Winter in this country is a beast. As I write this, we are into our 4th blast of snowy and cold weather already this fall (did I count right?), and it seems that winter is already well on its way to settling in. So a blogpost about proactive winter horse care may already seem a little past tense, but if you’re like me and living in denial that summer is already well past and fall quickly disappearing, you will have a few horse health care items to check off your list!

The staff of Burwash Equine Services, Ltd. enjoyed an evening of education last night courtesy of Vetoquinol and Dr. Ela Misuno.  Dr. Misuno is a board certified internist with an interest in parasitology and the problem of emerging resistance in this field.  She gave a fantastic presentation with all of the latest updates and recommendations for deworming our equine friends.  I have summarized her recommendations below.

Parasite control needs to be tailored to your horse’s specific needs, taking into consideration age, immune status/individual susceptibility, time of year, and management practices.  The following are basic recommendations that can be further tailored to suit your horse’s specific needs.

MATURE HORSES (>3 years old)

• Small strongyles (cyathostomins) are the main parasite of mature horses, and these parasites are developing resistance to commonly used dewormers.

• Horses vary in their susceptibility to small strongyles, and can be classified as Low, Medium, or High shedders based on fecal egg counts (FECs).