As a horse owner or someone learning about horses, you’ll often hear experts talk about internal parasites. While this is a natural part of a horse’s digestive system, an overload of worms cancause several different problems for your horse.
Setting the right schedule for deworming your horse can help keep your horse healthy. That being said, this article will go over everything you need to know about the proper deworming schedule for your horse.
So, How Often Do You Worm a Horse?
Most veterinarians recommend that you worm your horse every two months. However, there has been an ongoing debate about the effectiveness of repeatedly using the same wormers.
Therefore, it’s crucial to develop a sustainable worming schedule and combine it with other effective worm control methods to protect your horse.
Like all other animals, horses carry beneficial parasites that you don’t want to remove during worming. Therefore, it’s essential to manage these parasites effectively while worming your horse from harmful worms.
How Do Horses Get Worms?
Horses typically get worms by mixing with other infected horses or from contaminated pastures. Both situations leave your horse prone to infection by worms. These infections can affect even the best horses.
Pastures can get contaminated with eggs, larvae, and parasites when they are mixed with manure from other infected horses. These parasites can rub off onto the pasture, leaving your horse prone to worms when they’re grazing.
Since horses cannot pick out these parasites when grazing, they typically ingest them together with other elements of the pasture. It’s important to note that the parasites can stay alive in the pasture for a considerable amount of time, so you should always stay vigilant!
Factors that Determine the Right Worming Schedule for Horses
Experts often argue that different worming schedules work for different horses, depending on several factors.
To help you understand what’s right for your horse, here are some crucial factors to think about.
Age
Depending on the age of your horse, they may require a different worming schedule. For instance, very old and very young horses may require more frequent worming since their internal resistance to contamination is still very fragile.
Health Condition
Obviously, your horse’s health condition will play a part in determining how prone it is to worm infections. That’s why horse owners will typically deworm ill horses more. Healthy horses are usually able to resist the ill effects of worms.
Pasture Condition
Your horse’s pasture condition can make them more prone to worms. If your horse is grazing on small dirty pastures, then it’ll require a more frequent worming schedule since such pastures are characterized by a more significant concentration of worms.
Herd Size
The rule is simple: the more horses, the more prone they are to worms and other parasites. You won’t need to worm them too often if you have just one horse since it won’t be that prone to contamination.
Climate
Since worms tend to thrive in warm, moist environments, it’s not surprising that you’ll need to increase the worming schedule during hotter seasons.
How to Prevent Worm Damage in Horses
The most effective method for controlling worms in horses is by keeping your horses’ pasture clean. You can also adopt targeted methods during deworming for effectiveness.
Targeted deworming means that you test each horse before choosing the right approach to deworming them. The test needs to show the extent of the worm infection so that you can treat only the horses that need it.
Experts often recommend using targeted approaches for worm control because it helps you navigate the issues that routine or blanket worming can cause. Remember that regular worming can actually cause parasites to build a resistance to many of the drugs you use.
Using Pasture Management for Efficient Worm Control
Most worms that contaminate our horses come from contaminated pastures.
Redworms are among the most widespread parasites that affect horses, and their eggs can develop into the larval stage within just five days in a dung pile. Studies show that redworms can travel up to 3 feet in dry conditions. However, they can cover up to 10 feet in wet conditions.
Like we mentioned earlier, hot or mild weather conditions help worms spread faster. On the other hand, harsh weather can help kill off some of the worms in pastures.
Therefore, an excellent way to prevent worm infection is by testing pastures in hotter conditions. Your primary focus here should be on minimizing the number of worms that your horse might consume when grazing.
How to Know If Your Horse Has Worms
While your horse may appear in perfect condition, it could still be infected with worms. However, you can easily detect an infection by watching for common signs of parasite infection. Some of these symptoms include:
- Weight loss
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
- Loss of appetite
- Colic
- Dull coat
If you notice any or a combination of these symptoms in your horse, we recommend taking them to a veterinarian. The vet will perform a blood test and fecal egg count on your horse to confirm the parasite species. The test will also help determine how badly the parasite has destroyed your horse’s digestive system.
Conclusion
In regards to how often do you worm a horse, it’s often recommended that you consider your horse’s condition first and then create a schedule accordingly.
Remember that the best way to deal with worms is by preventing your horse from infection in the first place!