Biodiversity of Intestinal Parasites in Domestic Mountain Horses on Stara Planina

Abstract

The domestic mountain horse is an autochthonous breed of horse that originated in the Balkans, which, with the support of the fund for the protection of genetic resources, began to restore the population of this breed, primarily in the area of Stara Planina. Intestinal parasite tests were performed on domestic mountain horses in three separate pastures on Stara Planina. A total of 124 horses from three herds were tested In Izatovac we 44 tested horses, in Boljev Dol 30 and in Borovsko polje 50 horses. All the horses were kept in a semi-free system on mountain pastures - during the day they were in pastures, moving freely in a space of several kilometers around the farm, only to be closed during the night due to the danger of wolves, usually in the same facilities with sheep, goats and cows. The diet was based exclusively on pasture. All horses were clinically healthy, in solid condition, which was at its best in early summer, when the grass was at its most lush. For coprological diagnostics, sedimentation and flotation methods with a saturated solution of NaCl and ZnSO4 were used in parallel. The Clayton-Lane method was used to count parasite eggs. Identification of parasite eggs was done on the basis of morphometric characteristics. Based on the results of the examination, the following parasites were found: Trichostrongylus axei in 66.67%, Strongylus edentatus in 83.33%, and Parascaris equorum.33.33%.