[ABC News 08 Nov. 2010] -- Good rainfall over winter and spring has prompted an outbreak of Paterson's Curse across the ACT. Canberra horse owners and the Territory and Municipal Services are trying to control the poisonous weed with spraying programs. "Like all weeds, they're opportunistic and this year because the rain came early and consistently and we didn't have a very frosty spring, it just took off," said ACT Equestrian Association president Christine Lawrence. About 80 horses died in the Canberra region in 2003 during an outbreak of the purple flowered pest.
But Ms Lawrence says circumstances are different this year. "Unlike the 2003 situation, there is an alternative for the horses at the moment. We've got a lot of everything growing, there's been a very wet spring. Whereas in 2003 there wasn't a lot else for horses to eat, the paddocks were absolutely bare and then this poisonous crop came up," she said.
The purple pest, also known as Salvation Jane, can cause liver damage in livestock. (ABC Local: Jess Perriam)
"So people have got an alternative. They can move them into paddocks that have been sprayed and aren't contaminated. If horses have a choice, they won't eat it."
Ms Lawrence says owners need to be supplementary feeding horses that cannot be moved.
"If they can't move their horses off that stuff then they should be feeding them something much more palatable to make sure they're not distracted by the thought that there's something to eat in front of their faces," she said.
