Videos

An introduction to test based Parasite Control for horses with @Anna.R.Dressage and Roo

Meet Anna and her horse Roo! Together they compete with British Dressage at Elementary level. Anna is passionate about a holistic approach to Roo's health care to help them perform at their best. In this video Anna talks to Kristy Hodgson from Westgate Labs about parasite control and why it's such an important aspect to consider to help them reach their dressage goals. They discuss why a regular schedule of worm egg counts and tapeworm tests is important, what resistance is and why we need to minimise the chemicals to keep wormers effective for as long as possible. Find out how easy test based parasite control is to implement with the help and support of your friendly experts at Westgate Labs.

Assessing a horse's Parasite Risk Profile with @Anna.R.Dressage and Roo

In our second video with Anna and Roo, Anna talks to Kristy Hodgson from Westgate Labs about the different factors that influence Roo's Parasite Infection Risk and whether he is low, medium or high on the CANTER Risk Profiling tool. Not all horses carry the same parasite risk, with age, grazing conditions, and management practices all influencing whether a horse falls into a low, medium, or high-risk category for parasite risk. 

Feeding for Natural Immune Resilience

We have an extremely interesting chat with Independent Equine Nutritionist Clare MacLeod MSc RNutr with some great questions, delving in to her extensive knowledge on the subject of feeding horses for natural immune resilience and to help them achieve optimum health. Nutrition plays an important role in supporting our horse’s own ability to resist infection and disease – be that from parasites, viruses, bacteria or other pathogens. A healthy natural immunity reduces the need for intervention with wormers and other chemicals. This in turn has many benefits to your horse, the environment, and your pocket!

Surviving Summer; Horse Healthcare with Equilibrium Products & Westgate Labs

To scrape or not to scrape? Temperatures have rocketed in the UK this summer so we had a very timely chat with Laura Szuca from Equilibrium Products to talk all things summer horse health - including the lowdown on cooling horses, overcoming the challenges brought about by heat and flies and what to do about summer parasite control.

Wormer resistance - what it means for your horse's health

Our Marketing Director and RAMA Claire Shand chats to Claire Williams from the the British Equestrian Trade Association about the threat of wormer resistance. What is it? How does it occur? What are the implications for our horse's health and what does the future hold?

How to use a weigh tape

New research shows traditional frequent worming is unnecessary

New research, from leading equine parasitologist Dr Martin Nielsen, has provided more evidence to show that reducing worming (or more correctly, de-worming) intensity, does not have any adverse health risks to horses. The work confirms that the traditional approach of frequent routine de-worming at pre-determined intervals, without the use of diagnostic testing is unnecessary. Read the summary to Martin's paper here https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13374

Back Yard Poultry: Worming with NetTex and Tommy The Vet

This is a great video from NetTex that covers the basics of worm control in back yard hens ad poultry. Meet vet Tommy Heffernan from Kerry in Ireland with his hens!

World Horse Welfare Webinar, managing and controlling worms in your horse and on their pasture

We joined World Horse Welfare in a webinar to discuss all things worm related! We looked at the latest on drug resistance and why we need to move to evidence based control. Testing techniques available for the different parasites and then how to build this into a programme for a healthy horse.

Panelists were Kristy Hodgson, current Equine SQP of the year, and Claire Shand from Westgate Laboratories and they were joined by two World Horse Welfare Field Officers, Sarah Tucker and Chris Shaw, also SQPs, who together will be sharing their knowledge and experiences on how they have been helping owners and their horses control worm burdens and other parasites, as well as sharing experiences of what can happen when situations get out of control.

Both Westgate and World Horse Welfare promote the use of a targeted worm control approach, reducing the unnecessary use of drugs, as well as reducing the risk of resistance to these vital drugs.