Quarentine Policy:

A quarantine policy can help prevent worms from spreading between horses. New horses arriving on a yard should be quarantined (suggest 2-3 weeks) before being turned out to pasture with other resident horses.

Horses with an unknown worming history should have a faecal worm egg count, and possibly a small redworm blood test and tapeworm saliva test performed - speak to one of our vets or SQPs. If needed they can then be treated for encysted redowrm and tapeworm using a worming treatment for both types of parasits, e.g moxidectin and praziquantel, such as Equest Pramox®. Another faecal worm egg count should then be performed 2 weeks later - if the result is 50 eggs per gram or higher, veterinary advice should be sought because it suggests that the horse may be carrying resistant worms.

Horses that are known to have been treated for tapeworm and encysted redworm within the previous year should still have a faecal egg count performed. If the result is 300 eggs per gram or higher, then the horse should be wormed and a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) should be performed (i.e. repeat the worm egg count two weeks later) in order to prevent the introduction of drug-resistant parasites.