News Straight from the horse's mouth

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Equine SQP of the Year Finalist

Kristy is on the shortlist!

We are very excited to reveal that our very own Kristy Hodgson, Operations Director and SQP (suitably qualified person) has been selected as a finalist in this year’s National SQP Awards for the Equine SQP of the Year!!

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Prize Bundle Winners!

🎂2️⃣0️⃣ prize bundles given away!

It was a tough job, but we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your images and videos and the 20 winners now have their 20th Anniversary prize bundle full of Westgate goodies!

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Autumn Parasite Control 2019

Parasite control is very much a seasonal game, targeting the right worms at the right time of year to guard against the threat to horse health that comes with infection. Generally warm wet weather increases parasite activity and this year with high rainfall and plenty of sunshine we’ve therefore seen counts rise accordingly in horses this summer. Anything that is good for grass growth is generally good for parasites too! We therefore need to be on our guard going into the autumn.

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Westgate Labs seeks consultant Parasitologist

To join our team

We’re seeking a consultant Veterinary Parasitologist to help guide and develop the services of our busy animal health laboratory in rural Northumberland. To help us continue to innovate and drive standards we're seeking a consultant parasitiologist to join our friendly team. The successful candidate will be prepared to give circa 8 days per annum to the role on an adhoc, self-employed basis with a combination of remote working/site visits to the laboratory which is based near Morpeth, Northumberland.

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WIN a Westgate prize bundle

By sharing your favourite horsey moment with us

🎂 To continue our 20th birthday celebrations we have 2️⃣0️⃣ prize bundles to give away! We love to see the animals we test. To enter simply send us a picture or short video that captures a best, funny or favourite moment with your horse. Our top 20 will each receive a parcel of Westgate goodies and feature in a compilation video.

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Diagnostic blood test for small redworm to launch in September 2019

to launch in September 2019

Austin Davies Biologics, the laboratory behind the EquiSal tapeworm test, has yesterday, 5th August 2019, announced a second innovation into the equine market. A diagnostic service to detect small redworm, including encysted larvae, will be available as a blood test from September 2019. The test has been developed by Prof Jacqui Matthews’ group at the Moredun Research Institute (MRI) and primarily funded through The Horse Trust.

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Westgate Labs supports horse health on the front line with World Horse Welfare

Providing free worm egg counts for field officer cases

Leading laboratory Westgate Labs has forged a successful partnership with World Horse Welfare to tackle the ever present threat of parasite infection in horses. Worm burdens are a significant feature of the nearly 2000 situations that the 16 World Horse Welfare Field Officers attend annually. Westgate Labs is providing free worm egg count tests to assist in identifying potentially life threatening problems and give meaningful evidence to help officers engage with horse owners.

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Five key factors in positioning a muckheap

💩🐴 Carefully choosing where to position your muckheap and managing it appropriately will help to protect the health of your horses and the land.

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Summer Parasite Control 2019

☀️🐴🕷🐛 Every season brings its problems and even though we look forward to the long light days, summer is no exception. So while the battle to control flies is a visible daily trial at this time of year it’s important to remember about other parasites too such as intestinal worms, pinworm, bots, ticks and summer sores that might affect the health of our horses.