How to Kill Your Horse

Equine Parasites can Kill your Horse

Have you de-wormed your horse lately?

Internal parasites can kill your horse. While they may be hidden from you, they are doing extensive damage internally to your horse.

At a minimum, parasites can steal nutrients from your horse and cause gastrointestinal irritation. The bad news is, uncontrolled they can cause colic, intestinal ruptures and death.

For your horse to maintain his good health, always supply clean water, high quality feed and adhere to a good equine de-worming program.

There are many parasites that can infest horses. The most common are tapeworms, large and small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, stomach bots, lungworms and threadworms. Some of these species lay up to 200,000 eggs a day.

All of these parasites may be present in your horse at the same time, just in different lifecycle stages. While your horse may look healthy and happy, you don't really know what’s going on inside. These silent killers can damage your horses’ tissues and vital organs, major blood vessels, cause obstructions and ulcerations in the digestive tract. Pinworms can really irritate horses and cause intense anal itching.

You may or may not see all signs of a parasite infestation.

Signs of infestation:

• Dull rough coat
• Weight loss, loss of appetite etc.
• Tail rubbing (hair loss)
• Colic
• Depression
• Coughing/nasal discharge

The best thing to do if you see some of these signs is talk to your veterinarian about getting a equine fecal examination. The eggs will be visible to the veterinarian under a microscope. By counting the types and number of eggs, your vet can advise you which de-worming program will work the best for your horse.

You can give your horse a de-wormer in a variety of ways including utilizing an oral paste syringe, oral liquid syringe, and as a feed additive. In many cases horses will not eat something they smell in their feed. Make sure you give the proper dose, based on your horses’ weight, and at the proper time, usually every 6 to 8 weeks. Foals will differ; refer to your wormers’ instruction label. If the above de-worming options fail to work for you, see your vet, they have other options.

We welcome your comments, personal experiences, or helpful suggestions for all of our readers.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great day with your horse!

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