Anyone who has horses runs the risk of their horse being infected by parasites. This can happen through ticks, mites, lice, hornets or worms. These bugs are unavoidable. However, one can learn to recognize the signs of a parasitic infection and to lower the risk of infection.
Sign
Ticks can transmit diseases to horses. Ticks can leave bacteria that can lead to lameness and swelling in horses. The problem with this is often that people only find out late. Because the lameness and swelling sometimes only manifest a year after infection. The bacteria that causes this can be controlled with penicillin, but a complete cure cannot be guaranteed. When a tick is discovered on the horse’s body, it can be removed with special tick tweezers. This ensures that the entire tick is removed and prevents the mouth parts of the tick from sticking. Many people first anesthetize the tick with alcohol, but contrary to popular belief, this is not good. The tick will then empty its salivary glands into the skin and thus transmit an infection even earlier. After removing the tick, it is good to disinfect the skin with, for example, betadine. Ticks can not only transmit diseases to horses, people can for example get Lyme disease through a tick bite and they can also transmit diseases to dogs.
Mites
Mites cannot be seen with the naked eye. But when you look at them under the microscope you see that they are little creatures that look like spiders. They can occur on and in a horse’s skin and are transmitted by direct contact or through brushes or pads or blankets. There are many different mites that can produce different symptoms such as pimples, bumps and flakes on the skin and in most cases it is accompanied by a lot of itching. It also depends on the type of mite on which body part of the horse it causes problems. Some mites such as the Chorioptes cause skin abnormalities on the legs, while the Psoroptes is mainly in the mane, back and tail. The Demodex mite mainly causes problems on the head and neck. By means of scraping, microscopic examination can be done to see if there is an infection with mites and which mites are involved. There are several mite-killing liquids that your vet can recommend. Horses can be washed with these agents. It is important that this wash is repeated after about two weeks. Because the eggs of the mites are often stronger than the mites themselves and may not disappear completely after the wash. The eggs will hatch after about two weeks, so it is important to repeat the wash. The stables, brushes, tack and blankets must also be disinfected.
Lice
An infection with lice mainly occurs in young horses or in weakened or sick animals and the infections mainly occur in the winter and in the spring when the animals have a longer coat and the coat is more often moist for a long time. The lice can spread through direct contact and again through brushes or tack. There are two types of lice that cause many problems in horses, the so-called Damalinia equi and the Haematopinus. The former is a fur louse that feeds on skin cells and hair flakes, the latter is a leech. Both lice cause a lot of itching in case of an infection. This will cause the horses to chafe or bite their own fur and skin, causing injuries. The roots of the mane and tail are particularly sensitive areas, as well as the neck. No microscopic examination is required to confirm lice infection. When inspecting the coat, the lice can often be seen and the eggs of the lice (nits) are clearly visible. Under the microscope one can possibly distinguish the different types. Treating the infection with lice often requires the same treatment as with mites. A repeat of the treatment is also necessary after two weeks because the eggs of the lice can also be stubborn and do not disappear with the first wash. It is advisable to repeat the wash with lice killing agent four times with a break of two weeks each time.
Hornets
Unlike the aforementioned bugs, the hornet does not cause any skin problems. The problem with the hornet is that the female lays eggs on the fur of the horse. When the horse licks this, the larvae end up in the horse where they hibernate in the horse’s stomach. In the spring they come out with the faeces and pupate into a hornet. And this process repeats itself over and over. However, a horse may become very thin when a horse is infected with a lot of larvae. To avoid problems one should scrape away the eggs on the coat as much as possible. There are also anti-parasitic means for washing the horse. And at the beginning of winter, the horse should be wormed with a worm treatment containing ivermectin.
Worms
There are different types of worms that can cause different problems in horses. It is therefore very important to regularly deworm horses properly. One of the most famous worms is the Oxyuris equi, also known by the names pinworm or pinworm. It is an internal parasite that lives in the gastrointestinal tract of the horse. The females lay their eggs around the horse’s anus. This causes itching because they irritate the mucous membranes of the anus. The horse will therefore chafe its hindquarters. If a horse is regularly dewormed, this problem will not occur. It is ideal to deworm a horse every 6 to 8 weeks. When several horses are in the stable or in the pasture, all horses must be dewormed at the same time. New horses must also be dewormed before they are added to the other horses.