By: Matthew M. Brendal
This question comes form Zina in Arizona. This is a great management question. This may sound like something I should already know but, this is my first mare in foal. I am so excited!!!! Anyway, Flame has only 1 month left and is due for worming. In Arizonawhere I live and keep my horses does not have pasture and they don't roam together. I worm about 3-4 times a year and I rotate. I heard that there are some dewormers I can give and some I can't. I would like to know which is which, so there is no mistake. (Answer) The greatest concern is for the foal at this very important stage. The environment you describe does not sound like a situation that I would have a great concern for as far worm infestation. Grass and flying types of nuisance insects cause the most infestations. Arizona, depending on where you live does not usually have much grass or foliage. Grass, water accumulation areas and foliage are common places that bugs can thrive. My first concern would be does your horse have any of the common signs of infestation? Things like broken hairs at the base of the tail from rubbing is the most common. Also this time of year is probably one of the lowest chance of worm infestation in your horse. If it were my horse I would just wait the month until the foal is born to worm the mare. It sounds like you have a great deworming program in place so I would suspect your mare has a much lower chance of infestation than most horses. Horses in the wild have been giving birth for millions of years without being dewormed and they did just fine. Again my concern for a foal is always in the last month or two. I would not want to overload the mare with additional things if I could help it. Make sure the mare is getting enough feed and that will offset anything a few worms my be eating. Most dewormer producers will have instructions on any deworming for special situations like pregnancy. Depending on the type of worms the product is designed to kill will also have an impact on the chemicals in the product. I think because you have such a good deworming program now is the time you can reap the dividends. Good luck and enjoy your baby horse.
