Horse Lice

[Angels_Storm]

My black and white paint Batman just got gelded this year and asked the vet about the bare patches on him that he rubbed his fur off to the skin and here it was lice. I had to treat all of my horses with ivermectin just in case they got it too. Luckly I have not seen any signs that they do. The vet said horse lice will get on other animals and people but will not hurt anything but horses and the only way they know how to treat is with ivermection every 2 weeks for a month and then give them a call if not gone. Most of Batmans lice are gone but its really doing a job on his body condition as he is usually an easy keeper like the rest of my mini's and horses. I shaved him down and going to shave the rest of my long haired spoiled brats once the wind dies down and isn't so cold. It took me hours to trim Batman and I got 4 more to shave down so the lice can't hide on them in case they get it too.
I don't know of any other way to get rid of horse lice. I gave Batman a bath and shaved him down and let him out in the rain so he could roll and have fun and it seemed to help him cause he could get rid of them easy himself too.

[Candice_17]

I've used Poridon, it seemed to work well. Good luck.

[mart]

Never heard of using a dewormer for lice !!! What you can do is shampoo the horse with dog flea shampoo to which a little extra permethrin has been added !! Or dust with sevin dust !! Same as you use on the garden !! Permethrin is what I use for flies in the summer !! Used regularly you shouldnt have problems with lice !! If its too cold for a bath then mix the permethrin in a spray bottle and spray the areas !! Follow that with a good thick grease Crisco works well or any brand of shortening !! It will put oil back in the skin and help hair grow back !!
If you shave them,, better get rid of the hair !! Lice will stay on it a while !!

[Ucm2me77]

Wormer actually does work for lice. At my work when the cattle get it we just use a pour on wormer. Even the fly ear tags work on cattle for lice. My husband and his grandfather used to give diluted lysol baths. I've only had two horses that have had lice and I made a special concoction of a little bit of everything that everyone told me to use. I sprayed it on them for a few days and they were gone. I think I used tea tree oil, flyspray and dog flea and tick spray. Goodluck anyways!

[mart]

Well !!! Learn something new every day !!!

[4jpainthorses]

That is the nice thing about this site, we all learn something new from time to time on here. I didn't know that wormer would work for lice either.
Even us old timers are still learning.

[Angels_Storm]

Is it safe to use dog flea and tick shampoo on horses including mini's?
I threw all his hair into the fire pit and burnt it all.
For the tea tree oil, flyspray, dog flea and tick spray does it matter which brands to use? I kust don't want anything to make him sick as I just got him gelded on 3/27/09.
I just don't want the lice that are still on him to get on my other mini's or for the foal I am expecting to get it.

[mart]

Permethrin is the active ingredient in Seargeants Skip Flea shampoo and there would not be enough in it to hurt anything !! I mean a dog is smaller than a mini !! Permethrin is also for all types of livestock !! So I think you are pretty safe !! I would be more worried that it wouldn`t be quite strong enough to kill the lice !! But I would try it first and see !! My vet told me I could use it as a fly spray when I had mine gelded so I assume it won`t hurt anything !!

[EquinePhotographer]

Don't use flea shampoo on them. Any farm supply store should have a powder lice killer. You shake it on them along their topline for 7 days. I've never heard of shaving a horse because of lice. It's an awful lot of trouble to go thru when all you had to do it buy a bottle of powder. Dewormers will help, but won't kill them. The powder is the fastest way to get rid of them.

[joygurl92]

I use powder lice killer too. It works the best for my horses. :)