Parasite Control and Prevention
Very basic types of parasites:
External Parasites - parasites found outside the horse (flies, ticks, lice, mosquitoes).
Internal Parasites - parasites found inside the horse (tapeworms, pinworms roundworms).
Methods of Prevention/Control:
Daily grooming (including picking off any bot eggs), fly spray, keep stall clean (muck it out several times during the day, not just once), only spread manure where horses cannot come into contact with it, and, if possible, the grazing of cattle in horse pastures decreases exposure as equine parasites do not mature in cattle and the parasites life cycle is broken. Another method is worming.
Worming Methods:
Pastes - when it is the only method used, rotate to get all families every 4-5 weeks, except for in the case of Quest (rotate every 3 months) because it lasts longer.
Daily pellet form (ex. Strongid)- kills parasites in all life stages, doesn't kill bots, to it is recommended that Ivermectin also be used 3-4 times/year.
Liquid - administered orally via special syringe-gun or a tube