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Deworming Tips for the Senior Horse
Allow you horse to live longer and be stronger
Most people don’t realize that endurance horses are mostly senior horses. Just like humans, horses can live longer and productive lives into their later years. Caring for senior horses is important and here are few ideas on how to help older horses reach their full maturity as happily as possible.
Dental care is really important for senior horses. As horses age, the teeth can develop waves and points which can affect the way the horses eat. It is recommended for horse owners to undergo a dental exam every six months. It doesn’t mean that floating the teeth is necessary; it’s only to avoid your horse from catching dental problems that may be painful and burdensome from him.
Proper nutrition is also an important part of senior horse care. Several diets for senior horses are available and you might need to consider that. Specially formulated feeds are also developed by nutritionists, which can meet the nutritional requirements of older horses to keep them healthy.
Deworming Tips
Deworming is another issue for senior horses. Parasite infestation can affect senior horses more significantly compared to young adult ones. Sometimes, they may lose their appetite, which leads to weight loss, and certain problems such as diarrhea. Senior horses may take time to recover from health changes due to nutritional imbalances . Ivermectin praziquantel wormers (i.e. AbIver Plus™) are also helpful in covering additional species of parasites which may not respond well to other dewormers. Your veterinarian can help you develop the best horse deworming program for your senior horse.
It is also recommended to get a baseline complete blood count and blood chemistry for your old, healthy horse. This makes it easier for you to find out later on, if problems occur, which levels fall out of normal limits from your horse’s results. If your horse is injured, be sure to give him enough time to recover. We should not expect that senior horses can make it through so easily when it comes to injuries.
Lastly, always observe for any behavioral changes in your older horse. Be sure that he gets access to the daily feed even if you have other horses on your property. Your horse might also have problems seeing clearly unlike when he was still in his younger years. Make sure that you accommodate your horse so he can still get along well with the rest of the team. If you are just observant enough when it comes to your horses, then it won’t be difficult to tell if there are any problems.
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