Horse & Hound
Trending: Zoetis, Worming.
More evidence has emerged to indicate that reducing worming frequency does not typically have a negative effect on horses’ health, and may help prevent an “equine welfare crisis”.
Leading equine parasitologist Martin Nielsen’s research supports the move away from the traditional approach, of frequent worming without diagnostic testing.
Dr Nielsen’s study involved 99 mares and 93 foals at stud farms in New Zealand. Researchers evaluated the worm egg counts, weight and health of groups of horses under different parasite control programmes.
They found no significant difference in egg counts between the mares wormed routinely at different set intervals, and those only wormed when counts exceeded a certain level. The foals who were wormed at two and five months old had significantly more ascarid (roundworm) and strongyle (redworm) eggs than those wormed monthly with alternate products, but all the horses were healthy.