Redressing the balance

“Virtually every equestrian property will have resistant parasites”

SCIENCE does not stand still, and as our understanding of different issues evolves so our actions have to change. Nowhere is this more pertinent than in equine parasite control. Parasite control is considered routine and is often taken for granted. Unlike antibiotics, dewormers are freely available and easy to give without considering the wider consequences.

In the 1960s routine deworming was recommended without consideration of the longterm effects of doing so, but by the 1990s vets were warning that this approach was not sustainable. Nonetheless, now in the 2020s it is still the case that many horse owners are using dewormers without knowing whether their horses really need them.

Over the past few years there have been increasing reports of dewormers ceasing to be as effective as they used to be. There are only four classes of dewormer used