worming schedule

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smazz

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I got my horse a month ago, and she has lost weight (i'm a new horse owner). I'm feeding her everyday--hay and 10% sweet feed. She's been eating off the bale, but I think some bullies are chasing her away. I'm feeding her hay in the stall now.

I want to get on a worming schedule that is correct for my area. I live near Dallas, texas.

Anyone have that info? Any hints?
Thanks, Sandy
 
Unless we have written evidence of an animal's health record, we assume nothing has been done. When we get a new horse or Longhorn, we de-worm them upon arrival before they are moved out of our "quarantine" pen.

We de-worm every 3-4 months with an oral paste de-wormer. Use Ivermectin in spring and fall to control bots and other bugs. In summer and winter we usually use another product such as Strongid, Exodus, Quest.
 
smazz":3f71k2lm said:
I got my horse a month ago, and she has lost weight (i'm a new horse owner). I'm feeding her everyday--hay and 10% sweet feed. She's been eating off the bale, but I think some bullies are chasing her away. I'm feeding her hay in the stall now.

I want to get on a worming schedule that is correct for my area. I live near Dallas, texas.

Anyone have that info? Any hints?
Thanks, Sandy

Rotate wormers so as to prevent the worms from building up immunity. I'm curious as to why you are feeding sweet feed instead of just plain old oats? As far as that goes, I'm curious as to why you would feed grain at all unless this is a performance horse or he/she is responding to a high demand?
 
RAB is right on with his worming schedule. I worm every 3 months rotating between ivermectin, Strongid, and Quest. Feb, May, Aug, and Nov.

Feeding sweet feed down here is very common, and having had horses in both Washington state and down here in Texas, I can attest to the differences in pasture quality between the 2 states. While a lush, fertilized coastal pasture down here is fine for providing nutrition to horses when its in full bloom, the majority of pastures don't provide as good a nutrition as those northern pastures do, and supplimenting with a bit of feed is justified. 10% sweet feed is not gonna hurt that horse any whether she is being worked or not. Since she is losing weight, she's obviously not getting the nutritional uptake she needs to maintain her body condition no matter what her activity level and warrants feed. I would recommend re-evaluating the amount that you are feeding her. As a starting point, for horses confined to a stall, I usually give 2 flakes of good quality coastal hay a.m. and p.m., and 1/2 a 3qt scoop sweet feed a.m. and p.m. for a 900-1000 lb horse, and adjust from there. Some will require more, and some less. Horses out on good pasture usually get less hay and feed, depending on the quality and amount of pasture available to them.

Since you also mentioned that she is new for you, were the previous owners feeding this mare? If so, would it be realistic to ask them what feed she was getting, how much she was getting and what her previous feeding schedule was? 10% sweet feed comes in alot of different qualities. For example, 10% Omolene brand of sweet feed is blended differently with more fat added than say Horse and Mule brand. Some do just fine on the lower quality, and some horses' metabolism require more added fat to maintain body and coat condition. She may be getting a different feed than what she was used to, and that will require some adjustment on either amount or quality on your part.

Losing weight may also be attributed to age, worms or teeth wear. Since you have addressed the worming concern, my next suggestion would be to have her teeth checked for sharp points. Is she dropping any feed when she eats? If so, you can (very carefully) slide your finger up into the side of her mouth and feel for sharp points on her molars, or a vet will be able to check for and file those rough edges down for you.

Best of luck with your new gal, and keep us posted on her progress!
 
How old a horse are we talking about here? Could it be that it needs some teeth work done? Worming is probably the cheapest and first option to look into but it could be its teeth. You might talk to a vet if worming doesn't work.
 
In my opinion TR nailed it,I feed sweet feed wether the horse are working are not. It will help with the weight gain. If the horse is over three or four have the teeth done. If you decided to check for points on the back teeth yourself, first grab the tounge, hold that slimly thing with a good grip and pull it out the side of the mouth, it's like trying to hold a fish so grab hard, you won't hurt the horse. If you pull it so it's on the outside of the mouth over to the side not out front of the mouth the horse will not be a likley to close his mouth on your finger... he won't chomp on his own tounge. But his mouth will be working open and shut just not shutting it.

Second I would worm every month for three months rotating the type of wormers (rotate the active ingrediant in the wormer), then worm every 3 to 4 months rotating the type of wormer. This will get any worms that survived the first wormer and any worms eggs that have hatch since the first wormer and you rotate the type of active indgrediant so the worms don't develope an immunity to one type of wormer.

Good luck and enjoy!
Alan
 
Thanks for your replies. I'm glad that feeding her sweet feed is OK. I'll worm her for 3 months in a row, switching each time. Then I'll worm her every 4 months. She doesn't look like she's dropping feed, but I'll check her teeth.

I'll let you know how she does. Thanks for your help!!
 
Tip-used on an older brood mare that needed help putting on some weight. A bit of Calf Manna, and or some corn oil in the feed helped with adding some weight and darned if she didn't have the purdiest coat!
 
fellersbarnoneranch Im like you..used corn oil on whole oats for years..solved lots of problems like you said. Some folks would rather give 16 dollars a sack for something with a fancy name tho. Not me...if I give that kind of money for groceries theyre going in the house to mama
 
Well, I've taken your advice and started giving her some corn oil on her sweet feed. It's going well, and I'm anxious to see some changes in her weight and coat.

Thanks for all of your advice. The people in this forum are so nice!
 
I agree with the teeth floating. Watch what wormers you use if you have dogs that eat poop. Quest is toxic.


Scotty
 
Horses are similar to cattle in which they may not need worming all parts of the year. As dry as it is here in my parts I would not worm because there is no worms or eggs laid. Prevention is one thing and spending a lot of $$$ is can be not worth while. Cow spider is right, be carfull.


Scotty
 
cowspider":1e554eyj said:
I'll worm her for 3 months in a row, switching each time. Then I'll worm her every 4 months.
Be careful !! you may make her sick, with too much wormer.
ONCE every 3 months NOT once a month for 3 months.

I am looking at a 10 month old stallion and the current owner told me "he has been wormed every month since birth". Forgive my ignorance but is this normal considering it is FLA? Back when I had them we wormed about three times a year. What has changed? Appreciate any input as I am getting started with horses again.
 
flaboy+":26isegqh said:
cowspider":26isegqh said:
I'll worm her for 3 months in a row, switching each time. Then I'll worm her every 4 months.
Be careful !! you may make her sick, with too much wormer.
ONCE every 3 months NOT once a month for 3 months.

I am looking at a 10 month old stallion and the current owner told me "he has been wormed every month since birth". Forgive my ignorance but is this normal considering it is FLA? Back when I had them we wormed about three times a year. What has changed? Appreciate any input as I am getting started with horses again.

If he has truly been wormed every month since birth that is too much, I would worm him every four months now. Also find out what kind of wormer he uses. Hopfully he has been rotating wormers, if not don't use that type (active indgrediant) for a year or so. There are many brands of wormers, but I believe there are only 4 types of wormers (?) Maybe 3 (?) I'll try to look that up for you.

Are you planning to geld this horse?

Alan
 
I am looking at a 10 month old stallion and the current owner told me "he has been wormed every month since birth". Forgive my ignorance but is this normal considering it is FLA? Back when I had them we wormed about three times a year. What has changed? Appreciate any input as I am getting started with horses again.

I do not know if florida has a larger worm problem than most states but worming every month is still too much. worms will grow resistent plus it could be toxic to a very young horse. It could be he is only giving a small dose each month and this will not help but build resistents.
 
Alan":2kseytts said:
look that up for you.

Are you planning to geld this horse?

Alan

Not initially. I have four mares lined up that the folks want to bred to this guy already. My last cow horse was a stallion also. I did have him cut a 8 years old after one to many fights while I was on him. He was a very good cow horse when by himself but did not play well with others.
 

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