Regular deworming – but why?
Our horses are susceptible to various types of worm infections. These parasites can severely affect your horse’s overall well-being and cause serious health problems. Consequences can include weight loss, poor feed utilization, diarrhea, colic, and even life-threatening complications. By regularly administering a deworming treatment, you can reduce the number of worms in your horse’s intestines and thus protect and maintain its health.
Get your strategy – how to best get rid of those little worms
There are countless deworming products on the market, so it’s important to find the right one for your horse. Since there are many different types of worms that cannot all be treated with the same product, you should create an individual plan with your vet. To find the right products, you should first have a fecal sample examined by your vet. After that, you can plan the deworming strategy for your horse.
To make sure you know everything about correct deworming, we’ve put together a few #FACTS that are important for a worm-free everyday life with your favorite:
1. Get the right time: The frequency of deworming depends on various factors, such as the type of keeping, the horse’s age, and the worm burden on the pasture. Your vet can help you create an individual deworming program for your horse or the entire herd.
2. Pasture management: Good pasture hygiene is crucial to reduce worm burden. Regular removal of horse manure from the pastures and appropriate rest periods for the pasture can help minimize worm infections.
3. All horses must be on the same page: It’s important that all horses in your herd are dewormed at the same time to prevent reinfection. So it doesn’t help if you only deworm your own horse.
4. Keep calm after deworming: After deworming, you should take it easy for the first two to three days; light training will definitely be more comfortable for your horse. Also, keep in mind that your horse should not go out to pasture for one to three days, as the worms are expelled from the body during this time. If the manure is not carefully removed, reinfestation by worm eggs can occur. That’s why #SAFETYFIRST after deworming and thorough removal of horse droppings is essential.
Regular deworming is an indispensable part of health care for horses. An effective deworming strategy based on individual needs is the best way to prevent worm infections and protect our horses’ health. It’s always a good idea to involve your vet so that deworming is done properly and can be effective. After all, we all want our favorites to be healthy and happy.
