How often are you finding attached ticks on your horses?

[EventingMaff]

As climate change extends the “tick season”, I feel like frequency of tick-based illnesses are increasing with horses (my own, barn mates, friends, etc) but I almost never actually find a tick attached to my horse. How often do you actually find and pull off attached ticks from your horse?
If you have periods of the year where you are pulling off daily or high frequency, please respond “weekly”, even if that isn’t consistently true year round

• Weekly
• Monthly
• A few times a year
• Almost never / every few years

[Simkie]

Nearly never. So now I vaccinate for Lyme, because I was treating at least one every single year despite never seeing ticks. I also spray a pyrethrin/permethrin fly spray daily (even now, when we really have no flies.) I used to do garlic, which I thought did a great job of keeping the ticks off, but apparently not well enough to avoid Lyme.

I hate ticks. And Lyme. And anaplasmosis. And the random “tick fever” garbage that pops up that doesn’t fall into another category.

eta: in CT. Never had ticks before moving here.

[LilDunFilly]

I found 2-3 on my mare ever (she is pale so they stick out). There was no tall grass or tree cover in the pastures, so fewer places for them to hide.

[MorganMaresVT]

You don’t have my option in your poll: Right now, daily. We have about a month in the spring and fall when it’s this bad, they are much less frequent in the summer.

I live in New England, my pasture is surrounded by woods on all sides. They are a fact of life here. I actually found one crawling on the door to my feed room this morning. Ick.

My horses are vaxxed for Lyme. I don’t find any of the topicals to be effective so I just go over them well daily and pull off anything I find.

[LCDR]

One time in forty years. Horses’ locations have been in GA and SC with mostly 24/7/365 turnout.

[beowulf]

I find a couple, mine live out 24/7 on a mix of grass lots and dirt lots. Close to the tree line of a well established forest, too. Lots of open space on either side of the property, and lots of deer.

I vaccinate now for Lyme also. My vets are recommending 2x a year.

I found three on my gelding last week. One in his elbow, one on his neck, and one in his tail. Before that I hadn’t found a tick in a while. I do a once over at least once a week, head to tail, running my hands along his tail especially.

Most often, I find them on the tail of my horses. They want soft skin with blood close to the surface.

[endlessclimb]

Never, until I was at my last boarding barn where I pulled several off the Old Man and three off Shayney. The barn had no woods nearby, but was flanked by two hay fields. Her grass + a 10’ buffer was mowed very short. It was quite odd that that’s where the horses got the most ticks based on flora and fauna (no deer but lots of voles and coyotes), but it is what it is!

[trubandloki]

I kept finding ticks on one of the barn cats all winter, even when the temps were well below freezing. My vet said that even with snow on the ground the ticks will hang out hoping something comes by that is warm and grab a ride.

[emeraldcity]

I’m in ME, and I nearly never find an attached tick. I board somewhere now with very few ticks, but previous to this I was at a barn with MANNNY ticks, and lots of trails- I’d routinely comb 30-100 unattached ticks of my horse’s legs after a trail ride in the worst parts of the spring/fall. I did once find a whole bunch of gross oozy bites early on in my time there, which reminded me I should be doing a topical… for the rest of my time there I kept up with my Freedom 45 as long as it wasn’t totally frozen/snowy, and never found another bite or attached tick again. I still pulled off many not attached ticks after trail rides, and others would find tick bites, but I did not. Very convinced it works.

ETA I have also never needed to treat my horse for any tick disease. I don’t do the lyme vaccine.

[EventingMaff]

WOW! You’re pulling ATTACHED ticks off daily?! That’s crazy often, I’m so sorry to hear it! Your horses are lucky you’re so diligent with the daily checks!

[endlessclimb]

@emeraldcity

I’d routinely comb 30-100 unattached ticks of my horse’s legs

[Lost_Shoe]

Nearly never, but only because:

1. I treat the horses with equispot every two weeks; and
2. I have a flock of Guinea fowl.
   Without the above, I would be pulling out engorged ticks daily.

[MorganMaresVT]

For the last two weeks, yep.

[gnu]

Multiple ticks daily for the last two weeks. Horses are sprayed w/ ultrashield black w/ added UltraBoss (permethrin). Have had 5 known Lyme positives w/ various symptoms and 4 anaplasmosis cases. Field is mowed grass w/ no trees nor shrubs in the field and no woods on the perimeter. Horses became very sensitive to spot on thus the spray treatment. Wide open to suggestions. In OH.

[RedHorses]

I found my first tick on my horse 11 years ago. Never found any on my horses in the previous 20ish years.

In the last five years I’d find maybe one or two, and always after an off property ride in the bush. This year I’ve pulled eight off my horse in the last two weeks (and three off the barn cat).

I usually find them around the inside top of the legs, low chest, behind the elbow where the girth sits. I pulled two off my horse’s jaw about where the curb strap on his hackamore sits, and one was attached to the soft skin around his anus. I have been running my hands over him daily to check for more.

I’m in Eastern Ontario and didn’t vote in the poll as there wasn’t a suitable choice.

[GraceLikeRain]

I think I’ve found <5 tick on a horse ever in 30 years and a couple hundred horses across multiple states in the south. I’m a really neurotic groomer so I don’t think it’s a matter of simply missing them.

[GraceLikeRain]

@emeraldcity

I’d routinely comb 30-100 unattached ticks of my horse’s legs after a trail ride in the worst parts of the spring/fall

I can’t put into words the level of panic I would feel seeing that in person. A single tick mentally unravels me.

[Leather]

When I bought my mare she had at least 20 engorged ticks on her tailbone.
She came from a region in Wisconsin known to be especially bad for ticks and it was prime tick season (early May), but that was ridiculous.

I’ve never seen an attached tick to my horses at home, but I did have a mini get anaplasmosis so it does happen.

[SusanO]

I am the tick magnet around here. The barn cats are on Revolution Plus so they don’t have any. The horses are standing under a fly system part of the day so they are getting fly sprayed several times a day. It has been a very hot and dry summer around here so that gets rid of a few. But everytime I went out to repair the tape fence separating two paddocks or even working in my garden - I would find a tick on ME! Ick! If I remembered to spray my boots with repellant I would be OK. But if I forgot I would feel something crawling on me and it would be a tiny deer tick. I HATE ticks!

With the deer, field mice, raccoons, and other critters I can’t get rid of the ticks but remembering to spray keeps most of them away. Not to say I don’t find a tick ot two on a horse but I find them usually in the Spring when it has been wet. And if I put on the topical down the back fly repellant that usually keeps them off the horses. And spraying the horse’s tails. That and keeping the grass short.

[Simkie]

@GraceLikeRain

I’m a really neurotic groomer so I don’t think it’s a matter of simply missing them.

I am, too, but I’ve found a few serum-y scabs recently that are usually a sign of tick activity. They’re either so small as to be missed (maybe, the nymph deer ticks are just SO TINY) or they’re attaching & detaching between grooms (which are every am.)

I’ve definitely learned the hard way via Lyme results that not seeing ticks doesn’t mean they’re not a problem. (Of course New England is just particularly challenging on that front. I’ve had Lyme TWICE despite not seeing a tick…and that’s with repellent, very careful exam by two people, and no fur )