Useful And Essential Facts About Horse Wormers

By Christopher Barnes


All kinds of wild and domestic animals face some kind of worm infestation. There are many adverse effects that these worms inflict on animals, especially horses and ponies. As such, one should be able to know when to deworm the horses. Due to the fact that there are numerous kinds of worms, one should know the right wormer to give at a particular time of the year. This is worth knowing about horse wormers.

At the moment, there are several different kinds of wormers available on the market. This can often be confusing. Not all people understand which worming program to use in order to achieve good results. Besides the existence of many products, the various varieties of worms that infest horses are reportedly becoming resistant to medication. That means that one has to be careful with how they administer medication to avoid resistance.

Sometimes, it may not be necessary to treat worms in horses. According to research, the treatment is only necessary in about 20 percent of cases. This is because only a small number of horses get affected by worms enough to require medication. The best time to administer worming medication can be determined through a saliva test. One does not need the help of a veterinarian for them to do the test because it is very simple.

The importance of carrying out a saliva test is to avoid administering medication when it is not necessary. Besides harming the horse, this may also encourage resistance against medication by the worms. As a solution against this problem, several worming programs have been developed over the years. Some are effective while others are not that useful.

Saliva test for tapeworm should be conducted during autumn according to most programs. One should administer wormers for tapeworms if the results are positive. Tapeworms should be treated using wormers that contain praziquantel or an increased dose of pyrantel. Some of the most effective wormers are Eqvalan Duo, Equest pramox, strongid P, and Equimax. The treatment can also be done using a combination of medications that contain a high dosage of pyrantel or praziquantel.

During winter, wormers which target encysted larval stages of small redworms should be administered. A suitable product to use is moxidectin because it is capable of completely killing botfly larvae. The other option to employ is increased dosage of fenbendazole although it is not effective against botfly larvae. Equest and panacur are other options that can be used.

Testing for tapeworms should be done in spring again and medication administered only in the event the worms are determined to exist. During summer, tests for worms and FEC should be done so that fenbendazole or pyrantel is administered. Apart from giving wormers, it is vital that one exercises caution how they handle horses and their environment. One of the healthy habits to observe is removing fecal matter in grazing fields weekly to avoid worm ingestion.

Pastures should not be over-stocked. A single horse should be kept in an area of about 1 to 1.5 acres. However, the size and weight of the horse may call for variation of the total size of the area it is grazed. Eggs of worms can also be controlled by grazing horses together with sheep and cows. These measures should be combined with pasture rotation.




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