De-worming help?

Well it's time to deworm the girls again but I'm having trouble figuring out which dewormer to use.

We've always used Equimax because it covered all worms...but then I got to reading about the worms getting resistent to it, which I guess would explain why the girls now have bot eggs on their legs.

One of the mares is 9 and the other is 24, they are only pastured with eachother in a dry lot and get hay morning and night that usually lasts them through until their next feeding. They are fed Blueseal Trotter. Its getting colder now (I think that matters? LOL not sure) but no snow yet.

Anything else you'd need to know, just ask. Thanks to anyone that can help

Annnnybody?

The eggs on her legs are from bot flies. You need to deworm with an ivermec based wormer to get the ones that are ingested and hatch in the horse's gut. I, personally, would do it now and repeat in 4 to 6 weeks.

To help to remove the eggs on the legs - get a "bot knife" to scrape the eggs off and bust them open.

BTW: Your wormer has nothing to do with the eggs on her legs. Flyspray use and effectiveness on the other hand.............

We've kept flyspray on both of them ALL summer. The summer before that we never used it and they never had bot eggs...

The fact that they are dry lotted and kept alone means that they are probably in the group that only needs deworming twice a year. (I'm assuming you pick up the feces pretty regularly.) Being in New York, you are in the area of the country where you shouldn't need to deworm at this time of year because the weather conditions are not conducive to parasite reinfection anyway.

So, when was the last time you dewormed them and what did you use?

We last dewormed in September and we used Equimax.

Have you had bots since then? What has the average daytime temp been?

The eggs on there legs are from bot flies, not worms. Get a bot knife and scrape them off. Equuimax is a great de-wormer but you should be using rotational accordingly. Do a google search for "Safeguard de-worming chart" this is what we use, it tells you what to use and when.

The rotational charts that you find online are not worth using. Rotational deworming every 2 months is no longer considered an effective or acceptable method for deworming horses by the equine vets who study equine GI parasites. These programs lead to the use of ineffective drugs, use of drugs at the wrong intervals and overuse of drugs to control parasitism.

Check out this webinar for the most up-to-date recommendations on equine deworming: The Horse | Videos