As a horse owner it is essential that you understand the importance of a good worm control strategy.

Three types of worms infest horses including ROUNDWORMS (small strongyles, large strongyles, ascarids and pin worms), TAPEWORM, and BOTS.

PASTURE MANAGEMENT is essential to break the life cycle of the parasites and includes cross grazing with sheep or cattle, resting the paddock for 3 months during hot or cold months, picking up manure and not overstocking paddocks.

FAECAL EGG COUNTS can be performed on your horse’s manure to determine the presence of parasites in your horse. It allows us to target treat individual horses based on the severity of their worm burden and only treating horses with a significant worm burden of >200-500 eggs per gram of faeces.

STRATEGIC WORMING PLAN

  1. Perform a faecal egg count 2 – 4 times per year, and 2 weeks after worming to check for drench resistance
  2. In Autumn, treat horses with a 5 day Panacur course (10ml/100kg)  followed by EQUEST plus TAPE. This should be performed once a year only to minimise the development of resistance.
  3. Foals should be wormed with Panacur at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of age.
  4. Worm all young horses >3months of age at 8 weekly intervals with EQUIMAX ELEVATION or other products that are effective against ascarids, which are common in young horses.
  5. Older horses should have faecal egg counts performed to monitor their parasite burden and only be dewormed should their faecal egg count be greater than 200 eggs per gram.
  6. It is important that horses are given an appropriate dose of dewormer for their bodyweight as underdosing will lead to drench resistance.