modern techniques like environmental DNA (eDNA) could help to finally pinpoint the cause of this nightmare disease – or rule it out.” Gillian, Jed, Beth, Lorna, Little John and Emily
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