Stakers Gill Stud Track Livery

01/01/2024

*** ENCYSTED REDWORM ***

I first posted this in 2019, but after reading a LOT of worrying comments recently about how people don’t worm their horses at all, as they do worm egg counts, I thought it was time to do a little encysted redworm refresher, with some updates!

1. Redworm can kill your horse.

2. You need to worm for encysted redworm AFTER they encyst, and before they emerge, so NOT in the Autumn! Wait for a good, frosty cold spell.

3. Encysted small redworm are NOT DETECTABLE in worm egg counts.

4. The larvae of small redworm, “encyst” or burrow into the gut wall. These can cause fatal consequences when they re-emerge.

5. Redworm appear as tiny pieces of thread in your horse’s droppings. They are very short and thin, and can be hard to see. They are white if they haven’t yet fed, and red if they have fed.

6. A horse can appear completely normal and healthy whilst carrying a large redworm burden. However, weight loss and diarrhoea may be early indicators; don’t ignore these signs.

7. Most wormers DO NOT target encysted redworm. Only TWO do: Fenbendazole and Moxidectin.

8. Lots of combination wormers contain IVERMectin. This WILL NOT have any effect on encysted redworm. The only wormer that contains MOXIDectin, is EQUEST. The Pramox (blue) version will treat tapeworm at the same time. Don’t use Pramox if you have treated separately for tapeworm, or used a saliva or blood test for tapeworm. Use the normal Equest (green) if this is the case.

9. Redworm are eaten by the horse during grazing. The larvae start to burrow into the gut wall as temperatures drop. Treating for encysted redworm whilst temperatures are warm, is not the optimal time, as the larvae may well not have started to encyst. Treating after a few hard frosts, also reduces the level of reinfection from larvae already on the fields.

10. The larvae stay in the gut wall during the winter, and are then triggered to emerge from the gut wall as the temperatures warm up in the Spring. If the horse has not been treated for redworm during this redworm “hibernation” stage, he/she is at risk of developing CYATHOSTOMINOSIS.

11. Cyathostominosis has a mortality (death) rate of up to 50%. It presents as colitis; profuse diarrhoea and colic. Contact your vet immediately if you see these symptoms in your horse at any time of year, but it is more likely to be due to redworm if this occurs in the Spring.

12. Ensure you have treated for encysted
redworm before temperatures start to increase as Spring arrives, incase of a large encysted redworm burden that may suddenly emerge.

13. There is a blood test for all stages of redworm, including encysted. This detects antibodies, so may be positive if your horse has had a high burden in the past 6 months, even if he currently doesn’t, but worth discussing with your vet. I would not be recommending this route for high risk redworm horses ie horses in herds with no poo picking, or rescue cases.

14. 5 day Panacur Guard (Fenbendazole) is the only other wormer that can treat the encysted stage of redworm. There was widespread resistance to this wormer, and a huge move towards everyone using Moxidectin for encysted redworm. It is my wormer of choice for very sick or poor horses, due to its milder action over 5 days. However, there is some evidence that it may cause more damage to the gut than Moxidectin, so more research is definitely required!

15. Poo picking daily is perfect pasture management, but does not mean that your horse is worm free! You still need to egg count/blood test for all worms and/or worm.

16. Herbal wormers do not work.

17. Worm egg counts do not detect encysted redworms (or tapeworm/bots/pinworm). I realise I am repeating myself, but this is something that lots of people still do not realise.

18. Do not UNDERDOSE when worming, as this will aid resistance. If in doubt, add 50kg to the weigh tape weight of your horse. Wormers are very safe with regards to toxic doses.

19. The Mole Valley wormers are NOT the same as Equest!!!! I saw this misinformation posted yesterday! They contain Ivermectin, which will NOT treat for encysted redworm.

20. Do NOT overuse Equest. Moxidectin (Equest and Pramox) should only be used ONCE in a 12 month period. So know when to use it!

This is not an exhaustive review of redworm, and I may add to the list if I think of anything else, but I hope this is of some use! Worming regimes and what worm egg counts detect, seems to cause lots of confusion amongst horse owners, and even yard owners.

Blood tests currently used for tapeworm and redworm, measure antibody levels to the worm. The saliva test also measures antibodies. The concern here would be false positives. This means the test coming back as positive when your horse has been clear of the worm in question for months. Antibody levels remain high for months following successful treatment for the worm being tested for. However, a negative obviously means the horse has been clear for a good few months, and would not need worming.

Happy reading!

Please share, as this is really something that all horse owners should know, and still don’t!

No prizes for spotting the hundreds of redworm in this photo!

01/12/2023

DON'T OVER-RUG YOUR HORSE!

As temperatures drop, out comes the craziness of over-rugging! Up to1000g worth of rugs on horses, some of whom are not even clipped. Yes, that's 5 x 200g 😳

Horses do not feel the cold in the same way as we do. They have a wider range of temperature in which they feel comfort (called the 'thermoneutral zone', or the temperature range where the animal does not have to use energy to keep warm). In the human this is 25-35 deg, whereas in the horse, 5-25 deg.

Horses have an internal heater from fibre fermentation in the hindgut, unlike us. They also have an effective haircoat (if unclipped).

Over-rugging can cause significant distress, especially if the owner selects rugs early in the morning when the temperature is several degrees colder than later in the day.
Over-rugging can cause unpleasant itchiness, skin conditions, lethargy, dehydration, increased heart rate, and even colic in extreme cases. It can also contribute to obesity due by reducing energy requirements.

Don't rely on FB posts from other owners, or a 'rug chart'. Feel and assess your individual horse, ensuring that they feel comfortably warm and not hot. Rug only if the horse needs it, rather than because you want to/have been told to/a chart says you should.

Horses are very individual with what, if any rugs they need, and this also depends on the availability of shelter, as well as the weather, and how much they can move about.

As I've said before - if your horse needs a rug, then put a rug of an appropriate thickness/weight to keep them warm not hot, and if they don't need a rug then do not put one on!

Not sure if they need one (or more) or not? Put your hand under their rug over their shoulders, behind their elbow or on top of their back - they should feel a little warm but not hot. Do not use their ears, feet or legs as a guide to rug - they adjust blood flow in their extremities in cold weather.

Older age, illness, conditions like myopathy (e.g. PSSM), a fine coat, clipping, exposed fields with no shelter may all contribute to needing a rug, but do not automatically assume this - your horse should always be your guide!

Please share far and wide 🐴🍏

06/10/2023

We are looking for weekday & weekend yard staff for our track livery yard Nr Horsham,
Hours are am 7.00-10.30/11 & pm 3.30-5.30/6
Experienced and happy to work as a team and individually, normal yard duties, poo picking, haynets, rugs, checking horses over,
PM for more information

05/10/2023

Early evening happy chilled herd

21/09/2023

We are looking for weekday & weekend yard staff for our track livery yard Nr Horsham,
Hours are am 7.00-10.30/11 & pm 3.30-5.30/6
Experienced and happy to work as a team and individually, normal yard duties, poo picking, haynets, rugs, checking horses over,
PM for more information

21/08/2023

Weekday & Weekend staff wanted to start in September.

Morning & afternoon shifts available,
Am 7.00-10/10.30
Pm 4.00-5.30/6

Poo picking
Haynet filling
Rugging when necessary
Checking horses over.

Working as a team and individually.

PM for more information

17/08/2023

Sharing the water trough

17/08/2023

Lovely chilled morning on the track

12/08/2023

How many nets?? Loaded ready for morning yard.

12/08/2023

Chilled herd

12/08/2023

Friends, forage and freedom 🦄

12/08/2023

Escaping the flies in the trees today

28/07/2023

From the UK: Cody and Logan - quite a journey!

While some horses cope with a little grass and tight management in a traditional stable/pasture setting, there are horses that continue to struggle until you remove the green grass completely and increase movement.

Keeping horses on a grass free track with good meadow hay is the optimum system for calmhealthyhorses, that’s why at CHH we always highlight the importance grass free 24-hour turnout, the horses always benefit, plus there are less costs and stress for the owners!

This story is from two customers who did everything they could to manage in the livery yard but moving to a grass free track has been the best thing ever:

My sister and I have two horses, a 13-year-old quarter horse gelding called Cody and a 9-year-old cob gelding called Logan.

Cody was our first horse, we brought him as a 3-year-old. Looking back on his early years with us we now realise there were a few indicators of being ‘Grass affected’, especially at certain times of the year.

But it wasn’t until he developed gastric ulcers, that it made us look deeper into what was going on. We came across the ‘Calm Healthy Horses’ page and things started to make sense.

Historically every autumn Cody would start head shaking and rubbing his nose, twitching down his shoulders and front legs and stamping. This would lead to completely zoning out and being in a trace like state.

He had difficultly cantering on the ground and under saddle and he struggled just to go forward. He would often be very anxious and prone to spooking easily despite his true laid-back nature.

He had no confidence when hacking out and would just stop and refuse to go.

His sacro-iliac area was often very tight and sore and his hocks stiff. We did x-rays and blood tests which were all normal, we regularly had the physio out and we would use a tens machine and hot compresses to try and help.

We found sadly it meant there were more times than not that we couldn’t ride or even do groundwork with him.

He would also get swellings in the area behind his cheeks, over his eyes and at the end of his nasal bone. He often showed signs of mild laminitis, being quite foot sore for a lot of the time.

In addition, he developed the gastric ulcers which although were only graded low when he was scoped, it took nearly a year to get them resolved with repeated and more intensive treatments.

We brought Logan, our second horse when he was 5 years old, he has always been less affected than Cody, but he also had difficulty cantering, his hocks would click and wobble and he did exhibit some head shaking.

Although worse in Autumn and Spring we have had problems all year round, especially with lots of rain and warm days and cold nights. Logan also suffers with mallanders.

As a result of our research from the Calm Healthy Horses website, we began to realise they were both ‘Grass affected’.

Unfortunately, at the livery where we kept them we were not able to take them off the grass and they were stabled for a large number of hours each day.

We managed to set up a track with electric fencing within the field so that they could eat the grass down as much as possible and we would then feed hay in controlled amounts to try and help with weight loss.

We started them both on GrazeEzy, Alleviate C and added in Alleviate gold and MVA later. We found we were feeding large amounts of everything to get them to a place they were ‘comfortable’, but we felt they were still not happy as they could be.

We didn’t know from one day to the next what symptoms they would be showing and how badly they would be affected despite all the changes we tried to implement.

Recently we have been able to move them to a grass free 24/7 track system, within weeks of being there the head shaking stopped, the swellings had all gone, they both seem a lot happier, they have lost weight and the physio says their backs are the best they have ever been.

We haven’t seen any more twitching or zoning out, we are able to exercise them every day. Logan’s mallanders has also 90% resolved. We have been able to take them off all the additional supplements, just feeding their Premium MVA and salt.

They have only been at this new yard for 3 months and still have more healing to do but it’s been the best decision we have ever made; we just wish that the opportunity to be on track could have arisen earlier.

27/07/2023

28/06/2023

Track life 💙

17/06/2023

These 3 waited for the breakfast in bed option!

17/06/2023

Just hanging

13/06/2023

In these high temperatures our track herd keep lovely and cool and fly free in the shade of the trees.

07/06/2023

07/06/2023

06/06/2023

Great day on Sunday with Balance & Align Equestrian Relationships Coaching

06/06/2023

Some of the boys chilling in the barn

06/06/2023

Beautiful poppies by the outdoor school

04/06/2023

Looking for a new staff member to join our existing team on track livery yard RH13

Part time, flexible days but must Inc some weekends. 7-10.30

Availability to cover extra hours

Poo picking, filling haynets and putting out, rugging, checking horses, feeding.
Driver essential as involves tractor and trailer driving, must be over 18.

You need to be happy working in and around a herd of horses, have previous equine experience, reliable, flexible, hardworking.

DM me for further details

03/06/2023

Everyone enjoying the gorgeous weather this afternoon

28/05/2023

Hanging out in the shade of the trees

28/05/2023

💤☀️🐴

18/03/2023