Deworming Your Horse
Internal parasites are a broad problem with grazing animals, such as horses. Worms, bots and other insects lay their eggs in the soil and grass of pastures, which is then ingested by the horse as he eats. In order to keep your horse safe from these parasites, you must use some plan of deworming. This is something that horse owners can do on their acquire without the assistance of a veterinarian.
The most important reason for deworming your horse is because wormy horses are often not obviously infested. The symptoms usually include a dull coat, drastic weight loss and frequent episodes of colic, all of which can be attributed to other illnesses and disorders. With worms and other parasites in his stomach and intestines, he gets last buy of the food he ingests and he becomes malnourished rather quickly.
Recommended Frequency for Deworming
Deworming your horse isn't an exact science and does require some analysis of your geographical location, your horse's eating habits, your horse's breed and other critical factors. In some areas of the country, horses must be dewormed more frequently in the spring and summer than in the other months, while some locales have a higher prevalence of parasites in the winter and summer. Your veterinarian can educate you on the most well-known aspects of deworming.
In general, however, horses should be dewormed every two months (eight weeks) like clockwork, or they can subsist on a daily dewormer (such as Strongid C) that is given with their morning and evening meals. My horses have always received daily dewormers, but every horse owner has different preferences.
It is also important to ticket that older horses might require more frequent deworming because their immune systems are more susceptible to the infestation of parasites. You might also want to deworm more frequently if you have a large number of horses in a single pasture where turn-over is constant. Each time you introduce a new horse to the "herd", you risk spreading parasites.
Guide to Deworming Methods
There are three basic ways to deworm your horse: paste, powder and pellets. The paste deworming method is arguably the most popular and comes in a plastic tube. You adjust the dosage using a plastic notch, which indicates the amount required for the weight of your horse. There are many different types of pastes, so talk to your veterinarian about which will work best for your horse.
Pellet dewormers are another popular method, and can be administered in your horse's feed. Some pellet dewormers are given at the same frequency as paste (every eight weeks), while Strongid C is given daily. This probably isn't an effective deworming method if your horses eat together in a field or paddock because you won't be able to control who actually receives the medication.
And finally, powder dewormers are much less popular, and are generally meant to be soluble in water. You mix the powder with the appropriate amount of water, then administer via an irrigation syringe or a stomach tube. In most cases, powder dewormers are available only through veterinarians and are more trouble than they're worth.
Rotation of Deworming Methods
Many horse owners prefer to "rotate" their deworming methods in order to guard against resistance to a particular type of medication. This is largely unfounded because dewormers are given far too infrequently for parasites to build immunity, but it can be used as a general safety precaution.
This method can also be obsolete if you live in a state where different parasites are active at different times. For example, bots are most common during early fall, so you might want to use ivermectin or dichlorvos because these two dewormers are most effective against bots.
Deworming your horse shouldn't be a strain on your training program or health regimen. Simply ticket on your calendar when deworming needs to take position, then administer the medication as planned.
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Filed under Generic Heartworm Medicine by on May 10th, 2011. 