Query about worm burden in field

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sugarpuff

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we are in the process of buying a new house with some land that currently has horses kept on it.

The land has been pretty well managed and horses are wormed but I'm not sure if poo picking has always been done (think they may have harrowed over poo at times.)

How do you know if the land has a worm egg burden/ how long do
worm eggs last in the ground, etc? The land is currently divided into 3
paddocks, approx 5 acres in total,
and I'll be moving a horse & pony in,
who have always been wormed (I
will be doing a worm count before I
move them to see where we stand
with their burdens). Won't be until
next spring/ early summer that they are moved in.

So - how would you manage the land with regard to resting timescales,
etc? Im a bit new to the land
management side of things as
always had horse on livery so
worming/ field resting etc has never
been up to me.

Can anyone recommend any good websites/ books for horse land
management? I do know the basics
obviously, but I want to get
everything in place before I move the
horses in.

Thanks loads! Curry & beer for you as it's Friday Night!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that if the fields have been harrowed then rested until yours move in in the spring then anything they could pick up would have died off and you would have also broken the lifecycle by doing this....I think!
 
Sorry - their horses are still on the land at the moment, I'm not sure when they will be moving out, possibly a couple of months before I move mine in, so I expect 2 months rest at the very least.
 
I found Managing Grass for Horses: The Responsible Owner's Guide, by Elizabeth O'Beirne Ranelagh a really useful guide for our land. It's very technical so I wouldn't read cover to cover but to look things up when you have a query it's great
I think worm eggs die through drying out and cold so I suspect the rest period necessary depends a bit on the time of year
 
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