DEWORM Like an Expert
It’s spring 2020. When was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of your horse’s deworming program? Is your approach successful? How do you know?
Recent recommendations from the equine research community can help guide your efforts as you review the particulars of your strategy and consider changes. Here’s what you need to know to bring your horse’s deworming program up to date.
Upending Tradition
“For several decades the general goal of deworming was to eradicate parasites from horses,” says Martin K. Nielsen, DVM, PhD, DipEVPC, DACVM, who is the Schlaikjer Professor of Equine Infectious Disease at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center. “This not only was impossible but also counterproductive because aggressive deworming efforts resulted in widespread levels of drug resistance.”
As Dr. Nielsen explains, rotational deworming—the long-held practice of treating horses every eight to 12 weeks with products of different chemical classes—has not prevented resistance the way it was once thought it would. To complicate the situation further, no new dewormers have been introduced since 1981 and none are in development—a process that usually takes a minimum of five years.
Recognizing the need for change, the American Association of Equine Practitioners released Parasite Control Guidelines in 2013. Twice—in 2016 and 2019—the organization has reviewed and revised those recommendations. Dr. Nielsen led the task force that wrote the original and updated versions.
New Objectives
According to Dr. Nielsen, the two primary goals of any parasite control program now are:
• to minimize the• to maintain the effectiveness of current dewormers for the future.
