March onwards ...

We have a new resident - Chubby Cheeks, an Angora-type rabbit, donated by Jennifer N.

He's very friendly and is turning into a big puffball as we brush him. Pictures will be posted this weekend.

Jeff Sleeth of Dundas Veterinary was out on Tuesday to give some of the horses their shots. He gave Neala and Gwen a thorough check up, too. Jeff will be back later in the month to do the rest of the horses.

Mom came out to lend a hand herding Neala into the barn while I led Gwen. Neala appears to be learning that leading isn't all bad. Yay!

All of the horses in Soul and Reba's paddock got their shots, as did Spook, Neala, Gwen, and most of the boys in the bachelor paddock.

Last night was the third session at Kemptville College for the free OVLAC seminars. This one was on parasites and pasture management.

Melanie Barnam, DVM, recommended that horse owners use the different types of dewormers in rotation, something we do already, to ensure that parasites don't become immune to the wormers. She warned against using daily wormers (currently only available in the US) as they may produce more resistant parasites.

If you suspect a horse may have a heavy parasite load (some of our rescues have not been dewormed regularly or properly), Melanie recommended a fecal test where the number of eggs and larvae can be counted. Once you know how bad the infestation is, you can work with your vet to plan a safe procedure for reducing the load.

She also recommended that paddocks be dragged to break up the manure and spread it out so that the sun can kill off any larvae and eggs. Pasture rotation helps, too, as do our cold winters.

We drag and bush hog pastures regularly in the summer to keep weeds under control and to control parasites and rotate the horses out of the "winter paddocks" once the ground starts to dry up. That helps reduce the reinfection rate, too.

As part of the clinic, we had an opportunity to have a free "float" fecal test done, so Mom took in a piece of Sneakers' manure and Tash and I took in one from Gwen. Since it's still wintery, neither showed much in the way of parasite eggs. Gwen and Neala will get a full test done in April before we deworm them, just to be sure.

You can read more about parasites and their lifecycle in horses here: http://www.myhorse.com/assets/Health/Natural-Holistic/asset_upload_file589_11959.pdf

Caution: Graphic images of worms - not for the squeamish!

You can find lots of interesting articles on horses and horse health here: http://www.thehorse.com/. You'll have to sign up for a free account to read some of the articles. Many of them are written by vets, and verified by other vets.

Dreamscape Acres is starting a herd health program for worming that will be administered by our vet. Deworming costs will not increase because of this - but it will ensure that we give the right wormers at the best possible time to get rid of parasites.