HIYA
I have just moved yards 2 months ago and my old yard wormed all 102 horses for everyone but my was wormed at the end of may and i am sure she needs worming now what should i wormer her with what is the best wormer for this time of year Thanks all

Suzie Q

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yes she probably needs worming if it hasn't been done since may! Equimax is a good al round wormer which also treats for tapeworm. spring and autumn are the times to treat for tapeworm so I'd choose this wormer. check the box I think the horse needs worming again after 10wks. for the next one I'd use either Equest or Panacur Guard which is a 5-day course. both of these treat for encysted small red worm, which hibernate in the gut all winter then emerge together in the spring and can cause diarrhoea, colic or death. you worm for encysted redworm after the first frost(eg about november time or a bit later) and maybe again in the spring if you suspect a serious worm problem. Generally worming needs to be done every 8-13wks depending on the wormer used, check the box for instructions. apart from tapeworm and encysted redworm make sure you use a different ingredient each year for the other worming sessions, not just a different brand name you must actually check the box for the active ingredient. eg one ingredient on year one (with tapeworm and encysted redworm treatments), another ingredient on year two, another ingredient on year three, then on year four go back to year ones ingredient. if you need further advice consult your vet.

Have you considered faecal egg counts? In England this service is usually offered by vets and usually costs around £15 and involve taking a sample of the faeces and counting the number of worm eggs found within it. Worming is then done depending on the result of these tests, so if a low burden is found then you dont need to worm your horse but if a high burden is found then you can worm your horse depending on the type of worm burden found. It helps to prevent the worms building up a resistance to the current drugs.

Ideally all the horses on your yard especially if they share the same pastures would need to have it done, although it can save money as most of the time your horse dosent need to be wormed anyway. If this idea is not practical, then try to bring your horses worming into the same pattern as the other horses worming, as otherwise your horse will keep the worms alive and then reinfect the other horses and vise versa, making the worms more drug resistant than usual.

Try this link for more information:
Equine Faecal Worm Egg Count
or do a search for faecal egg counts as there is a lot of useful information on the web. Your vet should also have some more information. Another solution would be for your yard to get the equipment and everyone can do the examination themselves as this can be possible with a bit of learning, although the equipment can be quite expensive to start with. Hope that helps anyway!

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Hunky Horse
www.hunkyhorse.com

worm counts are useful but i disagree with never worming your horse if they are clear. worm counts only diagnose adult egg-laying worms present in the horse they don't diagnose larvae, especially encysted small redworm larvae which hibernate in your horse all winter emerging all together in the spring and can make your horse seriously ill. worm counts also don't diagnose tapeworm, but there is a blood test available to test for tapeworm.

We use Ivermectin at this time of year to kill bots. We usually worm 4 times a year with alternating wormers.

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