Heavy use of wormers has caused many equine worms to become resistant to the wormers. To ensure that wormers remain effective, they should be used responsibly and targeted to the horses that need them and will benefit most from them (known as targeted treatment programs).

DO NOT randomly treat horses at frequent fixed intervals year-round (known as "interval treatment"). Some wormers can have side effects so they should not be overused. Some wormers can have side effects so they should not be overused. Recent research has shown that targeted treatment usually saves money (an average of nearly £300 per yard per year) when compared with routine treatmetn of all horses throughout the year.

It has become common practice to treat all horses in the autumn / winter with a dewormer that targets the inhibited larvae of small redworms (eg moxidectin or Equest). This is no longer recommended - instead a risk assessment based on the age of the horse, it's management and results of regular FWECs obtained during the summer should be used to determine whether or not the horse requires a de-wormer for redworms. You can find a risk assessment to complete for your horse HERE.

The ideal strategy varies from yard to yard and should be discussed with BELL EQUINE, please call us on 01622 813700 and speak to one of our vets or one of our SQPs (suitably qualified people). We may recommend a different approach for different yards with different worming histories.

The most important thing is not to over use medication. Only treat when you really need to do so.

Dangers of exposing the environment to wormer drugs:

Worming drugs are chemicals that can have negative environmental impacts. The drugs pass out of the body in the faeces (droppings). The toxicity of these drugs will have harmful effects to dung beetles, insects and other microorganisms as well as some aquatic life, meaning they pose a real threat to our rural ecosystems.

To prevent contamination, bring the horse onto a surfaced area to administer the wormer, that spillages can be easily cleaned if necessary - rather than worm them in a field.

Poo pick regularly post worming, so any contaminated droppings are not left on the field - these droppings should be disposed of separately if your muck heap is used for slurry spreading or else composted for at least six months before being spread back on to fields.

How do I know if the dewormer is working?

Since many horse worms, including redworm, ascarids and tapeworms are becoming resistant to the different dewormers that we have available (and with no new dewormers becoming available for the foreseeable future), it is sensible to check fro resistance on your property at least once a year. This can be done using a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). Speak to one of our vets or SQPs about how you can do this.

Tapeworms:

We advise checking for tapeworm in all grazing horses at least once a year. On particular premises where there is a known tapeworm problem, and in young horses (less that 2-3 years old), checking more frequently may be required.

Since it is generally impossible to detect tapeworm eggs in a normal faecal egg count test, the tapeworm saliva test, generally performed once a year, is recommended. Horses that have a high result of this test should receive treatment with a dewormer that is effective again tapeworm (e.g. praziquantal).