Hello again. Now that we've looked at how to prevent diseases that you barn, let's take a look at the central piece of any preventative program, warming. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to select deworming products and develop a cyclical plan for worming. And you'll be able to administer a wormer to your horse. Treatment of intestinal parasites is accomplished by deworming with compounds that kill the various life stages of the parasites. You should be aware that parasites have evolved to be very clever. Several species of parasites can actually live in the horse at the same time. And parasites can form cysts that allow them to hide from treatment. Parasites can also develop resistance to the deworming chemicals. Some of the chemicals kill only one life stage of the parasite. Resistance is an important concept to understand. This means the chemical used will not kill the parasite. Resistance may have occurred because the same chemical was used too frequently in a group of horses. To combat these clever parasites, we recommend practices which include monitoring fecal egg counts before and after treatment and using high quality compounds recommended by your veterinarian. In many cases, horse owners will opt to have the veterinarian deworm the horse when they are out to perform regular dentistry or vaccination. Examples of chemical classes of dewormers include the Ivermectins, the Avermectins, Praziquantels, and Fenbendazoles. The frequency of administration of these products will depend upon the worm burden of the horse and the environment of the horse. And again, a strategic deworming plan should be formulated with your veterinarian. Gastrointestinal parasites are ingested while the horse is eating. So, maintaining a clean stall and pasture environment is very important to minimize the worm load your horse is exposed to. Worm load can be reduced with frequent removal of manure and proper composting of manure piles, and are worth pursuing. In large pastures where it is not feasible to pitchfork individual manure piles, the pastures should be dragged to break up the piles and expose eggs and larvae to the elements into the sun. You can do this with equipment as simple as a riding lawnmower with a heavy section of chain link fence trailing behind. On larger properties, a piece of farm machinery is used, that is specifically designed to break up and spread the manure piles. This is called a manure spreader. So, now we're going to go ahead and deworm Joe. And to do that, we want to go ahead and approach him. And we want to keep our body in a safe zone. So we're going to actually bring his head over to us. What I usually do is let them know I'm coming. Light halter restraint. I'm going to insert my thumb into their mouth. Wormer is going to go in behind my thumb all the way, and I'm going to push. And then I'm going to have it come out and make sure that he doesn't spit it out. Deworming your horse is relatively easy to do. It's an important part of their medical care, and it can help prevent serious health concerns. Consult with your veterinarian to determine the best worming procedure for your horse under your environmental conditions. Congratulations. You can add worming your horse to the other skills you've learned in this course so far. Here again is your checklist for reducing your horse's exposure to parasites, strategically deworm based on fecal egg counts and the schedule created by your veterinarian, clean manure regularly, avoid feeding horses on the ground, drag pastures, don't overcrowd your herd, make sure that new arrivals are quarantined and dewormed prior to introduction to the rest of the herd. A few words about insect control. Insect control revolves around minimizing populations, avoidance, and protection. You can minimize insect populations with a few simple precautions, including not leaving stagnant pools of water on your property and emptying old tires, barrels, or other containers that accumulate rainwater. Remove attractants like manure compost and debris. And finally, take advantage of new technologies like traps and biologic predators. There are also some new feed-through products available that will sterilize the fly eggs within the manure and prevent new cycles of hatches. No matter what steps you take to minimize insect populations, there will inevitably still be insects on the property, as this is an important part of the web of life. You can avoid these pest by not riding or leaving horses in pastures at dawn and dusk when these insects are most prevalent. Make sure you provide shade and shelter for horses and pasture and try not to house horses in areas that are poorly drained. There are a few things you can do to protect you and your horses from insects, do use effective fly sprays and wipes on a clean horse. And if you're trying a new fly spray, only spray a small area just in case the horse has an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in the fly spray. Pyrethrin-based fly sprays are best. Used fly masks and fly sheets if necessary and keep your horses groomed. There is no one size fits all plan. So, developing a parasite and insect control program with your veterinarian is a key component of effective and efficient control. There are variations of control plans based on the age of the horse, the immunity of the horse, stress, the region, the season, travel, pasture size, and stocking densities. New research and product development are always on the horizon. So you need to get updated information from a reliable source. Manure management also minimizes the population of flies in your stable, which is a welcome thought for your horse and for you. Now that you can protect your horse against the most common diseases through worming and fly control, let's look at vaccinations which help prevent infectious disease.
