Getting Ready for Deworming

Hi!

Thank you for being here this week!

How many times have we all tried to deworm our horses or give them oral medications which turned into a struggle and we end up resorting to force?

Administering any type of liquid or paste medication like a dewormer can be a challenge if we do not prepare the horse previously. For us, or better yet, from our perspective it is something so “simple” and we assume that it should also be this way to the horse- he should accept this with no problems!

When the horse resists we resort to force, this turns into an uncomfortable procedure for both the person doing the administering and the horse and we end up not knowing for sure how much of the recommended dose the horse has actually received.

Today I would like to share the process we use in order to prepare our colts to accept anything we administer orally without resistance and calmly .

The procedure is easy !

Pat has a brilliant saying:

“Take the time it takes so it takes less time”

I interpret this saying as:

“ Take the time the time it takes so that in the future it takes less time”

I am personally motivated to start this process at their very young age , dedicate time and by applying all my knowledge in order to prepare the colts for what they will need for their future life .

Recommendations :

-Patience , you must give the horse the opportunity to try and taste

-Find the liquid the horse will like the most; I use diluted molases or maple syrup which they love!

-Repeat the procedure for 7 days or for as long as necessary

-Once the horse accepts the procedure with no issues repeat it once a week!

-After this you can repeat the procedure now and then!

-When you are going to give a medication or deworm dip the end of the syringe ( or the applicator) in syrup !

Steps: