Worms In Horse Tank

Question
Hello, I have a water tank for our 3 horses, and I recently went to clean it. And there were red worms everywhere! :-S What are they, are they harmful? Can I get
rid of them? There were quite a few, and obviously the horses drink them down. Thank You

Answer
hi Cassandra,
well first things first let me say ewwww strongyles they are larvae of the fly. Strongyles, or bloodworms, are perhaps the most common of internal horse parasites. They can infect horses of all ages except newborn foals and are found all over the world. There are three types of large and one type of small strongyle. Large strongyles infect the large intestine of the horse. The largest of the large burrow into small arteries in the gut wall and use them as pathways to the main blood supply artery of the digestive tract. Their migration causes disruption in blood flow by formation of blood clots in the artery. The eggs are usually found on vegetation rather than in manure, so transmission occurs mainly outdoors rather than in stalls and barns. The smaller two of the large type of strongyles do not cause as much damage as the large one. They migrate within the liver and are capable of causing damage to that organ in the process, then return to the large intestine.

Small strongyles are found in the cecum and colon and they do not migrate. Most of the small strongyles feed on the intestinal mucus and the larvae are capable of lying dormant in the intestinal wall for prolonged periods of time. Toward spring in temperate climates, there can be a mass emergence from the intestinal wall, causing the afflicted horse to suffer diarrhea that sometimes reaches the severe stage.
dump out the water and try to keep it clean as possible. even if that means only keeping the trough half full. automatic waterers are good too because the water is continuously changing. worm your horses with Ivermectine 1.87% this will kill all the worms the horse has already digested. make sure you worm your horse regularly and rotate your wormers. do ivermectin one time then the next use zimecterine and then Pyrantel Pamoate. doing this will keep your horse continuously worm free.if you have any other questions just ask and ill have an answer for you. =)
Amanda Groff