Bad horse Wormers

[Equest94]

Ok...

I deworm my mare every 3 months, I use the oral injections of the paste/gel stuff and switch wormer brands each time.


Well, I am back at college and brought my mare back up with me...she's being boarded at a very cheap but local barn since she's still off, I figured it's better to keep her somewhere less expensive than paying full board at the University's Barn for facilities I cannot currently use (due to her injury).


Anyways, this barn owner gave our horses this wormer WITHOUT informing us, without checking with us of our worming schedules, etc and he doesn't even remember what he gave them! YES - I am a bit peeved! (As of now all horses seem fine, expect one pony who's proned to colic was having mild tummy troubles...)




*** Well, to get back to the point of this post, I have heard some pretty bad things about certain wormers... I know Quest is bad for foals and ponies (the toxicity content is too high per dosage), and I know there's others out there that had problems, but I can't remember what they were... I think it was anything with Moxidectin? Any other brands or types? ***







I also know that certain types of wormer are best to use during the winter since they promote fur-growth (is it Strongid?) and others are better to use during the summer since it thins out the coat (starts shedding and short coat growth)...again a major brain blockage is preventing me from remembering the names and types...

Does anyone know the names of "bad" dewormers and which type of wormers should be used for which season? (I want to make sure he's not giving my mare anything that will kill her or stop her winter coat from coming in and also inform him of possible "danger" since he believes all wormers are fine...

)






Sorry...thanks in advance....

 

[Akane]

Wormers by themselves will not cause them to grow or shed their coat. If the horse is already going to shed or grow a coat it may speed it up just a tiny bit but it's not going to make something happen that wasn't going to anyway. Some wormers are good to use in spring or fall because of which parasites they kill.

Quest contains moxidectin. It is the only ingredient I know that can be dangerous. Most dewormers are very safe and I usually shoot a whole tube down everyone without paying too much attention to weight. That's why quest is dangerous. Owners are used to doing just that but moxidectin has a much narrower effective range and much lower toxicity level.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

are you talking about the wormer that was contaminated, or something, last year? I think it was a generic brand of Ivermectrin(sp)

Also, most full boarding barns I know(and the one I ran for two years) worm all the horses at the same time with the same stuff. This gets them on a schedule and then they know that EVERY horse has been done. Most have it in their contracts. I know I did and the other barns do as well. If you are uncomfortable with it then just find out what their schedule is and make sure that you have what YOU want for your horse available.

And I have never heard that a certain type of wormer helps grow or shed out a coat. I have heard that a severe(really infested horse with other worm related issues as well) worm kill off will sometimes result in hair loss as they die and are passed from the body.

 

[Equest94]

I wouldn't consider this an actual boarding barn, it's more of a backyard barn that's conveniently located.... this guy owns horses (but is in an Alpaca business) and is allowing a friend of mine and me to keep our horses there provided we do all the work - feeding, stall mucking, turnout, etc... Out of the blue he comes and worms our horses and doesn't even know what brand or name he used...which has us a bit suspicious and also worried especially since my friend's older pony just recently coliced (which she's prone to, but still...).

We tried to inform him that we made our own worming schedule (since our horses don't come into contact with his, nor are in close proximity to any of his) and our horses were already done last week (neither one of ours are infested and there is no need to worm them that often, especially the pony...). We also told him that certain brands toxicity level is not properly proportioned to the dose, so we try to watch which type we use.... he told us we were fully of "crap" and that he knows what he's doing, yatta, yatta,yatta. [once another barn opens up some room we are moving...that man goes through these odd mood swings - he's either very kind or very rude; we always try to be curious and neat and try to stay on his good side, but he randomly erupts... we're moving our little herd out of there once another barn has room]. So, I just need to find out or remember which brand and types had that issue; which are "bad" and "dangerous," so I can let him know and also so I can keep a better eye on what's going on.... God know how long we'll be there....


Also, I understand that certain types of wormer are used during the different seasons because of different "breeds" of parasites throughout the year, but I use to show the Jumper Circuit and our barn manager would only worm the horses a certain kind of wormer during the winter months and another kind during the summer months. She told me that the "winter" kind caused their fur to grown in coarser and thicker so it was used during winter when showing was limited and because if we had a competition, we would just shave them anyways.... she used a certain kind during the spring and summer because it kept their coat short and smooth.... I swear I am not crazy, lol.... I know the Strongid types are used for one of these seasons, not only for the kind of parasite, but also because of the fur factor...


Any ideas?

 

[patandchickens]

AFAIK the different wormers for the seasons (w/r/t hair growth) is pretty much an old wives' tale. There are certainly enough old wives' tales in show circuit barns, what's one more <vbg>

Quest is moxidectin; I am not sure whether there is any other moxidectin wormer on the market at present. Since your horse is neither a foal, nor a mini, nor one that has not been wormed in elephants' years (the other potential problem case for moxidectin) I do not see that htere is anything to worry about there.

Honestly, this is what private barns are often like - your horses become like unto the barn owner's horses, and there may never have been a really good comprehensive boarding contract written out, and you are at the mercy of whatever the barn owner/manager feels like doing. (Well of course the latter is true of any boarding barn

).

I can certainly see where you do not like this guy and will be happier once you can find somewhere to move to -- but in the meantime, just tell him you don't want Quest used on your pony, ok? (Although personally I have not heard of it causing any problems with ponies as such, just minis, but I also haven't really read up on it vis-a-vis ponies in general).

He is quite right, it IS best to have all the horses on the same worming schedule, and since your mare is not in serious work at the moment and I know of no evidence that wormer type makes a big difference in coat growth (as I say, I think it is pretty much imaginary altogether), what does it *matter* which kind she gets? I'd worry much more about making sure that she's getting something that will kill bots once you've had a killing frost, and perhaps something for tapeworms once a year, as part of the worming regimen.

I don't know about you, perhaps you've been luckier, but I have NEVER, in quite a number of years of boarding and a much longer period of riding other peoples' boarded horses, found a barn where I agreed with absolutely 100% of what the management did. In fact I've never boarded anywhere that there wasn't at least one pretty SIGNIFICANT thing I didn't feel comfortable with. This is just how horse people are though

and in reality there are a lot more ways to skin this cat, and a lot more acceptably tolerably basically ok ways to manage horses, than most of us horse owners like to think

Just a thought to hang onto, until you find another barn you like better

Good luck,

Pat