Deworming Horses: Dealing With Differing Opinions

Q. My senior gelding is out for a lease trial. At home he lives in a drylot, and his fecal egg counts always show him to be a 0 shedder, so I treat him twice a year with a product that includes praziquantel for tapeworms. The barn he is moving to is impeccably clean and has excellent manure management. There, he will get turnout time in shared grass paddocks. However, this farm does not do fecal egg counts and still uses an eight-week rotational program on all the horses. I tried to explain the current recommendations for parasite control to the owner but to no avail.
Our agreement is that I will manage my horse’s parasite program separate from the farm’s. But I’m concerned that he is at risk because of the barn’s practices, although I’m happy there is never manure left on the paddocks. Should I be concerned, and what’s the best way to protect him from internal parasites while he lives there?
—Ashley, via TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com. Already have an account?Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.
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Written by:
Martin Krarup Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVM
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