LICE?

[suebingham]

Just read the article on the front page about a wormy whorse that was put down. AWFUL -- but what kind of lice do horses get? When I think about it, I can honestly say I've never even seen a tick on a horse and I've seen them be horrible on cows...

 

[Paint it Lucky]

There are two types of lice that affect horses, sucking Anoplura lice and biting Mallophaga lice. Lice infestations are most common in mid to late winter (especially when mild) in grass kept horses with long winter coats (though any horse can be affected). The lice live in the grass initially then move onto the horses and can spread from horse to horse by direct contact. They reproduce very quickly once on the horse and cause irritation and lethargy (from anaemia). I have seen horses rub bald patches and also bite themselves until they bleed to try and ease the itching the lice cause. Fortunately lice infestations are easy to treat, but they can be hard to spot especially in thick coated horses/ponies if they aren't checked thoroughly.

 

[suebingham]

How awful! Are they visible without magnification? Thank you so much for this information -- honestly I'd never thought about it before since I've never run across them to my knowledge. Most of the US citations for the two orders you listed on livestock seem to be in areas with more rain and more grass than what we have here. Apparently both chewing and sucking lice exist here in the Southwest too but are much more common on rodents and small carnivores. (Didn't see any citations for mule deer or other large ungulates.)