Horse Info

Tag: horse health

  • Horse Deworming Basics: Fecal Testing, Timing, and Common Mistakes

    You’re standing in the tack room with two printed deworming schedules from well-meaning barn friends, and they contradict each other line by line. One says “every 8 weeks no matter what.” The other says “never deworm without a fecal.” If you want evidence instead of opinions, start here: deworming is no longer a calendar ritual. It’s a test-and-treat system.

    The old frequent-rotation model was built when resistance was less of a problem. Now, routine blind dosing can select for resistant parasites, waste money, and still leave your horse exposed at the wrong times. A modern plan starts with fecal egg count (FEC) data, then uses your horse’s shedding pattern, age, turnout conditions, and travel exposure to decide when and what to treat. You are not “doing less”; you are doing it with better aim.

    An FEC reports eggs per gram (EPG), usually for strongyle-type eggs in adult horses. Most practices classify adult horses roughly as low shedders under 200 EPG, moderate around 200–500 EPG, and high above 500 EPG. Your clinic may use slightly different cutoffs, but the principle is the same: horses in the same pasture can have very different shedding levels. That is why one-size-fits-all barn schedules fail. Your horse’s risk is not your neighbor horse’s risk.

    Sample quality matters more than owners realize. Collect fresh manure—ideally within a few hours—place 2–4 fecal balls in a clean bag, push out extra air, label with horse name/date/time, and keep it cool until drop-off. Don’t leave it in a hot car and don’t freeze it. Poor sample handling creates unreliable counts, and unreliable counts create bad treatment decisions. If your horse is due for routine care, ask your vet to pair the FEC with a broader parasite plan instead of treating based on one number in isolation.

    Timing should follow local parasite pressure and management reality. In many regions, spring and fall are key reassessment points for adults, with additional checks depending on stocking density, manure removal, and pasture hygiene. Young horses usually need closer supervision than healthy adults because their parasite profile and immunity are different. Horses that travel often, rotate through shared grounds, or live in high-traffic boarding setups may need more frequent review than a low-exposure horse at home.

    Product choice should be intentional, not based on brand familiarity or what is on sale. Different drug classes target different parasite groups and have different resistance patterns on different farms. Your vet should select the product based on current findings and farm history, not habit. Randomly rotating products “just in case” feels proactive but can be the opposite if resistance is already present. Treating the wrong target at the wrong time is still mistreatment, even when done on schedule.

    One step many owners skip is confirming that treatment worked. Ask your vet about a fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT): pre-treatment FEC, treat, then recheck in the recommended interval for that drug class (often around 10–14 days for some products). If reduction is poor, that’s actionable information—possible resistance, dosing error, or strategy mismatch. Without follow-up, owners can keep using ineffective products for years while believing they are protected.

    Dosing accuracy is a major failure point. Underdosing encourages resistance and poor control. Use a weight tape at minimum, and a scale when available, then set the syringe to real body weight, not wishful weight. Administer so the horse actually swallows it; paste on the lips or floor is not a completed dose. If your horse is hard to dose safely, ask your vet or trainer for handling protocol rather than repeating failed attempts and guessing what went in.

    Also, don’t blame every symptom on worms. Tail rubbing can come from skin irritation, pinworms, sweet itch, or hygiene issues. Weight loss can be dental, ulcers, pain, or metabolic disease. Intermittent loose manure has a long differential list. Parasites may be part of the picture, but blanket deworming in response to every symptom can delay real diagnosis. If signs are persistent or your horse is unwell, call your vet for a full workup, not just a tube from the shelf.

    If you want a plan you can trust, ask your vet for a written 12-month parasite strategy with test dates, treatment thresholds, and follow-up criteria. Put those dates in your phone now. In the barn, when competing opinions get loud, remember this line: test first, treat with purpose, then prove it worked.

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    Pasture Safety Checklist: Fencing, Toxic Plants, and Water Risk • How to Read a Horse’s Body Condition Score (BCS) at Home • Horse Trailer Loading Problems: Practical Fixes That Improve Safety

  • Horse Colic Early Warning Signs: What Owners Should Do in the First 30 Minutes

    You’re standing in the aisle in a hoodie and barn boots, and your horse has pawed three times in ten minutes, then swung his head to look at his flank again. He didn’t finish hay, and now you’re stuck on the question every owner hates: call the vet now, or wait and risk being dramatic. In this exact moment, early action is the safer bet. Colic gets worse quietly before it gets loud.

    The first 30 minutes are about observation and triage, not home treatment heroics. Pull feed immediately so he’s not packing more material into a gut that may already be slowing down. Keep fresh water available unless your vet tells you otherwise. Then start collecting facts you can report, because “he seems weird” is hard for a vet to triage, but numbers and specific behavior changes are useful right away.

    If he’ll stand safely, get vitals now. A normal adult resting heart rate is often about 28–44 beats per minute; once pain pushes that into the 50s and rising, concern goes up fast. Respiratory rate is commonly around 8–16 breaths per minute. Rectal temperature is usually around 99–101.5°F (37.2–38.6°C). Check gums: they should be moist and pink, not tacky, dark, or pale. Press a finger into the gum and release; capillary refill should generally return in about 1–2 seconds. None of these numbers alone diagnose colic type, but together they tell your vet how urgent this is.

    Now look at output and pattern. When did he last pass manure, and what did it look like? Dry, small, scant piles or no manure for hours with pain behaviors is a bad combination. Note water intake since the previous check, any feed change in the last week, recent travel, stall rest, deworming, or weather shifts. A horse that drank less during a cold snap or after a frozen trough failure is a different risk profile than a horse on normal intake with sudden severe pain.

    Call your vet early, before rolling starts. Give a clean timeline: “First noticed at 10:40 p.m., pawing and flank-watching, no grain interest, heart rate 52, temperature 100.4, only one small dry manure pile since dinner.” That single sentence can move you from vague worry to a clear medical plan. If you board, notify barn staff right away so someone can help monitor, open gates, and prep trailer access if your vet recommends referral.

    While waiting for instructions, keep him in the safest controlled space you have. For some horses, that’s a stall with deep bedding and minimal clutter. For others who throw themselves down in a stall, a small paddock with secure footing is safer. If your vet says to walk him, do short controlled walking to prevent violent rolling, not endless forced marching. Walking does not fix colic; it helps you manage behavior while definitive care is on the way.

    Skip the common mistakes that burn time. Don’t give leftover Banamine without veterinary direction on dose and timing. Don’t syringe oil, baking soda mixtures, or internet remedies. Don’t let five people offer five conflicting plans in the aisle. Pick one handler, one caller, one note-taker. Recheck pain and vitals every 10–15 minutes and document trends. A horse whose heart rate climbs from 44 to 60 with increasing discomfort is telling you this is escalating, even if he has brief quiet moments between episodes.

    Know your hard red lines for immediate escalation: repeated down-and-up attempts, persistent rolling, heavy sweating without work, distended abdomen, worsening pain despite quiet handling, or no manure plus rising heart rate. At that point, this is no longer “wait and see.” It is “act now.” Have halter, lead, records, and trailer plan ready. If your vet suspects surgical colic or severe impaction, minutes matter; practical readiness beats panic.

    After tonight, build your baseline so future decisions are faster. Learn your horse’s normal resting heart rate and manure pattern over a calm week. Keep a thermometer, stethoscope, lubricant, and emergency numbers in one known spot. Put vet, emergency clinic, and transport contact on the stall card and in your phone favorites. You are not trying to become a veterinarian at midnight; you are becoming the owner who spots change early and reports it clearly.

    When you’re in that stall deciding, remember this line: if behavior is off, feed is down, and pain signs repeat, call now and sort it out with your vet—early calls are cheaper than late rescues.

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    Pasture Safety Checklist: Fencing, Toxic Plants, and Water Risk • How to Read a Horse’s Body Condition Score (BCS) at Home • Horse Deworming Basics: Fecal Testing, Timing, and Common Mistakes