Equine Parasite Control

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Anyone hungry for spaghetti for dinner?
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Equine Parasite Control

• Parasites and Pastures
• This presentation is from Virginia Tech and has
  not been edited by the Georgia Curriculum Office.

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Enabling Objectives

• Identify different internal parasites common to
  horses
• Identify different prevention methods for
  internal parasites in horses
• Identify different types of dewormers available
• Construct a sound deworming program for horses

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Common Internal Parasites

• Cestodes(tapeworms)
• Arthropods
• Bots
• Nematodes

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Nematodes (roundworms)
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Cestodes

• Long, ribbon-like, white
• Commonly called tapeworms

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Arthropods

• Ticks, mites, etc.
• Can live inside horse for part of its life cycle
• Also bots

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Bots

• Flies deposit eggs on hairs on horses face,
  throat, legs, chest
• Horse licks and digests larvae
• Larvae travel through oral tissue to stomach and
  attach for 8-10 months
• Pass out in feces, finish maturation in soil,
  emerge in spring

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Nematodes Large roundworms

• Eggs ingested and hatches in small intestine
• Migrate through bloodstream to liver and lungs
• Large numbers found in foals
• Heat will kill quicker than cold

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Nematodes Large Strongyles

• Very harmful to horses
• Larvae ingested and invade arterioles, travel
  through body to large intestine
• Damage blood vessels-cause blood clots
• Greatest infestation in spring and summer

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Nematodes Small Strongyles

• Adults live in small intestine
• Larvae enter lining of intestine and form
  nodules, they do not migrate any further
• Can cause severe weight loss, diarrhea, colic and
  even death

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Nematodes Pinworms

• Females move to rectum and deposit eggs around
  the anus
• Eggs fall to the ground and are ingested and
  hatch in the intestine
• Most common in young horses
• Tail rubbing is a common symptom
• Loss of body condition and appetite

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Internal Parasite Preventions

• Feed horses off ground
• Provide fresh water
• Clean stalls regularly
• Keep bedding to minimum in summer
• Regular deworming schedule

• Rotate pastures
• Rotate cattle and horses
• Tie stalls decrease number of worm infestation

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Deworming Program

• Program usually aimed at adult, not larvae
• Dose every 2 months
• Spring and summer program important!

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Types of Dewormers

• Ivermectin- Equimectrin
• Benzimidatoles- Panacure
• Pyrantel Panoate- Strongid P
• Pyrantel Tartrate- Strongid C
• Moxidectin- Quest- this is very specific to
  weight by distributing to body fat, can lead to
  death if overdosed- NOT FOR FOALS!!

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Review

• Types of dewormers
• Prevention measures
• Importance of deworming program
• Types of dewormers
• Why is Quest so dangerous and why should it not
  be given to foals?