Worm Control In Your Horse
How do worms effect your horse?
Roundworms, tapeworms and bots can infect your horse causing several problems including: Weight loss, failure to thrive, mild to severe colic and diarrhoea which can on occasions become life threatening.
Colic: Research has shown that tapeworm infection is a common cause of recurrent colic.
Intestine worms produce large numbers of eggs which pass out in your horses faeces hence re-infecting the grazing group. For effective worm control all horses sharing a pasture must follow the same worm control programme and be wormed on the same day.
The most effective control programme for you horse involves a combination of pasture management, routine use of wormers and faecal worm egg counts.
Droppings should be regularly removed from the pasture to reduce the number of worm eggs available for your horse to eat and also increase available grazing.
What wormers should be used to suppress worm egg production and when?
Group A (active for 8 weeks)
- Equimax
- Eqvalan
- Eraquell
- Vectin
Group B (active for 13 weeks)
- Equest
Group C (active for 1 week)
- Panacur Paste
- Panacur Guard
- Telmin
Wormers against tape worm (use in autumn)
- Equitape
- Equimax
- Equvalan Duo
- Pyrapape P (double dose)
- Strongid P (double dose)
Unfortunately, resistance to Group C wormers is becoming widespread so it is advisable to use wormers from groups A and B for routine worm control. However, Panacur Guard has been shown to be effective against encysted (hibernating) red worms, and can be incorporated into the two year worm control program as shown. Panacur Guard may also be used to treat horses suffering from diarrhoea caused by red worms.
| April | June | July | August | November | December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Group A | Group A | - | Group A | Tape Worm | Group B or Panacur Guard |
| Year 2 | Group B | - | Group B | - | Tape Worm | Group B or Panacur Guard |
This programme should be followed by all horses and ponies sharing the pasture. Any new arrivals should ideally have a faecal worm egg count done, be wormed with a group A or B wormer and kept in for 24 hours, then join in with the current worming programme of the other horses.
No Worming program will totally eliminate all worm problems but the strategic regime above will control the worm population in a cost effective manner in most cases. In particular situations additional treatment may be appropriate depending on specific veterinary advice.
Why have your horse faeces tested?
A sample of your horses faeces can be examined for the presence of worm eggs in our laboratory here at Aireworth Vets.
This allows us to :
- Identify the infestation level of common worm species in your horse.
- determine the effectiveness of your worming programme
- find out if you are worming unnecessarily at certain times of the year.
A faecal sampling pack can be collected from reception. This includes a sampling glove, submission form and advice on how to take the sample. Samples can be dropped off at the surgery for testing with results available in 1-2 days.
Faecal worm egg count results can be used along with knowledge of an individuals grazing routine and pasture management to develop a tailored worm management routine and take action if the current strategy is ineffective.
It is recommended that worm egg counts be performed twice yearly. In some situations where there is a stable grazing on well maintained pasture use of worm egg counts will reduce the need for routine worming.