Worming regimen?

[missdixie]

So since we've moved back to SoCal I've wondered about Dixie's worming regimen. In Washington she shared pasture with other horses and I would rotate wormers, but is that really necessary when she's always in her own private paddock here in San Diego?

[westmanfarrier]

Do a fecal count at your vet. That'll tell you how many eggs the horse is shedding and they'll help you customize a plan for your horse.

[Ryle]

A fecal egg count is a good idea, but you must be sure that you are doing it at an appropriate time based upon weather conditions and the last deworming that was performed.

What was the last dewormer you used and how long ago?
Do you pick your horse's paddock daily?
How old is your horse?

[missdixie]

Last wormer was Ivermectin in November, she's almost 6 and her paddock gets picked daily. She is nice and fat so I'm not worried about an infestation at the moment.

[Ryle]

If you are picking paddocks daily, the reinfecation rate is going to be pretty much nil. It's highly likely that you don't need to do anything but deworm spring and fall with an ivermectin/praziquantel or moxidectin/praziquantel if this is an adult horse. (Foals and weanlings would be a different story.) It has been long enough since your last deworming to run a fecal egg count, but with your pasture management it really is likely that you will find little to no parasite eggs in any sample you take. Picking feces greatly reduces the contamination of paddocks with parasite eggs thus greatly reducing the risk of picking up parasites in the paddock.

[westmanfarrier]

Why deworm at all if the egg count comes back nil and paddock care is so good? The unnecessary use of dewormer is leading to resistance.

Good recommendations on timing of the fecal sampling Ryle, thanks.