Re: Re: Worming

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> If you have a fecal analysis done on a regular basis...i.e..four times a
> year....would this not be a valid indication?

According to the parasitologist at CSU, not necessarily.  For example, it's
not going to show encysted strongyles.


 I prefer not to just worm
> on general principles.  I DO worm on a regular schedule....but not every
> month.

I don't think horses should be wormed every month, either.  But I also
wouldn't ever *not* worm a horse based solely on a negative fecal.


 Twice {on consecutive months) in the spring and twice in the
> fall with Ivermectin and Strongid.  Are you saying we should just worm
> anyway, not matter what?  Hmmm...not sure I agree with that...but maybe
> you can change my thinking.  By the way, I pick up all the poop in my
> pastures weekly. My vet is pleased with my worming program, the health
> of my horses (he sees them every 3 months) and the way I maintain my
> pastures.


I don't think you can make absolute 'rules' about worming any more than you
can about anything else having to do with horses.  You have to take into
account whether or not the horses are on green pasture, how crowded the
horses are (two horses to a pasture or twenty), how well the other horses
not owned by you are managed (which will relate to how infected the pasture
is), the relative lushness of the environment (which relates to how viable
parasite eggs will stay after being shed in feces), whether or not the
manure is picked up (as yours is), the age of the horses (any babies
present) and whether the horses go any where else where they might be
infected.

I think for your situation, Jim, four times a year is very
reasonable---although if I owned your horses and lived at your place (and I
keep waiting for the invitation, darn you)<g>, I would probably do a panacur
purge once a year as well to get the encysted strongyles and tapes as well.
Maybe replace one of the second wormers with the panacur instead.  As
mentioned elsewhere, the toxicity of panacur is almost non existent and I
think the benefits way outweigh the disadvantages.

Susan G