WORMING YOUR HORSE
BY
John O'Leary
Horseman

©2003

How important is it to worm your horse. Very!! Here are some reasons:

• Worms can kill a horse by perforating the stomach lining.
   
• Worms can cause death by causing Colic, which can lead to death.
   
• A wormy horse never has a nice coat.
   
• Worms affect the color of your horse. A wormy steel grey horse will turn lighter grey as do the Australian Blue Heeler Dogs when they need worming. In fact, I can tell if the brand of wormer that I am using at the time has even worked properly. Within 2 weeks, the grey horse should start to noticeably darken.
   
• Worms can make a horse hurt inside and this can lead to behavioral problems, even buck jumping.
   

• Change your wormer brands regularly.
• Use wormers that do different worm groups.
• Granules are a poor alternative to proper worming product and have limited effect.
• Use a wormer that includes botiside during that season
• Some wormers do not kill certain worms of concern. ie. Tape Worm, Bots, etc.

I CAN'T WORM MY HORSE

Horses hate being wormed and soon learn evasion tactics to avoid it. We, as owners, must force our horses to be wormed and to swallow the wormer. It doesn't all happen by accident.

This is why a fair percentage of negligent horse owners' do not worm their horses. Others go for the easy way out, granules and of late, flavored wormers are appearing on the market. However, nothing can replace good horsemanship and control over your horse.

I have never met a horse that I cannot worm or that I cannot influence to improve next time. Why then, do so many people fail with this procedure?

• A lack of horsemanship skill and knowledge, caused by a negligent educational system
   
• The fact that so many horses do not tie up properly to a solid hitching rail. (See: Training horses to tie up & Halter Breaking the Foal.)
   
• That once a horse learns to evade and gets a victory over its owner, it gets progressively worse from that day on.

• Worm your horse regularly with molasses, not wormer.
   
• If you do not want to waste your expensive wormer, get taught how to pull a horses tongue out of it's mouth so that you can squirt the wormer behind the large bulge in the tongue. This is what the horse uses to get spit the wormer out. As you inject the wormer, let the tongue go, which slides backwards, taking the wormer down the throat.
   
• Immediately after shooting the wormer into the mouth, hold the horses head high in the air with your hand under the chin, thus stopping it spitting wormer out.
   
• Also, have a finger in the side of the mouth and tickling the tongue. This promotes the chewing and swallowing rather than tight lips holding the wormer in the mouth until you are not looking. Just like kids with peas.

So there is no excuse for not worming your horse. You owe it to the horse and it is your duty as a responsible horse owner.

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