ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: An alternate strategy for worms

Re: An alternate strategy for worms

Kirsten Price (kirsten@vermilion.reno.nv.us)
Wed, 27 Aug 1997 23:30:33 -0700

Delurking for a moment here.

I am not an endurance rider, although it has always interested me. I
subscribe to this list primarily because I find it is the best practical
source of equine health information.

<<<<<SOMETHING TO PONDER:

I attended a tour (orginaized by the University of FL) of prominent horse
farms in Ocala, FL several years ago. One of the larger farms was asked
about their worming progam. They said, in the past they would do regular
fecal checks & worm only the animals that had signs of worms. One of
their
mares never showed any sign of worms so the wormers were with held from
her.
Then one day (you guessed it) she up and died & upon autopsy she was
full of
WORMS! The farm has since changed its program and worms on a regular
basis
regardless of the fecal checks.

HHHMMMMM?>>>>>

This thread on wormers and worming intrigues me and I find it very
interesting and educational. I just want to throw out an observation
here. My husband and I travel a lot to third-world countries. While both
of us are healthy and pretty much have the proverbial *iron stomachs*...
intestinal problems (often severe) are not only a risk, you can count on
them. We always travel with a prescription (sorry, don't recall the
pharmaceutical name) that our doctor instructed us to use only in dire
emergencies with respect to severe cases of Montezuma's revenge. By this
he means if the dehydration problems become a more serious risk to our
health than the potential consequences of using this medication. The
reason is that this medication basically wipes out the entire intestinal
fauna, good bugs and bad bugs alike. This of course completely upsets
any *ecosystem* balance and makes room for bugs to flourish that may be
even worse and harder to get rid of than the ones causing problems to
begin with.

Equine wormers do the same thing on a more limited and more specific
scale.... basically you are trying to wipe out specific bugs that
potentially cause health problems for the horse in some phase (usually
adult) in the life cycle of the bug. While I think that worming
certainly has its place in equine health, I also think it is important to
consider the negative aspects of worming of any kind. There are costs
and side effects for both.

I appreciate the implications of the story from the farm in Ocala,
Florida... but, I am not sure that the answer/solution to the problem was
to go on a wholesale regular worming program (although it may have been).
One of my immediate questions was what type of worm killed the mare...
tape worms? They are notoriously difficult to identify in fecal samples
and may not have shown up in the routine fecal examinations. Then of
course, what type of a regular worming program did the farm move to? I
would be interested in knowing how their new worming program reflected
the specific case of the mare who died.

Anyway, you are right. It is something to ponder. IMHO, there is a rather
complex thought process to go through before instituting (or
discontinuing) any regular worming program. It would be ideal to be able
to use the *if it ain't broke, don't fix it* strategy. The problem is
determining if it's broke in the first place.

More stuff to ponder.

Kirsten

Home Events Groups Rider Directory Market RideCamp Stuff