Equine Worming Fenbendazole 

Equine (Horse) Dewormers

Knowing the facts about parasites and dewormers is a big step toward making important decisions about your horse’s health. Knowing a few simple facts about parasites and dewormers will help you take the first step toward making important decisions about your horse’s health care. But, making decisions about which dewormers to use, and when, can be a difficult task. You should know the approximate weight of your horse before administering any dewormer. Fenbendazole is safe to use in horses and ponies including breeding stallions, pregnant mares, young foals and old debilitated animals.

Horse owners need to completely read and follow all accompanying directions for all drugs they administer to their animals. Horses become infested with strongyles, ascarids and tapeworms by ingesting the eggs from contaminated pastures and lots. A parasite-ridden horse can suffer permanent damage to blood vessels and intestines that can cause chronic digestive problems and undermine athletic potential. Keep on the lookout for the presence of bot flies or eggs on your horse's legs or flanks.

A horse that is not dewormed regularly and effectively often has a dull coat, dull attitude, pot belly, persistent winter coat, more frequent episodes of colic, and is repeatedly depressed or "off" in performance. When a parasite-infested horse is fed, the resident parasite population grabs its share first. Horses with high fecal egg counts of 500-1000 epg suggest the interval between deworming is too long.

Most horse owners have read about the need to ‘rotate’ dewormers.  In order to rotate dewormers effectively, you must change chemical classes not just brand names and there are many different brand names available for each chemical class. Because this product if fed every day, a horse becomes accustomed to it.

Older horses, in their late teens, often have a weaker immune state than adult horses in their prime and are more susceptible to parasites. Older horses may require deworming every six weeks, especially if they experience any of the digestive tract problems that often accompany old age.

In the summer, treat your horse for tapeworms (Strongid P or Rotectin 2 or praziquantel). Tapeworms were usually only found in very young horses and were more prevalent in the wetter areas of the country. But tapes are on the rise because while ivermectin effectively eliminates other worms, it leaves the door wide open for tapes to infest the horse. If you choose to use Strongid to kill tapeworms, you will need to "double-dose" your horse. The larvae are very hardy and will live outside the horse for up to seven months.

As a final note, deworming your horse is usually routine and does not require veterinary help. To prevent infestation between wormings, many horses are fed a daily wormer. Fenbendazole has maintained its commercial value even as most of the remainder of the benzimidazole equine dewormers have come and gone from the market. Fenbendazole also provides unsurpassed safety for horses.

• When horses are running on pasture, in temperate North America, maximum pasture infectivity occurs in October-December.
• If horses are removed from those pastures in January, pasture infectivity will decline to zero by July 1.
• Internal parasites rob in two ways: They steal nutrients from the horse's body and second, they take money from the owner's pocket in the form of lost food value.

Some horses will not eat grain with dewormer pellets in it.

Horses should be dewormed for tapeworms annually.

Horses with a history of colic may benefit fromthe use of a daily dewormer.