Having a large underserved Amish population in the Sonora area dependent on horses as part of their livelihood, the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service has teamed up with University of KY Equine Specialist, Dr. Fernanda Camargo to offer a “Horse Wellness Clinic” for the past two years. During the initial phase fecal samples were collected from over 50 horses with a follow up deworming protocol.  This was also part of a Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Report conducted primarily by a University of Kentucky graduate student J.A. Scare noting credit given to the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service. The focus and title of the report was “Management practices associated with strongylid parasite prevalence on horse farms in rural counties of Kentucky”. 

            Strongyles affect horses of all ages with younger being especially susceptible. Adult strongyles are found in the large intestines and later migrate to various organs and arteries that could possibly cause blood clots, colic, lameness and sometimes death. The purpose of the study was to the observe management practices of horse farms in rural regions and the factors associated with strongyle prevalence. In order to prevent anthelmintic (wormer) resistance horse owners typically use rotational deworming practices as recommended by the AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) and fecal egg counts are rarely used. 

            The study found that although the Amish community has limited communication and access to on-line and/or printed resources they continue to implement deworming practices in accordance with the AAEP guidelines with regards to frequency (number of wormings/year) and type of drugs used.  This is possibly due to outreach of extension agents and local veterinarians. There were no significant differences between the egg counts of the Amish horses and other horses in the study. It does not overlook the fact that horses in this region are still under pressure for strongyle infection with the biggest hurdle to overcome is the lack of fecal testing in order to implement surveillance-based deworming strategies.