Pasture management

KEEP THE HORSE PASTURE WORM FREE!
Land that is grazed extensively (less than one horse or two Shetlands per hectare) remains generally safe, ie worm press that pasture is low and horses can often increase with little worm cures. In a pasture intensive grazing (more than 1 or 2 horse Shetland per hectare), it is important to apply appropriate pasture management. With pasture management the infection risk (number of infective worm larvae) is kept low. This ensures a lower risk of recontamination of horses with worm larvae. Not only the horses need to be wormed less frequently, the risk of a serious blood worm infection is highly reduced.

MAKE SURE THE MANURE DOES NOT RUIN THE PASTURE.
With proper pasture management comes removing manure daily. Other methods to reduce the risk of infection in the pasture are using hay and grazing with other species such as sheep and cattle. Applying grazing schemes by moving horses from one to another (clean) pasture is often hard to realize for owners.

During the grazing season more than 95% of the total worm population lives as larva in the pasture and only 5% are present in the horse. This means that a dewormer which is administered in the summer can only kill a small portion of the total worm population. Protection therefore is only for a short time, after which the horse is quickly reinfected with worm larvae from the pasture.

REMOVE THE MANURE FROM THE PASTURE. By removing the manure at least twice daily with a manure fork, one can often achieve better worm egg control than regular deworming treatments. An additional advantage is that the part of the pasture being grazed will get larger because there are less manure places. During the period from november till march it is sufficient to only remove the manure once per day. An average 500 kg horse produces 5 to 12 dung heaps daily. This is about 24 kg of manure per day, or 10 tons of manure per year!

HAY
Haying causes dung balls to be broken. The worm eggs and developing larvae are exposed to sun and drought, which resulting them to quickly die.

GRAZING WITH OTHR SPECIES. If a (horse) pasture is being grazed by other ruminants during late winter and early spring the number of infectious larvae on pasture will decrease significantly. Horses will thereafter graze on a pasture with larvae that are only infectious to other rumnants, not to horses. Also simultaneous grazing of horses with ruminants reduces risk of infection. The disadvantage is that cattle and sheep themselves can carry the liver fluke parasite, without having to suffer from it themselves. After passing over the pasture, horses can become infected with liver fluke later on.

GRAZING SHEMES
Because horses are almost always carriers of encapsulated worms that can reinfect clean pastures, worm control in horses can never be based solely on grazing schemes. However by consistently removing manure from the pasture severe infections can be prevented. In addition to a grazing scheme it is also important to keep the intestines of the horse clean and healthy. A healthy, cleaned intestinal system is less prone to potential worm infection.

Equi Parex ensures a healthy digestive system and cleans the intestinal system. Also an optimal resistance makes a horse less prone to a potential worm infection. When a horse is ill, the animal can excrete more eggs than in a healthy state. This is because the immune system, and thus the basic resistance against worms has been affected. It is therefore advisable to provide your horse Vitasporal Horse of Licosan Forte.

WHAT MANURE FORKS DO WE RECOMMEND?
It is important that you buy the right manure fork.
The manure fork which we recommend is the plastic manure fork from V plast.
The manure fork is made of polycarbonate, is affordable and durable.
Perfect for use in both hot and cold weather and is UV resistant.
The manure fork from V plast is available in both black and in various trendy colours.

What is Equi Parex? Equi Parex contributes to a healthy stomach and intestinal flora. Equi Parex only needs to be administered once every 3 months, making it very inexpensive. Equi Parex also adds shine to the coat. Equi Parex is a "healthy natural choice" and therefore carries the "Excellent" label.

VITASPORAL HORSE AND LICOSAN FORTE
Vitasporal is an injector and Licosan Forte is a powder.
Both have the following properties:
Energy, nutrition and vitamins.

Both provide the horse with resistance and are therefore used, among other things, for:

• Pregnant horses
• Dull coat and shedding 
• During the "R" in the month
• Horses suffering from a cold 
• After de-worming the horse to support the resistance