An interesting thing happened just after the Farm Tour, while hand walking Dallas along the bike path. This walk is always a special treat for Dallas - she enjoys watching the cows, munching on grass and alfalfa flowers, and enjoying an occasional apple along the way.
I should mention that at this point, Dallas had been dealing with loose stools for about a week. I had never known her to have this condition, and needless to say, I was a bit worried (who, me?). All of a sudden, as we walked along the path, she suddenly looked up, practically dragged me over to a patch of weeds, and started to devour them. I had no idea what they were and they didn't look particularly yummy to me. She was snatching them up by the stalks and all and eating them as fast as she could. She managed to munch down quite a bit of this mysterious weed before I was able to encourage her away. Although Dallas seemed fine after the walk, I was a bit concerned about her trailside snack. Might it be poisonous? I walked back to that location and picked a sample of the mystery weed to see if someone could identify it for me. I brought it over to Mary Gallagher, who was holding Danny at the time, and he reached for a bite of it. It appeared that horses like to eat this strange thing. Mary suggested I give the sample to Jess, who might be able to identify it, and indeed she was: it was sow thistle or Sonchus oleraceus, for those who prefer the scientific name.
Of course, I had to do some internet research. One site I found, Survival Plants Memory Course had some interesting details. A few tidbits from their description:
"In legend, sow thistle was supposed to have been given to the Greek Hero Theseus before he defeated the bull of Marathon. In Italian stories, the phrase "Open Sow-Thistle" was used for the same purpose as the words 'Open Sesame'."
Of most interest to me was the fact that it is very edible and has medicinal uses, primarily antidiarrheal:
"COMMON CONDITIONS: Diarrhea - Infusion of whole plant to cleanse or purge; purpose of removing offending materials, as indigestible food, discharges, bacteria, etc."
Supposedly, the authors claimed, horses don't like to eat it, but what do they know; apparently, Dallas had a problem and knew what she needed to fix it: her stool firmed up within a day or two and has stayed healthy and solid. And that's the rest of the story!
