September 13th, 2016

Lovely, just lovely" were my thoughts as a kid as I tediously scraped pale gold colored eggs from my pale gold colored pony's legs, flanks, withers and shoulder areas.  Had I left them on my pony (Sunshine); she would have ingested them as she itched her legs. Now that we're back in bot country I'll be having to deal with them again.  Here is a great alternative approach to dealing with these nutrient stealing, stomach tissue ulcerating parasites.

Norwegian Fjords Delikat and Blakka sharing a snack at Fir Meadow.

 I like to have my equine companion at a hitching post or cross tie area while working on removing eggs.  The reason is that any eggs attached to hairs that happen to get dropped to the ground is still an egg that could get ingested to restart the lifecycle.  So I definately want my horse away from areas they may eat or graze.  I take a quart of very warm just over 100 degrees water and add  some lavender, oregano and clove essential oil (7 drops of each of oils that are our strength) we have those on our website if you don't have them.  http://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/c3/Essential_Oils.html 
Then I soak my cloth well in the very warm mix hold onto a leg or wherever the eggs are until eggs and/or larvae are coming off on the cloth and hatching.  Once they get enough oil contact they will die. I then rerinse the cloth in the very warm water and repeat in a new location.    This should be done every other day until you've done three sets as eggs may mature at different times for hatch depending on bot species.  If you want to run a trial by doing your first soak without the oils to get an idea of how long it takes on your animal and water temperature for larvae to be moving onto the cloth you can.  It can be as little as 25 or 30 seconds or as much as a couple minutes depending on water temperature (outdoor temperature affects how long your water stays warm enough) as well as cleanliness and thickness of hair.

You can mix 3 drops of each of those three oils into 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and smooth that onto any remaining eggs for inbetween your soaks.

I also make sure my horses are current on parasite products.  Of course here at Fir Meadow we use our herbal DWorm A.  I just mix it in their mash and feed.  EZ.
Herb Mix DWorm A 16 oz (all creatures) Click to buy it now if you like. Great for pregnant mares and foals too!

B Very Blessed!

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