Worming advice for this time of year

[Mancha]

Until a couple of weeks ago i was on a yard that followed a strict worming programme and everything was wormed at exactly the same time with a set wormer. It meant my horse was wormed about every 8 weeks ish, and i was told when to do it and what to give. I have now moved yards and wondering what to do about worming, previously i had wormed with equest/pramox 4 times a year and never had any problems but i know alot of people choose to do worm counts instead? It's not something i have ever done so looking for some advice or places that do it? Or am i best to stick to worming? If so what would you worm with at this time of year?

Horse lives out 24/7 and paddocks are poo picked regularly

Any advice welcomed

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

To avoid building up resistance to your wormer active ingredients, the best plan is to combine worm counting for most types of worm with (i) an annual worming for encysted small redworm in the winter (which dont show up on the worm counts but can be fatal if left and then all suddenly emerge) and (ii) either a blood test (ideal) or worming for (second best) tapeworm in autumn/spring.


So if you worm count regularly the rest of the year (worming as appropriate depending on the specific results you get back- I use Westgate labs who are v good), you could potentially use Pramox to hit both encysted redworms and tapes in the early winter for one of the wormings and then another tapeworm treatment before the grazing season begins.

But......if you have been using Pramox/Equest for a while then good policy would be to switch to an alternative wormer periodically.

For encysted redworms, Pramox and Equest are both Moxedectin, so you ideally would use Panacur Equine Guard, as it has the other encysted redworm treatment, Fenbendazole.

For tapeworm, Pramox and Equitape are both Praziquantel, so you would ideally use Pyratape or Strong ID as they contain the other tapewormer, Pyrantel Embonate.

Try talking to the local authorised wormer seller tho, they will give you chapter and verse.

And dont rule out blood test for tapeworm, since a clear result means no worming for tapes for that horse for a year and will make tapewormer resistance much less likely (and my vet reckons clear horses tend to stay clear, affected horses tend to be the problems year on year). I schedule it with the annual jabs and teeth as their annual MOT!

 

[Mancha]

Thanks for that very helpful
Am i best to do it via the vets and have worm counts and bloods done, or are the worm count kits effective?

 

[katiey]

Worm counts are fab... Look on http://www.westgatelabs.co.uk/

They are brill, all info you will need is on there - advice on when to do worm counts and when to worm for what, what worm count results mean and there even a page on which wormers for which worms!!
Have a nosey round!