We’ve all had the pleasure of needing to give a dewormer or other type of oral medication to our horse and ended up with the paste or liquid all over ourselves or the floor while fighting with our horses to keep that tube in their mouth long enough to push the plunger. If you haven’t had this experience yet, be prepared, because it is likely to happen sometime in your equestrian life!
Fortunantly, I have found a few tips that make this inevitable task easier, whether you have a difficult horse or an easy one. So today’s video goes back to another horse care basic as we talk about the best way to give oral medications to your horse. After watching the video, leave a comment with any additional tips you would like to share. Also, see if you can spot Floyd the cat in this video (he has been making a lot of sneaky appearances in my videos lately).
12 Responses
Great tips! I’ve also heard over the years that gently rubbing the horses throat after administration can help encourage them to swallow the medication. Another tip I picked up was for giving pills, my horse would always eat around them! Stick the pills in a syringe and then fill it with water and watch them disolve into a nice easy to give paste! I’ve done that with SMZ’s, may want to check with your vet if that is okay for all types of pills.
How often do you deworm your horses? Do you switch between different dewormers each time?
Hi Kate, I used to do the standard recommended 8-week rotation, but on the advise of my vet, I have started doing periodic fecal tests and then de-worming as necessary (which ends up being a lot less frequently than every 8 weeks).
Great tips…and perfect timing! Thanks Callie.
As always, great advise! Thank you taking the time and showing us how to properly take care of our horses…… Happy Trails!
Thanks for all the videos and helpful advice Callie ! Great tip !!
Thank you so much for this great video! I used to cringe just thinking about deworming her. I was shown by several people how to administer the dewormer, nothing worked as well as your instructions. I look forward to Fridays so that I may read or see more of your blogs!!!
Hi Callie
about to worm mine but I have one horse who is a bit head shy. As he is a big lad (clydesdale) using the syringe can be a struggle. He invariably wins!! Is it ok to put the wormer in his feed. I know he will eat the lot. Helen
Hi Helen,
As long as he eats it, I wouldn’t see any problems with putting it in feed.
Callie. Thanks for that. Glad to hear it as it saves me from ending up covered in wormer paste! Great website and videos. Would love to see more on getting a young horse to use hinquarters rather than forehand. I have a 3 year old shire called Uther and he needs this practice. Helen
Thanks for the suggestion, Helen – great topic!
Thanks so much for those tips, your presentation and demeanor around the horses never grows tiring to watch. I’m developing a successful style of my own so much faster thanks to your help. I’m appreciate your support