Horse Health
Considerations for Deworming Your Horse
By
Jun 17, 2009, 12:47

Deworming horses has always been important when considering equine care. It is common for horse owners to deworm every 6 to 8 weeks with a different class of dewormer each time. It can be easy for owners to forget the most important strategies to decrease worms: rotating pastures to allow eggs to desiccate and cleaning up manure in pastures and dry lots regularly. If deworming occurs too frequently it may lead to resistant colonies of worms making the process less effective, so it's important to find a balance.

The biggest parasite problem lies with small strongyles, a large intestinal parasite that has the ability to encyst in the mucosa of the large intestines. This parasite survives winter within the host, and then breaks out to begin another life cycle. This results in inflammation and ulceration of the large intestines. The most effective dewormers used for small strongyles are moxidectin or five consecutive days of fenbendazole. Use cautiously because when used too frequently, these agents will become less effective due to resistance.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners recommends performing a Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) to determine if changes need to be made in deworming practices. A fecal sample should be taken at the time of small strongyle re-emergence (spring), the horse is given dewormer and then a fecal sample is observed again two weeks later. If the fecal egg count is down then the dewormer should be continually used, if not then the intestinal parasite at the particular barn are resistant to the dewormer and it should not be used.

To beat intestinal parasites, smart deworming strategies must be used. These strategies include regular manure removal, fecal exams and the use of dewormers based on the fecal exam. For any questions or more information, consult your veterinarian or www.myhorsematters.com.

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