[SaddlebredGrl]

So i board my horse at a fairly large boarding facility, and he is a pasture horse now. My moms horse, my friends horse, and my horse all get wormed regularly, and stool samples checked. So my horse had a stool sample checked this summer, he was negative, my moms horse in september had large strongyles and wormed with quest plus just like the vet told us. So to make a long story short: My mom's horse got sick a couple weeks ago, and had the vet out and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. Well next day she had diarrhea, and loaded with worms. So i decided to have my horse and my friends horse checked, my horse had rounds, my friends horse had rounds and strongyles. We have all three now done a power pack. Oh yeah, my mom's horse and friends horse were both wormed in december with quest plus. My horse and my friends horse are in the same pasture, my moms horse in a stall.

So we went to the barn owners, because we know that half the horses in our pasture are not wormed. We told them what happen and asked if they could let the other owners know that our horses had worms so that they could get their horses checked and wormed if needed. Yeah, well they told us they would if they had the time, and that they are all on their own worming schedule... Uh yeah so are ours and they have worms. So what would you guys do as barn owners/horse owners? We want to tell everyone, because it's not going to go away if everyone is infected and not getting treated. Power packs are like 80 bucks i don't have that money to spend all the time or a colic bill.

 

[justsambam08]

I would mention to everybody that all of your horses had worms, so there is a possibility that others could be infected. Don't drop names or place blame, just give the same speech to everybody, since you don't really know who is worming and who isn't.

I personally like worming my horse myself, but I'm at a smaller facility (20 stalls plus three of the BO's horses) and so we can all keep up on that sort of thing. Plus I'm religious about it. If people can't get out there every other month to worm, I would suggest to them that they try daily wormer with the horses hard feed, if it gets any, that way the barn is responsible for giving it (if they are the ones who feed the horses on field board) so you'll know next time who is and isn't keeping up with care.

Until everyone in the pasture is treated or comes out with a clean bill of health, I would talk to the BO and see if you can quarantine your healthy horses. If s/he continues to subject your horses to unhealthy situations, I would find a new place to board.

 

[JadedEyes]

I think the best thing about my barn is that all of the horses are on the same schedule. Doesn't matter if you are new to the barn or not, all of the horses get wormed every other month.

We also have white boards and cork boards in the barns, letting people know about any problems, upcoming events, etc.

 

[Maverick101]

As a BO/BM that is why I DO NOT allow anyone to deworm their own horses at our place. All the horses are on the same schedule, and done by myself....that way I know its done, and there is no wondering who dewormed when and w what etc etc. I just charge the dewomer back to the boarder at that months board.

 

[whitetrashwarmblood]

Yeah, well they told us they would if they had the time, and that they are all on their own worming schedule... Uh yeah so are ours and they have worms. So what would you guys do as barn owners/horse owners? We want to tell everyone, because it's not going to go away if everyone is infected and not getting treated. Power packs are like 80 bucks i don't have that money to spend all the time or a colic bill.

So what exactly is their worming schedule?
Do they constantly have new horses coming and going?
I know some people say you're supposed to worm twice a year, but I 'd rather worm every other month and be safe. There's ALWAYS new horses at the barn I'm at. Weather they're friends, just bought, new boarder, whatever.

So do you buy your own wormer, and give it to the BO/BM to give to your horse?
Or do you buy your own wormer, and give it to your horse yourself?
I worked at a very busy riding stable for over half a decade, I can tell you right now that by giving someone else your wormer for your horse doesn't guarantee your horse will get it that day. Or the next day. Or even the day after that. Yes, it sounds terrible, but it happens. I'm not saying this is acceptable behavior for a riding stable, I'm just telling you what I've witnessed. That being said, I ALWAYS buy my own wormer, and worm my own horses.

I would talk to the other boarders about it. Maybe if you can get enough boarders to talk to the BO/BM about it, they'll change their minds and find time for this worm problem.

 

[SaddlebredGrl]

I buy my own womer and worm my horse every other month. The vets in our area are concerned that the quest plus isn't doing its job, and that we should get our stools checked before we worm. The barn i'm at has a lot of horses coming and going, but the pasture has been the same until recently we have like five new horses, that were boarding there before, but just moved from a stall to the pasture.

We are going to talk to people as we see them, and suggest they get their stools tested, and if they need to do the power pack and don't have time we will help them. Our barn says that they will worm their horses for you, but we talked to a worker and said they haven't done it since the girl that did them left last year. I understand it's a big barn and it takes time, but they don't even try. I know that maybe 1/4 of the boarders do worm their horses and have them tested, but the rest don't even come out to see their horses, and the barn owners are into the all natural stuff, so i don't even know if they use a dewormer or some natural crap.

I've wanted to move to another barn for a long time, but pasture boarding is not common and my horse had his taste of freedom and flips out if he even thinks he is going to have to stay in a stall. The place i came from before, was good at keeping up on shots and wormer, but their pasture is a big mud lot.

I'm very angry that they are being this irresponible, i'd want to be informed if someones horse had worms so i could get my horse checked, but they don't seem to care. If i was a barn owner i'd make sure everyone was wormed and had shots. This place does neither.

 

[themacpack]

Is quest all you use? The way your post is worded makes it seem it may be.

 

[themacpack]

As an aside - if the barn's regulation of things such as worming and vaccination are not what you consider to be adequate, have you thought of finding a new situation for your horse(s)? The same issue you are trying to prevent for others (not being informed) could also become an issue for you (in fact, likely may be part of your current problem).

 

[tealamutt]

So what exactly is their worming schedule?
I 'd rather worm every other month and be safe.

you're actually making it less safe by doing this. We are seeing some pretty serious problems with resistance and a lot of that has to do with people over using deworming medications. If you really want to be safe, running a fecal parasite exam and treating as needed is the best protocol you can have.

 

[Ryle]

I know some people say you're supposed to worm twice a year, but I 'd rather worm every other month and be safe. .

This isn't safe and is likely to make deworming even less effective more quickly because you are exposing parasites to dewormers way too frequently. Please see what the EXPERTS in this field have to say about deworming. You will be surprised at how much the newest recommendation for deworming vary from old recommendations and it's all based on a better understanding of the parasites that major issues for horses these days, the drugs that are currently in use and the emergence of resistance to these drugs among parasites in the last 15 years.


www.thehorse.com/Videos.aspx?vID=183

We now know that horses don't need to all be on the same deworming schedule because it's only a small percentage of horses that are actually causing the most recontamination of pastures with parasite eggs. %30 are responsible for most of the egg shedding and that includes horses under one year of age which are much less resistant to parasites and so more likely to be shedding large numbers of eggs. 50% of adult horses control parasite numbers on their own with only minimal deworming---twice a year.

 

[SaddlebredGrl]

The barns in my area are all going down hill care wise. We've just recently had five horses come because they weren't being taken care of at their other barn. I've been looking for the last year, and my horse can't be in a stall and pretty much nowhere does pasture boarding.

Pretty much everyone had a different worming schedule. I rotate my wormers according to what my vet thinks i need to worm with and when, and since the resistant thing has become an issue we have been doing fecals on my boy. I work at my vet office, and i've talked to my horses other vet that we use for other issues, and he is concerned about the horses becoming resistant.

I'm going to inform the owners i'm friends with on facebook that never come to the farm about what is going on so they know. My new trainer just moved in and she has been keeping a close eye on my horse. That is pretty much the only good thing about this barn is someone who actually cares lives there now, and they have an indoor arena.

 

[kitten_Val]

I personally think it's a very frustrating situation. But I'm afraid you can't do much if the BO is not cooperative. The first barn I had Jemma in (for 3 weeks) was like that too.

In 2nd place the BO was deworming everyone in one field and gave a bill to the owners. But horses in other field (where I kept mine) were dewormed by the owners. Those were my horses, one more youngster and one older mare. I dewormed mine every 2 months (because BO wouldn't be able to handle them), and I know for sure older mare was dewormed like my horses +/- 1 day (the owner kept eye on my schedule ), and another youngster was dewormed even more often.

 

[Ryle]

Oh, I forgot to mention that a negative fecal on a horse means pretty much nothing. You are looking for very tiny eggs that are shed at random intervals and testing only a very tiny portion of the amount of feces that is passed in a day. When the last deworming was and with what can also lead to a negative fecal when the horse has immature parasites that are not currently shedding eggs. It's completely possible to have a negative fecal in a horse that is loaded with parasites.

 

[SaddlebredGrl]

Uh yeah i'm aware of that, my horse had one roundworm egg in his fecal, and after we started worming him you could tell he was infested. I'm pretty much aware of the worming situation, and can read a fecal.

We are letting all the people in our pasture know what is going on if the barn owner wants us too or not. The people we have talked to are happy we let them know so they could get their horses checked and wormed.

 

[Ryle]

Everyone needs to be aware of the products that the BO's are giving. If fenbendazole (panacur) is part of the deworming program for adult horses, it's very likely just a waste of your money. And if pyrantel is used, fecal egg counts need to be run before and after deworming with it occasionally to monitor for the development of parasites resistance to it.