Keep Your Horse Healthy With Horse Dewormer Paste
Equine parasites and worms can cause various health issues in horses if left untreated. Parasites and worms, such as strongyles, tapeworms, roundworms, and bots, can cause severe damage to your horse’s digestive tract, causing colic and even damage to the liver, lungs, and throat. You can reduce these risks by utilizing a modern deworming program using fecal egg count tests combined with targeted deworming or using a traditional rotational deworming schedule.
If you’re not sure what dewormer you should use, checking out our Guide To Deworming Horses is a great start!
Frequently Asked Questions About Dewormer for Horses
How often does my horse need to be wormed?
Deciding how often to deworm your horse can vary greatly on the type of deworming program you prefer, whether it is a rotational deworming schedule or fecal tests from your veterinarian twice a year to determine which horse wormer you should use based on the parasite load. If you choose to do a rotational deworming schedule, most horse owners will worm their horses every other month.
What horse wormer kills all worms?
Each type of horse dewormer kills different types of worms and parasites. Combination dewormers like Zimecterin Gold®, EquiMax®, and Quest Gel® are a popular choice of horse dewormer paste that kills multiple species of worms such as large and small strongyles, ascarids, hairworms, threadworms, stomach worms, lungworms, bots, pinworms, and tapeworms.
What is the best deworming schedule for horses?
A good deworming schedule for rotational deworming is when you rotate different types of horse wormer throughout the year to keep parasites at bay. A common schedule is a fenbendazole, ivermectin/praziquantel, pyrantel, fenbendazole, ivermectin/praziquantel, and pyrantel, done every other month in that order. Learn more by reading our Guide To Deworming Horses.
How do I choose a dewormer for my horse?
You can choose a dewormer for your horse by either having a fecal test done to find out the egg count or parasite load in your horse’s manure, which can be done twice a year by your veterinarian. If you do not do a fecal count test, you can choose a combination dewormer such as Zimecterin Gold®, EquiMax®, or Quest Plus Gel® to cover a broad range of parasites before you start a regular deworming schedule. These combination dewormers also treat tapeworms and are recommended to do after a hard frost in the Fall.
Can horses become resistant to dewormer?/Can you over worm a horse?
Yes, horses can become resistant to dewormers, a common concern among veterinarians. Studies have shown that parasites are becoming more and more resistant to chemical horse wormers which will soon limit how effectively we can control worms in our horses. Using fecal egg counts is a great way to ensure you are only using the type of horse dewormer that your horse needs, twice a year, and not over worming for parasites your horse does not have.