Worms – What Every Horse Owner Should Know

Articles on Horses | Topics: horses, horse, equestrian

by Quinton Kemp

There are four common types of parasitic worms that can find a home in a horse's body. These worms can be harmful to the horse and make feeding and walking in the pasture a very miserable and a difficult experience. If a horse has too many worms in its body, it could die. De-worming a horse once a year is recommended to ensure that worms will not survive to multiply and take over the horse's body. Ask a veterinarian which medications the best for preventive de-worming. There are many on the market today that can kill one or more species of worm. Horses contract worms from poor living conditions, other horses that have been mistreated, and from contaminated drinking water. Cleaning out stalls and refreshing water everyday is one way to prevent spreading the worms to the other horses living in the stable.

There four types of worms that can affect a horse. These include strongyles, tapeworms, ascarids, and bots. The first three can infect a horse through the feces of other horses. If a contaminated horse leaves feces on the ground and another horse steps on it and moves it around the rest of the stable, it will eventually get into the feed, grass, and into the water. Strongyles, which seem to affect younger horses the most, begin as larvae growing up in the arteries, gut wall, and liver. As they grow, they travel through the body heading for the large intestine where they will live out their lifespan. Once inside the large intestine, strongyles will feed of the digested food leaving little nutrients for the horse. This can cause several problems. Stunted growth, intestinal problems, artery collapse, and eventually death are common in horses affected by strongyles. By separating the older horses from the younger horses, this parasite has less chance to infect the horses.

Tapeworms are usually uncommon in horses. They, too, are transferred by unclean stall conditions and through feces. Tapeworms can live for years inside the stomach lining of its host. But if many tapeworms gather in the stomach, this can cause blockage, which could cause the horse to die. Tapeworms can be up to twelve inches long. They too keep a horse from receiving proper nutrients from food. There are many things horse breeders can do to prevent the spread of tapeworms. Rotating feed to make sure it is free of feces and clean out stalls often will prevent the spread of this parasite. Since the tapeworm is the least common of all parasites, if stalls are cleaned, infestation should not be a problem. Keep in kind that getting rid of a tapeworm is far more difficult to deal with than contracting one. Tapeworms can grow back if the head of the worm is not removed with the rest of its body. Killing one with medicine takes time. The damage could already be done, so proper prevention is important.

Bit of History

Barely a twelvemonth after
The seven days war that put the world to sleep,
Late in the evening the strange horses came.

—Edwin Muir (1887–1959)

Ascarids are worms that affect the liver and the small intestine. These worms are similar to strongyles in that they affect younger horses. As with the other worms, proper cleaning of stalls is important in keeping infestation to a minimum. If not treated, the horse will probably die from colic or an aneryurism.

Bots are transferred differently from the other worms. These worms transport by insects that land on the horse's hair, such as flies. The horse ingests the eggs, which turn into larvae on the horse's tongue. Eventually, the worms make their way to the stomach where they live on digested food and stomach acids. This can result in a smaller, weaker horse that has not had the proper nutrients to survive. Bot eggs should be removed by cutting eggs out of the hair on the horse or by wiping them off with warm water. This will prevent the horse from digesting them.

Horses must be kept in clean stalls that are refreshed every few days with new grass and hay. Drinking water should be changed at least once a day. Grooming horse often will prevent bots and other worms from getting into the horse. Young horses need to be separated from the older ones during pasture times if at all possible. This will prevent the spread of strongyles and ascarids. Keeping all horses that live in the same stable together and not letting them graze with horses from another stable is a good idea. Since worms are easy to spread, proper precautions will make it harder to contaminate a horse.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Worms – What Every Horse Owner Should Know" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by DogsPetsCats.com.

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