Horse Illustrated Magazine

Ask your vet to tell you which dewormers you should use at different times of the year.

Picking up piles of manure in your horse’s field and dumping them in a pile somewhere else can cut down on worms.

Look at the dewormer’s instructions to find out how much to give your horse. Turn the ring on the syringe so your horse gets the correct amount for his weight.

If your horse absolutely hates being dewormed, take an old syringe, wash it out and fill it with something yummy like applesauce or molasses and water. Squirt this in your horse’s mouth every once in a while. Soon, he might not mind being dewormed so much.

After squirting the dewormer paste into your horse’s mouth, hold his head up for a moment to make sure he doesn’t spit it right out!

Always check the use-by date on a syringe of dewormer. If it’s been sitting on a shelf too long it won’t work properly.Only spread manure around a field with a chain harrow when it’s very HOT. Sun kills worm eggs. If you drag a field when it’s warm or rainy, all you’ll do is spread the eggs around more.

Make sure that your horse’s mouth is empty before deworming him.

If you haven’t dewormed your horse in a while, cut down on his hard feed (pellets, sweet feed) the day before, the day of and the day after his deworming. The dewormer may kill a lot of worms which could get stuck in his intestines. You don’t want large quantities of digested feed getting stuck behind the worm blockage because this causes colic.

Worms can develop a resistance to one dewormer if it is given all of the time. You need to rotate your dewormers. Ask your vet for a dewormer rotation  schedule.

If your horse looks thin and his coat doesn’t shine, he might have worms. Deworm him immediately!

Worms thrive in moist, warm environments so you must get serious about deworming all of your horses in the spring and summer.

When you use a paste dewormer, put the syringe in the corner of your horse’s mouth and aim for the back of his tongue. Squirt the paste in one quick motion.

Horse dewormer can make a dog really sick, so make sure you wipeup any spilt paste and throw syringes away after they are used.

Rotating pastures with other animals like sheep or cows can cut down on worms.
Removing bot eggs from your horse’s legs and tummy with a special bot knife or razor can help prevent worms.

If you leave the bot legs there, your horse may scratch himself with his mouth and swallow them. The bot eggs end up in his digestive system where they turn into worms. Yuck!