Can a horse pick up worms from sheep?

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showqa

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My mare was wormed early September, and worm counted 10 days later which was within normal limits.

Today, poo picking the field, one of her dungs was heaving with small, cream, stout, robust worms!!!!!!!!! Literally just the one. I was horrified and somewhat confused - and the only thing I can think is that sheep have been on it until recently and could she have picked up something off them?

I've spoken with my vet and she's advised to worm again with Pramox. Any ideas guys?

Cheers.
 
It could be pinworm. I had this happen to one of my mares 2 years ago. She was the only one with the problem. There were so many in her dung it was hopping across the ground. She was dosed immediately with (can't remember) and the problem was solved, never to be repeated since. The mares were sharing a field with sheep 9 months earlier. I don't believe horses and sheep share their worm burden. I would think the worms are species specific...correct me if I'm wrong. Many equine experts advise multi-species grazing to help eliminate worms within fields. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Rutland. I too thought that putting sheep on my land was a good way to clean up after the horses had been on it, and in fact the horses haven't been on this particular field for 6 months. The field actually looks really healthy, but it was the only thing that I could think of that may have caused it.

My gelding is clear (although I've wormed him again as well of course), and like I said, it was just the one dung (tragic I know, but I can tell it's her dung because of the size!!!) So strange and horrible too.
 
I, too, can tell my horses' (and dogs') dung by the way it looks and its volume. My non-horsey/doggy friends just shake their collective heads in disbelief!
 
the sheep are highly unlikely to have caused the problem since the major worm types in horses cannot survive the sheep gut (and vice versa), which is why they are so good for the ground in rotation with horses.

either the worms are a type or a stage not picked up by the worm count (encysted small redworm, tapeworm, pinworm etc) or a type that is covered but just happened not to be in the dung samples previously.
 
i always understood that horses and sheep DO have a certain worm in common so would never mix them, also how do you know the sheep have been wormed within the correct cycle needed to control their worms, unless you have done it yourself? and they also dirty the grazing, i'm not too keen on cattle either leaving their great plops everwhere, which can be dangerously slippery!
 
One of the main benefits of cross-grazing horses with sheep is that sheep do NOT allow equine worms to complete their life-cycles. Similarly sheep worms' life-cycles are interrupted by cross-grazing. The other great benefit is that sheep treat the grass much better and allow it to grow healthily, while horses tend to destroy their grazing.
Are you absolutely certain that what you saw was worms, or could it have been maggots from insects laying their eggs in that particular pile of dung?
 
Answer above is pretty much exactly what i was going to say.
What wormer did you use? just to see if there is a species that it didn't cover? if you see it again it would be worth taking a sample or at least a photo. Were the worms long and 'wormy'like? flat and oval? long and flat?
 
As far as I know the only worm that can infect both is the stomach hairworm, and this worm is readily controlled in programmes built around redworm control. ie if you do any worming for redworm, you're unlikely to have a problem with hairworm even if the sheep have it.
Additionally the only parasite I have heard that can infect both is the liver fluke, but they can only pick them up from water with water snails in it and it's rare. Cleaning water troughs would prevent it and also the sheep can be treated for fluke if the ground is prone to it (boggy ground with standing water is worse for fluke).

Just make sure the sheep are wormed and fluked before they go onto the pasture if you want to be ultra safe. Personally, if the field isnt 'flukey' then rotating the sheep/horses is much more likely to be beneficial than to cause any problems.
 
There are pros and cons to cross grazing with sheep, something that i never knew before this year though was that horses can get liver fluke from sheep, an experience I never want to go through again!!
 
sheep, cattle and horses have the worm trichostronglus, not sure if that"s spelt right, in common so can infect horses, i find that keeping the field clean stops the grazing of selective areas and eleminates rank long areas, if fact i have no such areas, they graze the lot level, also if sheep and cattle droppings are not removed surely this must contribute to the general dirtyness of the grazing, i've never heard of anyone getting up sheep droppings, yet!
 
alfiesmum said:
i always beleived that putting sheep on the land elimated the worms? could be wrong , wouldnt be the first time lol
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I have always thought this too! My livery yard has sheep (currently on the horses winter grazing) who sometimes like to visit the horses and graze with them and no one has ever had a problem with worms.
 
Oh dear - now I really am confused.

What would liver fluke look like?

Well, the poo was a fresh one, and the worms were short, stout, robust, cream, sort of an oval shape. There were quite a few of them in the poo. BUT I went through all the other dung I collected and not a sign of anything.

She was wormed in September with Strongid - P (double dose), then worm counted 10 days later. The vet has told me (and I've now done it) to worm again this time with Pramox.

Well, for sure I don't know whether the sheep (not mine - local farmers) are regularly wormed. So.... should I avoid getting them to clean up the field??

Thanks - I think!!
 
Worm counts can be deceptive. Only a tiny amount of dung is tested. Its from one dropping,passed on one day in a monthly worm cycle.Worms tend to be more active and therefore visible in poo during the full moon. (NO I am not a witch!) If the sample was, in part ,from the middle of a 'plop' it would not show the correct burden. (worm eggs tend to be on the shiny outer part of the aforementioned 'plop'.)
So although worm counts are a fantasic way to aid our worming program. They do not always give a definitive picture. :(
 
showqa said:
Fahrenheit, what symptoms does liver fluke infestation show?
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In youngsters, dramatic weight loss can be a sign!
Its a long story but going to tell it because I don't want anyone to think that my horse got in this state on my watch!
I let a 'friend' take one of my youngsters (rising 4yo) and they were going to break him in and sell him, pay me out of what they sold him for and keep the profit.
Anyway they had him a couple of weeks and decided to send him away to someone else to be backed due to lack of time, several weeks went past and I got a phone call saying they had just picked the horse up and people hadn't done anything with him and he 'didn't look his best' so could he turn him out in my field for a couple of weeks til he picked up (I have 50 acres). He arrived and was half the horse I had last seen, I wormed him and kept him in for 48 hours, then turned him out with a couple of other boys on Dr. Green and was supplementing him with hard food. After 2 weeks, he wasn't showing any signs of picking up and I thought had lost more weight, so bought him in and gave him a 5 day PEG and spoke to the vet, the vet said next time he was out he would run bloods for me to see if something else was going on. He was severly concerned when he saw him when he came and run the bloods, he then rang me and asked if he had been with sheep because of his liver enzymes, after a couple of phone calls I found the answer was yes, he came back and drenched my horse for liver fluke. He the started to pick up... during this time I called said 'friend' and told him, he came round and said I had tried to say i'd over wormed him. I then informed him on what the vet said and he was going to need alot of food to get him right and his answer was 'well I can't afford to feed him', and walked away and left me with a vet bill and a youngster that required weeks and weeks of tlc and feeding up. Needless to say they are a friend no more.
 
Guys, I'm really quite worried now about the possibility of liver fluke. Is this treated with the same kind of wormers that we use for other parasites? Is she going to need other medication? What are the long term consequences of this? How would I clean up the pasture if it is now infected with it?
 
showqa said:
Guys, I'm really quite worried now about the possibility of liver fluke. Is this treated with the same kind of wormers that we use for other parasites? Is she going to need other medication? What are the long term consequences of this? How would I clean up the pasture if it is now infected with it?
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Speak to your vet tomorrow and either run bloods to look at the liver or ask if they can drench for liver fluke as a precaution, the liver fluke treatment was very inexpensive from my vet. I dont keep sheep so have no idea about it other than horses can get it from sheep.
 
Fahrenheit, that's an awful story about your youngster. Although sadly, having heard about some dreadful loan situations with horses, I'm not entirely surprised.

I will call the vet tomorrow and take it from there. Just have no idea about liver fluke - very new to me. Thanks anyway.
 
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