We thought we’re on the safe side practicing our regular rotational deworming routines. Well, it sounds like we aren’t.  There’s new research that shows that rotational programs fall short and worms only become more resistant! To find out more read below. Courtesy of www.merial.com.

Bluntly challenging more than four decades of conventional wisdom, Merial today announced a new equine educational campaign urging horse owners to stop arbitrarily utilizing year-round or rotational deworming programs.

Instead, horse owners and veterinarians should collaborate to apply the dwindling supply of effective deworming products more strategically – and more effectively.

“Multiple studies from across the country have shown entire classes of dewormers are no longer working against small strongyles,” said Frank Hurtig, DVM, MBA, director for Merial’s Large Animal Veterinary Services. “Most horse owners think they have been doing the right thing to fight resistance by using a daily product or rotating dewormers. But indications are strong that these practices may contribute to resistance.

“After four decades of little or no progress, it’s time for the industry to rethink daily deworming and dewormer rotation,” says Dr. Hurtig.

Horse owners should stop routinely deworming based on the calendar, tradition, peer recommendations or dewormer sale price, advises Merial’s new “Greetings, Human” educational campaign. They should instead seek out a knowledgeable equine veterinarian to help them develop long-term, effective deworming protocols based on monitoring and management.

“Our educational campaign humorously recognizes that if worms could talk, they’d in fact be telling us to keep on doing exactly what we’ve been doing for decades,” says Dr. Hurtig. “In the long run, unfortunately, it’s actually better for the worms if horse owners continue to deworm the way most have been. The last thing a resistant small strongyle would want is for us to become more strategic in deworming.

Strategic guidance from knowledgeable veterinarians is the critical missing link preventing too many farms from effectively managing their parasite populations, he says. “There are about 50 species of small strongyles that can infect grazing horses. Eliminating all worms from all horses and pastures on a farm is a futile goal.  A much more worthy target is to maintain a low level of parasites on a farm with a large proportion of those parasites being highly susceptible to the dewormer(s) being used – an approach also known as refugia^. It is important to remember most of the parasites are on the pasture and about 20 percent of the horses on a farm put out about 80 percent of the worm eggs to contaminate those pastures. Working with your veterinarian to identify these “high shedders” and then tailoring your deworming to target these horses with more effective products, while reducing treatments of the remaining horses, is the best approach to obtaining optimum worm control on your farm.”

This approach can be a significant departure from what drug companies, scientists and veterinarians have counseled in the past – urging horse owners to use daily dewormers or rotate deworming compounds from different classes based on a set calendar schedule. With new data, better understanding of products and how they work, and increasing evidence of parasite resistance, many in the equine industry are changing their approach to equine deworming.

He proposes that horse owners adopt refugia as a new goal for parasite control on their farms.  All the other reasons for which we use dewormers will become immaterial if this goal is not achieved. This means we must become better stewards to preserve the effectiveness of current products. Prudent use of deworming compounds requires us to be more targeted, more strategic and more judicious. Our job now is to keep the effective dewormers as effective as possible for as long as possible. Daily deworming and continual rotation will not do that.

“Think about it this way: You would never randomly use an antibiotic to blindly treat an undiagnosed and inapparent infection,” Dr.Hurtig says. “This practice wastes time and money, and it increases the risk for developing resistant pathogens. The same attitude must now be brought to bear against increasingly resistant parasites in dewormer selection.”

Dr. Hurtig suggests horse owners ask their equine veterinarian about a targeted testing, treatment and management program for their operation, or go to www.zimecterin.com for more information about parasite resistance (see the parasite resistance tab on the home page) and Merial’s new “Greetings, Human” educational campaign.

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

“My name is Elaine Banfield I am an FEI dressage trainer, rider and coach. Also an Equine Canada certified national dressage judge and an Equine Canada high performance training coach at Elaine Banfield Equine Services.”

“ I use products from EcoLicious Equestrian in my barn. They smell great and feel better than great.  They deliver the kind of results I want for my competition horses, with no worry of compromising their health,  quality of  air around my barn or my own health. They are gentle, without any toxic ingredients, and the results are wonderful.”

“ EcoLicious products work superbly and are easy to use. I love the shiny coats and smooth silky tails. My absolute favourite is the De-Stress Intensive Restructuring & Detangling Treatment for manes and tails. It’s a great conditioner, soothes itchy tails and is the fastest way to remove burrs, stubborn tangles or shavings. The best feature is the longevity of these products. The tail is smooth and tangle free for several days.”

“I am so impressed with the quality of these products that I have been confidently recommending EcoLicious products to all my clientele. Thank you EcoLicious, it is about time someone produced truly effective and environmentally friendly horse care products.”

Sincerely,

Elaine Banfield, FEI Dressage Trainer, Rider, Couch & Dressage Judge
Anola, MB

THANK YOU ELAINE!

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

We were proud to support the “Turn N Burn for the Cure” Barrel Race Cancer Care Fund Raiser that took place this past weekend. The event was a success attracting almost 70 riders and a large audience. All proceeds were donated to Manitoba Cancer Care.

Check out couple of pics from the event :

 

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

Hi everyone,

I’d like to share with you an email that I received yesterday from one of our customers. We’re so happy to hear about your experience with our products. 

“Ecolicious Equestrian is the ultimate line of horse care products!  I love the Squeaky Green and Clean shampoo, it rinses out easily and gets my horse super shiny.  The De-Stress and Moisture Maniac are the BEST mane and tail products, they detangle instantly without drying out the hair like those silicone-based products.  The Glossy Coat Tonic gives a beautiful show shine for my horse, and I use it on my own hair too for extra shine and softness.  Leave Me Be is a great fly spray, and I love the fact that it doesn’t have any harsh chemical pesticides like most other brands.  The Hands On cream is wonderful too, I constantly wash my hands in my job and it lasts a long time without being greasy.  I am going to toss my other products and use nothing but Ecolicious Equestrian products from now on!  Keep up the great work!”

Christine Stevens

Check out Christine and her beautiful dazzlingly shiny boy Bravo below.  That’s our Glossy Gloss Enhancing Tonic.

Thank you Christine. We really appreciate your kind words!

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

This week Durango & I went to Dressage Camp – 2 days of intense schooling sessions with clinicians from different parts of the country, lessons in hands-on equine stretching and show braiding followed by a schooling show.

Carolyn from Backstretch Equine Massage showed our horse enthusiast group how to stretch our horses’ muscles.  We were able to practice on our own horses and Durango really enjoyed his stretching session as well as the carrots that come with a couple of stretches.You can check out several how to stretching videos here from Horse Channel.

We learned how to braid Anky Style Sewn In Dressage Buttons.  Mellisa Bosma,
our mentor tried our In Control Braiding & Mane Setting Cream and loved the smell, the texture and the job it did. It’s a slightly sticky conditioning cream that eliminates fly-aways and moisturizes at the same time.  Unlike Quick Braid, In Control doesn’t dry out manes.

And the best part : if you have “helmet hair” you can use In Control to smooth your own do! Just remember to use only a little bit, it’s concentrated. Video with instructions on how to make your own Anky Braids  is coming soon.

Here’s Durango and I on the final day of the camp – the schooling show. In spite of couple of “on-course-errors” (yeah – I lost it TWICE! I blame it on the total lack of sleep) the judges feedback was very encouraging and we finally saw eights on the score sheet. Thanks judges for not letting us roast in our jackets!

Are you going to a horse camp this summer? Let me know…

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com