We recently teamed up with the folks at HorseDialog to raise awareness of their #sstimeitright campaign! They've created a wonderful web page loaded with information about why you should conduct faecal egg counts, especially in the spring and summer months! Making sure our horses have little to no eggs or worms is something we take very seriously to keep our horses happy and healthy!They've got some great advice on ways to help you ensure the lowest possibility of contracting worms in your horse. Take this awesome 360 interactive video on ways to help reduce the possibility of contracting the eggs which develop in to worms!
Just a couple of months ago we collected poo samples from all 3 of our horses and took them in to Newmarket Equine Hospital to have them checked under a microscope for their worm egg count and they came back all clear! Wonderful news obviously, but that is due to good pasture management; Georgie and I poo pick daily or every other day and make sure to get as much of the poo from the grass as possible. We also endeavour to rotate and rest pasture also so they're not constantly eating in the same place all the time.
So during grazing season (March to October), how often should you do faecal egg counts? Every 8 to 12 weeks apparently (Source Hallowell- Evans C and Hallowell G (2017) Vet Times, April 24)
Now that we are nearing the very end of Summer is it the last opportunity to do these checks before autumn and winter set in, and if your horse does go in to winter with worms they'll drop off condition more quickly due to them battling the worms inside them eating the nutrients from the food they consume, which they need to keep themselves warm, which will therefore eat in to their fat reserves and they'll drop off condition quickly.
Many horse owners make sure the horses have top quality feed but don't check faecal egg counts enough from poorer pasture management and wonder why their horse (s) are dropping condition and this is likely why!
To help you with your HorseDialog also offer a wonderful app for Apple and Android devices to record your horses worming treatment, but not just that you can log feeding, medication, ridden work, any suppliments the horse has, yurn out schedule, and other exercise; you can download it from the AppStore or Google Play!
Another area to think about, espeically for yard or livery owners is new horses coming on the yard and their potential spread of parasites.
As the banner above informs you, new horses should be stabled for 48 hours to avoid bringing parasites that are resistant to wormers on to your premises. Make sure to muck them out thoroughly and if using matting spray it with a disinfectant until you're satisfied they're ready to be turned out in pasture.
With that in the time to get a last faecal egg count in before the autumn if you haven't already. COntact your vet for advice on whether a visual check is sufficient or whether it needs to be under a microscope! 20% of horses can 80% of the worm burden so while in the grand scheme of things that's fairly low, but it's a lot worm eggs! (Source - Matthews JB. An update on cyathostomins: Anthelmintic resistance and worm control. Equine Vet. Edu. 2008; 20(10): 552–560.)
Your horse will thank you for keeping them healthy and free of parasites!
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