The Horse Trust Advises Horse Owners to Purchase Wormers Responsibly

Stephen Dawson, Secretary General at AMTRA, agrees with the need to get good quality advice. “Vets and SQPs have been trained to provide tailored advice for the particular circumstances of each horse. The product you used last time isn’t necessarily the right one for next time,” said Stephen.

“Buying from a website which doesn’t provide that vital advice risks increased likelihood of resistance build-up, as well as less effective worm control and thus is bad for animal welfare and for your pocket. And buying, possessing or using wormers which haven’t been properly prescribed is illegal, too,” added Stephen.

Worm resistance expert Professor Jacqui Matthews, of the University of Edinburgh and Moredun Research Institute, strongly supports The Horse Trust’s call for horse owners to avoid websites that sell wormer drugs without providing informed advice.

“I am shocked that people can buy equine wormers without being given any information on the appropriate use of these drugs,” said Matthews.  ’Drug resistance is a growing problem in equine parasites throughout the world and if we don’t take action now, there is a risk that we may see more multi-drug resistant small redworms in the UK .  This has the potential to become a major welfare threat to our horses as there doesn’t seem to be any alternative new products on the horizon in the short term.”

For advice on worming your horse, download these guidelines

¹The research, which was led by Professor Jacqui Matthews, Chair of Veterinary Immunobiology at the University of Edinburgh and Principal Scientist at Moredun Research Institute, is due to be published in the next 6 months.  The Horse Trust, Donkey Sanctuary and the Horserace Betting Levy Board have funded this research.