Westgate Labs Supports World Horse Welfare Rehomers Donating Free Weight Tapes for Rehoming Packs

Westgate Labs have had a successful partnership with World Horse Welfare for a number of years, together tackling the ever present threat of parasite infection in those most vulnerable of horses. Worm burdens are a significant feature of the thousands of situations that World Horse Welfare Field Officers attend annually. Westgate Labs provide free worm egg count tests to assist in identifying potentially life threatening problems and are now also donating weight tapes that are included in rehoming packs!

World Horse Welfare give a weight tape with every rehomed horse, as part of their rehoming packs. Being able to accurately assess the weight of an animal is important for many reasons, particularly for calculating medication quantities such as wormers and in aiding dietary management. 

The tape uses a defined formula to correlate equine girth size into estimated mass. Weight tapes are generally a useful tool to use regularly for weight guidance but as they only take in one measurement they don’t work for all horses. The biggest inequalities happen where fat distribution is uneven, so they may be slim on the girth but perhaps carry the weight on their crest or bottom. Wormers are very safe drugs and so to overcome the challenges of estimating weight and giving sufficient dose, veterinary advice is to add 10% to a weight tape estimate when calculating wormer quantity. 

Use the button below to view a video that demonstrates how to use a weigh tape to get the most accurate reading - with thanks to the fab Nikki Meggison BSc Hons - Independent Equine Nutritionist.

Weight tapes are also available to purchase in our online shop and now goes up to 852kgs and 23 hands in height.