A redworm can develop from an egg in a dung pile to the larval stage in just five days. The worms that end up in our horses come from contaminated pasture. This could mean that in the future we reach a point where all worms are resistant to the dewormers available – which makes it even more important to look at other ways we can control worms in our horses! How does pasture management help with worm control? It’s important that we move to a targeted approach to worm control because routine or ‘blanket’ deworming has resulted in some of the most serious parasites becoming resistant to many of the drugs that we use. The test provides an estimate of how many parasite eggs the horse is shedding in its droppings to allow treatment of those horses who need it. This means that you test each horse before making the decision to deworm them. To control worms effectively, you need to keep your horse’s pasture clean and use a targeted approach to deworming. What steps can be taken to prevent worm damage? There are five main parasitic worm types (find out more on these below) that affect horses in the UK and these are: If owners follow a worm control programme and exercise good pasture management (see our top tips below), most horses will not suffer from worm infestation damage. While having a low worm burden will have little or no effect on a horse’s health, a high parasite burden can cause serious health problems if left untreated. Horses and ponies will come into contact with a variety of internal and external parasites throughout their lifetime.

Flat worms in my sores