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I wouldn't be too concerned about using insecticides on your horse's
legs---if you don't like using the heavy-duty stuff, try tipping a
little of the regular fly spray concentrates into the water instead,
like Repel-X. It will probably be just about as effective. And if you
like, you can use some soap and water on the legs to remove even that
after you've done the bot-egg routine.
As far as using ivermectin in August and October to kill off the bots
inside the horse---actually, bot eggs can remain infective for long
after when the active bot flies have died off for the season. And bot
flies don't always lay eggs on horses where you can find them and remove
them---I've seen eggs laid on stable walls, feeders, etc., so your horse
could be freshly infecting himself well into the fall and winter. So
you should definitely deworm your horse not just in August and October,
but every eight to twelve weeks throughout the year. Keep in mind that
using a paste wormer is controlling the parasites after they've already
infected your horse, rather than preventing them from infecting in the
first place. This isn't a suggestion that killing bot eggs while on the
legs should REPLACE a regular deworming program, it's just a way to keep
down the numbers of parasites that get into the horse in the first
place.
There are a couple of other minor points about deworming, parasites and
bots---even if you do nothing at all about bots, bots are generally far
less harmful to the horse than some of the other common parasites. Some
of the vets on the lists can tell you about bots causing sores in the
mouth, occasional tummy problems, etc, but bots don't migrate outside
the GI tract and cause the damage that other parasites (like strongyles)
do. If you don't deworm on a REGULAR basis to get rid of the bots, do
it to get rid of the other species that do cause much more damage.
Maybe I'll post something about liver-lung migratory routes but first
I'm gonna have to drink alot more coffee ;->!
Anyway, the point to all this rambling is that you should absolutely
deworm your horse on a regular basis all year 'round, not just for bots
but for all the other species of parasites as well. If you choose to
use the method I suggested for removing bot eggs, then great, you've cut
down on the number of buggies infecting your horse. But the best thing
you can do for your horse is keep him regularly dewormed.
Hope this helps.
Susan Evans Garlinghouse
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