Question:  My horse is drooling excessively and I’ve heard this is from eating clover. Will this hurt my horse?

Answer:  Recently, there have been several reports of “slobbers” in horses. Slobbers, characterized by excessive salivation or drooling, is caused by a compound (slaframine) produced by the fungus Slafractonia leguminicola, which can be found on red clover.

The fungus can be identified by looking at the underside of red clover leaves, where it appears as small black dots (as though someone dotted the leaf with a felt tip marker). The fungus grows best in hot, humid conditions and can cause slobbers when eaten fresh in pasture or when consumed in dried hay.

Although unsightly, slobbers is not a concern for horses as long as they stay hydrated.

Written by Devon Catalano, M.S. and Krishona Martinson, PhD, University of Minnesota. This and other horse nutrition articles can be found at http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/.