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Worming Your Horse

Appropriate worming is necessary to ensure the health of your horse

Resistance to horse wormers is becoming more widespread and it is therefore vitally important to target worming as necessary to prevent further problems in the future.

 

It is also really important to ensure that your horse is receiving the correct dose of wormer, as under dosing may add to resistance, and over dosing may occasionally cause health problems, although this is very rare.

 

Weight can be difficult to estimate, and it is often surprising how heavy some horses actually are! Ideally, a weighbridge should be used to provide an accurate measurement, however if this is not possible then a weigh tape should be used to give a guide. The weighbridge at the practice is usually available throughout the day.

Worming Protocol For Horses

We currently recommend that all horses are treated with either 5-Day benzamidazole or a single dose of moxidectin once yearly in the winter months, and a tapewormer once or twice yearly.

However, it may not always be necessary to additionally worm against adult round and red worms, depending on your horse’s management.

Faecal worm egg counts (FWEC) should be used to assess the current burden of adult (egg producing) round and red worms in the intestines and help decide when worming is necessary, and what wormer to use. These should be performed at regular intervals throughout the grazing season.

Yards with 10 or more horses may be eligible for our yard worming programmes. Alternatively we are always happy to assist with suitable regimes for individually owned horses.

For further information on any of the information above, or to arrange to bring your horse to the practice to use the weighbridge, please contact us on 01332 294929.

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