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  Discussion on Is there an alternative to daily Strongid with poor barn management?
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 17, 2002 - 8:52 pm:

Dear Dr. Oglesby

I have read both your articles on parasites and they are excellent, plus the entire forum posts on this topic. However, I need some advice and clarification for a situation, which thus far has not been discussed. Let me explain. Currently I board my horses at a barn with an infrequent and ineffective worming program: herd dewormed 3 to 4 times per year; 80 horses turned out 90% of the time together; unstable herd; drainage of feces into pond drinking water; fed hay on pasture ground. To counter this I have been worming my two horses every six weeks regardless of the barn schedule (physically they look and act fine and seem to be very healthy). After reading your articles, I realize that my program probably does not do my horses much good and I agree that ideally I should put my horses on the daily Strongid pellets.

However, I do not think this would a great solution since it would be difficult for me to be there everyday to give the Strongid when the horses are let in to eat in their stalls and I do not trust the barn workers to take this task seriously and make sure they get the daily dose. Yes, I know I pay them to take care of my horses but I know they do not understand or want to understand the importance of parasite control. So, here are my questions:

If I put my two horses on daily Strongid and a dose is missed here and there, should I continue the 6-week paste schedule to be safe?

Alternatively, should I just do the fecal egg count test every 3 months (often enough?) and if negative while getting the daily Strongid, then not worry?

In this situation of poor stable management, is an alternative to daily Strongid to increase the frequency of the paste worming to every month?

Would this be effective in killing enough of the larvae on a monthly basis to prevent long-term damage?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Posted on Saturday, Jan 26, 2002 - 1:52 pm:

Hello Elizabeth,
I would continue to use the daily Strongid and decide on the frequency of pasting determined by the fecals as you suggested in your post. I think this gives you the best protection.
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jan 27, 2002 - 7:27 pm:

Thank you very much! I appreciate your reply.
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