The Horse Trust Advises Horse Owners to Purchase Wormers Responsibly

Equine welfare charity The Horse Trust is advising horse owners to only purchase wormers from suppliers that provide appropriate veterinary advice.

The Horse Trust has recently become aware that various websites have for sale equine wormers such as moxidectin without providing best practice advice to consumers before purchase.

AMTRA, an independent regulatory body appointed by the UK government, recommends that animal medicines are only prescribed by a vet, veterinary pharmacist, or animal health advisor (known as an SQP) who has passed exams to demonstrate animal health knowledge.

“We are really worried to see that some websites allow people to buy equine wormers without providing veterinary advice,” said Jeanette Allen, Chief Executive of The Horse Trust. “We would strongly advise people to avoid purchasing wormers from the internet. Instead contact a vet or SQP to develop a tailored management programme for your horse or horses.”

“Many horses have a natural immunity to small redworms so may not need regular treatment with worming drugs. Developing a tailored management programme will reduce the risk of drug resistance in your horse’s worms and could save you money in the long term,” added Jeanette.

Last year, The Horse Trust launched a campaign to ask horse owners to take a more informed and strategic approach when worming their horses to tackle the growing problem of drug-resistant worms.

Small redworms (cyathostomins) are the most important parasite affecting horses and other equines. The overuse of worming drugs has to the development of drug-resistant redworms. Researchers have found evidence of small redworm resistance to the three main worming drugs and recent research has detected multi-drug resistant redworms in UK horses¹.