How to Deworm Your Horse

Deworming horses is done regularly, whether it be every eight weeks or once a year, but the correct dosage is necessary for the weight of the horse. Administer a dewormer medicine to a horse when needed with helpful advice from a veterinarian in this video on caring for horses.

Hi, I'm Dr. Joanna Robson, doctor of veterinary medicine with Inspiritus Equine Incorporated and I am here to teach you how to correctly deworm your horse. Now the most important thing with deworming is a lot has to do with the location that you and your horse are in. There is different parasites at different times of the year. There is changes between northern California, southern California and different states across the United States. So make certain that you check with a veterinarian in your area to choose an appropriate product and also to get a correct schedule of deworming. Some horses need to be dewormed every eight weeks. Some once a year. Often times, these days we are also looking at what's called a fecal float to look at a parasite egg count as opposed to blindly deworming our horses. When you've selected a product that you want to use, you want to dial that product up to the appropriate weight for your horse. Most tubes of dewormer treat a twelve hundred and fifty pound horse. What I like to do is make certain that my horse has an empty mouth. If they've been grazing or eating hay when you put the dewormer in there they are pretty quick to spit everything out on the ground. Which some products can pose a danger to other animals such as Ivermectin in dogs. More over it's expensive money sitting on the ground. So I'll take my finger, put it in his mouth and just kind of rub on his tongue a little bit to make sure if he has any food in there, that he gets it out before I insert the tube. I like to have someone help me hold my horse or because I know he is quite good, I'll put a lead rope over my shoulder. I'm going to take the top off of my tube, make sure that I am dialed up to the dose that I want to administer. I'm going to hold his head up. I'm going to take the tube, I'm going to slide it in as far back on top of his tongue as I can. And then I am going to depress the plunger, wipe the tip off on the corner of his mouth. And take out the tube. Now some people say that that looked awfully easy, most important thing to remember is to be patient. Horses that have had a bad experience with dewormers, go slowly with them. Sometimes you can use a syringe full of applesauce to make it easier for them. Make sure that you pick the correct product, that you deworm in an appropriate time of year. That you desensitize your horse if you need to with applesauce or another good flavored product. Make sure that they have an empty mouth before you administer it. And that's how you deworm your horse.