De-worming

Ahh, de-worming…it seems like we always just did it and it's always about due.  There are no two ways about it; de-worming is an on going chore that begins shortly after birth and will continue for the life of your horse.  I'm going to try to skip all the big words and Latin and just address the basics.   

From the moment your horse is born, his world is infested.  In the very straw into which he is delivered, parasites abound.  These deadly bugs are ingested from the soil, from droppings and even licked from the horse's own fur.  Once in the body, they hatch, grow, thrive, breed and lay more eggs that will be passed through the horse only to repeat the vicious cycle again.  Old time horsemen lived with a constant regimen of strict pasture rotation in an often vain attempt to control parasite populations.  Luckily, however, in the 1960's and 1970's commercial de-wormers became available to the general horse owning population and for once we had a real weapon with which to fight back.  

A diligent de-worming regimen is your best defense against serious illness and organ damage to your equine.  While we will probably never rid the horse's environment of parasites completely, we can dramatically control their numbers.  A rotation of Ivermectin every other month will keep almost all major parasites in check.  A dose of Quest in the spring will knock out the once hard to kill encysted small strongyle, and twice per year, a product of either category containing Praziquantel should be administered to control the deadly tapeworm.

Your veterinarian can help you udnerstand the parasites prevalent in your area and assist you in creating a timeline and rotational schedule for your deworming.