News Straight from the horse's mouth

News

Easter Opening 2019

🐣🐇🥚 Counting eggs this Easter? Two bank holidays are definite cause for celebration; they also mean no post in the lab and consequently no samples to test! As a result the office will be closed both bank holidays, Friday 19th April and Monday 22nd April.

News

REACT Now to Beat Colic

1- 7 April 2019 is National Colic Week

To help horse owners combat the life-threatening condition of colic, The British Horse Society and The University of Nottingham have teamed up to create the REACT Now to Beat Colic campaign. Highlighting common causes, management tips and symptoms, national colic week aims to raise awareness of one of the most common emergencies affecting horse health.

News

Faecal sand testing now available for horses

to help reduce the risk of sand colic by monitoring sediment levels

Colic is one of the most common emergency problems in the horse and has many different causes, one of which can be sand in the horse’s gut. Animals ingest it as they graze and it can accumulate in the colon over time. Here it irritates the gut lining and, in sufficient quantity, also has the ability to cause impactions which, if not treated in time, can be fatal.

News

Westgate Labs launch new All Seasons subscription programme

Simplify best practice parasite control today!

We've launched a new subscription service to make following a best practice parasite control programme even easier for our busy customers! The All Seasons service is a tailor made testing programme designed to take the guess work out of managing this important aspect of horse’s health. For one simple monthly subscription payment, you receive a bespoke plan for each horse and all the tests needed to target the right parasites at the right time of year sent direct to your door.

News

Spring Parasite Control 2019

What to consider in your programme for the year ahead

The tantalising signs of spring in the air are a welcome sight for any horse owner. It’s enough to cheer the soul even if it does bring with it the joys of mass moulting and a rising risk of parasite infection. If you gave the suggested winter dose for the possibility of encysted redworm then now is the time to resume the regular testing programme. Don't delay your worm counts this Spring to make sure you're on top of any potential problems.

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20th Anniversary for Westgate Labs and postal worm counts

and postal worm counts for horses

🎂🎉 2019 marks a very special year for Westgate Labs as we celebrate our 20th anniversary of business helping to improve the way that horses are wormed in the UK. Laboratory founders, David and Gillian Booth, placed their first advert in Horse & Hound, 11th February 1999, and when forward thinking horse owners responded the concept of postal worm counts was born!

News

Four winter worm counting myths busted

how and when to test in winter

There's a common misconception that worm egg counts shouldn’t be used over winter as ‘worms aren’t active’ and ‘small redworm are all encysted’ in the gut wall - therefore not egg laying to be counted in a test. Our response? Well, not quite… There are still a number of instances when a worm egg count can provide very useful information between the months of December and February.

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Job vacancy; we're seeking a telephone receptionist & clerical assistant

we're seeking a telephone receptionist & clerical assistant

Are you friendly, well organised and good on the phone? We’re seeking someone to join our super team to support us on the frontline of delivering animal health services from our busy postal laboratory in rural Northumberland. If you would like to join our team then we would love to hear from you. Applications close on Friday 18th January 2019.

News

Lab Opening Times Christmas 2018

🎄💩✉ Our lab and office will be operating a reduced hours service over the Christmas Holidays from Monday 24th December. If you are sending in samples then the lab will operate each day there is a post to ensure all testing is completed and results are returned. Any shop orders received will also be processed and sent out but the main office will remain closed for general enquiries. We'll be back to our normal hours from 2nd January.