- Get a sample of my horses' fresh poo
- Keep said poo refrigerated
- Deliver said poo to the vet for a egg count
- Learn what kind of shedders horses the are (light, medium, or heavy)
- Based on the type of shedder, develop a deworming strategy to keep horse healthy while at the same time not contributing to wormer resistance
I'm... very open about the joys of horse ownership at work, mainly because it keeps people from looking at me with big eyes, telling me how lucky I am and how they wish they could have a horse. Many times, when faced with such a type, I have started on some of the less glamorous aspects. If they still insist, I up the ante. If they still won't fold, I mention cleaning sheaths and make sure to note that sometimes you have to chase that little bugger up there. And no, without gloves! Thus the one who was so jealous gets a blank look and promptly shuffles off, suddenly glad to be equine-free.
Anywho, thus it was pretty known among those who like to ask about my horses that I needed to collect poo. And, as usual, they wanted to know more about it. Since I don't sugarcoat, I mentioned that, if the horse didn't cooperate and offer up a sample, I would have to go retrieve some myself.
So, fast forward to collection (12 weeks after worming with ivermectin, per vet recommendation). Richard and I had attended a party earlier in the day and didn't get to the barn until late, almost dark. We walked the horses (on slick, muddy trails we shouldn't have been on) for a little bit, and realized they weren't giving it up. Well.
I put on the shoulder-length gloves.
Got out the vaseline.
And got the samples myself.
What work doesn't know, but now the internet does, is that Gene had my wrist in a death grip. It felt like a blood pressure cuff on my wrist, to be honest. I couldn't move either way, and he was starting to fidget. Unable to go anywhere, I just imagined how easy a target I was for kicking.
Finally, he relaxed and I was able to advance, grab a handful, and make a hasty retreat.
Thus poo was gained. I grabbed Mona's sample that was in the fridge and ferreted the poo home.
The next day at work, a select group of people knew that I needed to bolt after work to get to the vet's office (in Amish country in PA) in order to drop everything off before they closed. I had to miss a meeting because poo waits for no man and I had to run.
Today the vet called me at work to give me the results and a worming plan.
- Both are low shedders. A count of 150 and below is considered low.
- Peanut's count was 50
- Gene's count was 0 (I didn't know that was possible!)
- Instead of worming every other month with rotated wormers (which can cause resistance in the worms), they are now going to be wormed twice a year
- One worming with ivermectin with added tape worm wormer after the second hard frost
- One worming with plain ol' ivermectin in early June
- If I want, I can retest, but the vet didn't think it was necessary (she hasn't seen things change in horses in the time that they've been doing this, so it's mainly to make the owner feel better). I probably will retest right before I worm again just to see what's been going down.
So, once again I was blathering on about poo at work today, but this time giddy because my boys are such low shedders. I had no idea, and the thought that the Old Man was at 0 was enough to make me giggle endlessly.
About poo.
They think I'm a bit odd at work, you know.
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