Horse ticks and parasites that you should watch out for include ticks, lice, worms and bots. The main ticks are the Australian cattle ticks, New Zealand cattle ticks and paralysis ticks. Cattle ticks are most commonly found in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, Northern Territory and the warmer parts of New Zealand.
Paralysis ticks are mainly found in the East coast of Australia. These ticks of course cause paralysis but can sometimes be enough to kill a young foal. Fully developed horses are more resistant to the fatal side, but can still be paralysed by this horse tick.
So, how to tell if your horse has ticks?
Horses will rub and lick around the area that is attached. If your horse is laying or resting for long periods or laboured breathing and rubbing against fences, they could be irritated with a horse tick. And those are just some of the many symptoms your horse will show if they have a tick. To find out more you can see here at www.wagwalking.com.
Now, how to remove a tick if your horse does have one?
There are of course tick removal kits, but you could also use needle point tweasers. Use the tweasers to grab the tick by the head which will be mostly dug into the horses skin. Then twist the head out counter clockwise, make sure you have it by the head or it could detach and get left under the horses skin. Also make sure not to squeeze to hard when pulling the tick out as it can regurgitate into the horses skin.
Ticks can be found anywhere, but tend to be where there is long hair. Like the tail, the mane or the ears and can even be found on their fetlock. Which is at the back of the heel of some specific horses. They can also be found in places like the armpit, girth and the flanks, where the horse is warm and fleshy.
Brushing your horse regularly will help locate a horse tick and pull it out before it does any damage. Washing your horse and keeping a rug on it also helps. Which you can purchase from our store here.
