QUARANTINING NEW HORSES

 A new horse arriving on your property may contain different types of worms that your farm does not currently have, for example, the pathogenic worm Parascaris equorum (ascarids) in young horses, pinworms (Oxyuris equi) or worms that are very resistant to the wormer that is currently effective on your property. These new animals can put your current resident horses at risk and may also cause your worm control program to fail. 

Any new horses arriving on your property must be treated in a way that will minimise the risk of resistant worms contaminating the pasture. Parasitologists and veterinarians recommend that the following procedures are undertaken to minimise the risk: 

Quarantine Worming 

• All new arrivals should be quarantined away from the resident herd for 14-21 days. This is important, not only for worming but also from a biosecurity perspective. 

• New horses may be harbouring infectious disease or resistant parasites. 

• Give the horse two separate worming products one after the other. The two wormers should contain: 

a) Moxidectin + Praziquantel (Equest Plus Tape) 

b) Oxfendazole + Pyrantel (Strategy-T) 

• Collect all manure and dispose away from grazing areas. Do not spread the manure of quarantined horses onto pasture. 

• A FECRT should be performed two weeks following worming to confirm efficacy of the treatment. 

Quarantine is often labour intensive and inconvenient but is an essential practice to minimise the spread of infectious disease and resistant parasites.