Keeping pastures and paddocks free of manure can help reduce the number of anthelmintic treatments horses require. | Photo: Alexandra Beckstett/The Horse

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