News Straight from the horse's mouth

News

We're supporting The Great Big Green Week

to celebrate doing our bit for a greener, healthier future

We’re joining The Climate Coalition for #GreatBigGreenWeek to celebrate doing our bit for a greener, healthier future. Not only is targeted worming the most sustainable way to manage parasite control for your animals but here at Westgate we also put a lot of thought into making good environmental choices too!

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Tapeworm should be considered a significant pathogen in young horses:

findings presented at recent equine colic symposium

A paper presented at a recent equine colic symposium has highlighted the dangers of tapeworm infection in young horses and raised questions around potential resistance to praziquantel. This follows four cases of serious colic from tapeworm infection in which two of the yearlings unfortunately died and an investigation into wormer efficacy was carried out. Up until now tapeworm resistance to praziquantel has not been documented. The findings highlight the need for proactive treatment in youngsters pre-weaning and thereafter regular tapeworm testing at least every six months for every horse post-weaning. (The EquiSal test is only recommended post-weaning of foals). It also again proves the adage that we can no longer rely on simply giving wormers - test first to see if treatment is necessary and re-test following treatment (known as a reduction test) to double check the dose has been effective.

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Review of All Seasons Subscription

Award Winning Subscription Service

Our award winning subscription service has been under review this month and featured in Countryside Magazine. Laura Szuca, our Brand Ambassador, gave her thoughts on All Seasons. Read on for more info and a discount code 😉

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Livery Yards - Finding A Better Way!

how to test yards of 10+ horses

🐴🐴🐴 The more horses kept together the more important good parasite control becomes. Basing your worming on counts can work really well for yards - large and small - and prove cost effective too. Customers with 10 or more horses to their account can access the Westgate worm count service at our commercial rate. 🤓 Laura Szuca, our Brand Ambassador, keeps her horse Mikey on a yard with 40 other horses. The livery yard owner found the thought of making a change to a targeted parasite control programme a bit daunting, but with our support they took the plunge and have found a better way!

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Summer Parasite Control 2021

2021

🌻 For a healthy adult horse we usually recommend thinking about parasite control as a seasonal thing. So as we head into June and the transition to Summer, Hurrah! it's a good time to consider our plan for the season ahead. ✅ Worm egg count every 8-12 weeks ⚠️ If you tapeworm tested or gave Equest Pramox in the winter it's time to do an EquiSal Tapeworm test. ✅ Look out for bots, pinworm and ticks ✅ Control flies and other insects

News

Limitations on the sale of wormers in Ireland

won't affect the UK

Here in the UK and in Ireland we currently make use of legislation that allows certain animal medicines like wormers to be sold over the counter in feed merchants and saddlers as well as being prescribed by Vets and Vet Pharmacists. However, from 2022 there are changes ahead to remove these privileges in Ireland and adopt the EU regulation with the aim of tightening the sale of wormers.

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A vegetative year for Westgate Labs

for all the right reasons!

April 2021 marks a year since the first of our unique compostable retail packs began returning through the post here. The innovation is just one of the steps that has contributed to a reduction in our waste to landfill of around 75% over the last three years. Read our press release here!

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Business Update March 2021

As we go into the Spring of 2021 and restrictions are beginning to ease we hope you are beginning to feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel. Here at Westgate we're still operating as business as usual with our COVID protocols in place! We're lucky to have plenty of space in our purpose built lab so the team can operate as safely as possible.

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Spring Parasite Control For Horses 2021

Have you got parasite control covered this season? Spring worm control is time to: 🌼 worm egg count for redworm and ascarids 🌼 EquiSal test for tapeworm if you haven't in the last six months 🌼 Look out for signs of pinworm 🌼 Plan carefully for any foaling mares