The Art of Natural Dressage

Interested in hearing what folks do as far as worming?

Schedule? Products? Natural? Stool checks? How often?

Thanks. Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574
http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

I do fecal tests every 4-6 months and worm according to the test results. I have started my horse on a natural wormer called Diatomaceous Earth three years ago after a reaction to a chemical product. Diatomaceous earth has been used for at least two decades as a natural wormer for livestock of all kinds. The first year I gave 1oz for 30 days in with some carrots/apples every 4 months. The second year I only gave it to him once and this year I have only wormed once. DE kills larva in the manure as well in the horse so it has helped keep the pastures very low in worms/larva and I highly recommend it to all horse owners! The fecal test is $35 and is worth it for me-even if the counts are at zero.

The chemical wormers are so hard on the equine system and the eco system the horse lives in... AND it doe not do a very good job(in my mind) as most horses are wormed many times per year. DE is cheap-my $5 bag has lasted two years and it can be purchased at any livestock feed store.

Melanie

I also do tests...

But I used to do after a scedule. I just feel so bad in putting poison into the horses without maybe even needing to do so... And after I have started with the tests I have actually not dewormed, as they have had so low amount of worms...

(I do feed a little garlic in the summer though - and yes, I know there are many warnings against this, but I figured a little garlic would do less harm than the dewormer...)

a bit boring
i also do tests.
i deworm the natural way with "multi worm" i work with this for about 5 years now and it works good for my situation. Never had any worms at all.
But....in october i found taenia so i have used a chemical one, twice with 14 days between. My riding horse have much trouble with this.
he have a break now but he looks not fine to me. He looses weight and muscles. So i am thinking to call the vet for a blod test.
Thats why i do not like the chemical ones, but in case of need i will use it, tho i am agains it or not, i should do the same with myself. Try the natural way but when it have to be chemical it has to be.

a lady on our stable don't give anything until she had done a test and when there came out there are worms she use chemicals. otherwise she does nothing. Her horse is going well by this system.

all others (two ladys) do the traditional way every 6 or 8 weeks deworming as the fabric says.

I'm still using the chemical ones. I use a wormer with the chemical moxtidectin and then twice a year a combination praziquantel+moxidectin for tapeworms. The advantage of this wormer is that you only have to worm every 12 weeks.

I'm a bit worried about using a natural wormer. Probably because I don't know it. But the thing is with horses that spend most of their time in the field is that the risk of being contaminated is a lot higher. Its also that feacal (or how do you spell this???) tests don't rule out bloodworm. You have to do a bloodtest as the larvea of this worm get cosy in your horses intestins and can cause a lot of damage.

I don't know what's best. I think good field management and a good worming programme (natural or chemical)+feacal tests and blood tests would cover it, I think? You see I'm a hypochondriac, when it comes to my horses, cats, dogs, ...

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The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears. ~Arabian Proverb

We manage our own land, so don't have to fit in with a yard's worming programme. We are aiming towards a reduced worming programme, while taking into account the different horses' needs (one is 30+ and has low immunity, so tends to have a higher worm burden than the others).

We worm count every quarter, and all healthy horses are wormed twice annually at present - once a general wormer which is also effective for tapeworm, and once (in about 3 or 4 weeks) a wormer which is effective on encysted redworms.

Would aim ultimately to get that down to once, for encysted redworms, by using the ELISA tapeworm blood test.

They are very non-problematic to worm - all are done loose in their field, one of the lovely benefits of training using positive reinforcement. Even so, I would rather not have to poison them annually (and do not like the effects of wormers on the other animals that share their environment) so will always look out for the best alternative.

I would love to be able to do that, but currently there are 4 other people stabled at the farm and unfortunately we don't all share the same opinions and field manegement.
Next week I'm going to have a fecal test done and hopefully the outcome will be good. and in January another blood test.

Kind regards

Gea

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The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears. ~Arabian Proverb

I'm so glad you started this post Brenda.
I just got my horses tested for worms. Since I have two horses, the vet took samples of both horses and put them in the same bag for testing. So I'm paying for one test. Of course if one horse has one type of worm, so does the other.

I clean my paddock everyday and now the winter shelter is cleaned 3 times a day. the last test, Corado showed no trace and Magik, supposedly not worth de-worming.

But... I got my results today and they have Strongyles, 62 eggs/gram. The vet said I shouldn't worry but to have my horses de-wormed. But I don't want to use a chemical paste. So I was thinking about DE. Someone started a topic about DE sometime ago and I read up on it. Sounded very interesting but some people questioned if the dust could cause lung problems. Magik already has a respiratory problem so I wasn't sure. Then today, I was on another forum and they also approved DE and they seem to think that the dust would not cause a problem because the quantity is too small.
I also was given an article about Strongyles and how dangerous they can be so even though my vet told me I shouldn't worry, I will!!!
I'll probably give them the paste this time and then control the future with DE.

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Jocelyne
[Hug your animals everyday. You never know!

I mix the DE powder in some soaked beet pulp as my horse would not touch it just as a white powder. It is very very fine and mixes well with anything, even just some chopped carrots/apples.

Melanie

SOLD!!! I'm going to order some on Monday for sure.
thanks

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Jocelyne
[Hug your animals everyday. You never know!

Hi Melanie!

I love the idea of using DE! From what I have read tho, it is recommended that you feed it EVERY day??? Just wondering how you came up with your "feed DE 30 days every 4 months" plan? Which of course I like better cuz it is less work!!

Also, approximately how much is 1 oz, cups wise???

Thanks for your input! Just the info I was looking for!

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

worm count of 62 is low and good. I read int he Natural Horse magazine that it is good and natural for horse to have worms and a count of up to 200/g is nothing to worry about.

Earloier before I read the article My horse had a count of 100/g and the vet thought it was high and I went ahead and chemically wormed and now he has Lyme etc and I so regret listening to the vet

Hi, I've got a quick question. Lyme's disease isn't it a bug spread by ticks. How can chemically worming have got anything to do with this? Or does it lower the immune system and did he caught Lyme's because of that?

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The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears. ~Arabian Proverb

I am just thinking it affect sthe gut health and thereofore lowers the immune strength but I have no proof of it, just a suspicion, I suspect andy chemicals or pahrmaceuticals to lower the resistance , Lyme just being one of them

I just recently started useing the products from this company. www.earthsongranch.com She has a herbal wormer and a great probiotic/enzyme product. Also, alot of really informative articles about parasites, natural horse keeping, etc...

Leah