It's that time of year where we think about doing Worm Egg Counts againπ©
A few things to rembember if you are bringing a sample into us:
1οΈβ£ Make sure you get a sample from the freshest pile of π© using a sandwich bag or something similiar
2οΈβ£ Take a representative sample, by this we mean take some from 3 or 4 parts of the poo
3οΈβ£ Make sure you take as much air out of the bag after collecting the sample as possible, this will help to keep it fresh!
4οΈβ£ Label the bag with your horses name, your surname and first line of your address and/or postcode so we know whose π© it is!
5οΈβ£ Drop it off to us at the Woodbridge Surgery as soon as you can and we will do the restπ
If you can't get the sample to us straight away, pop it somewhere cool like the fridge and bring it in as soon as you can.
**Please note we can only take samples on a Monday - Thursday**
Katie has been at the Royal Norfolk Show over the last couple of days as the duty vetπ©ββοΈShe's been lucky to have the good weather and see some fabulous displays while she was there!
Faecal worm eggs counts detect the eggs of strongyle worms, such as large and small red worms and roundworms.
By undertaking worm egg counts, especially throughout the grazing season, it will help to assess whether your horse requires worming. By only worming your horse when you need too, it will help too decrease the chance of resistance to the medication used in wormers.
Potsford Farm Ltd have recently brought in their yard faecal samples with only 1/20 horses requiring any treatment! This goes to show how well their thorough poo picking is working!
π©Please bring in your horses poo sample in a clean container or plastic bag. We only require a small amount (no larger than an apple) and recommend taking three large pinches from different areas of the poo!
π©Please ensure your sample is labeled with your surname and your horses name!
π©We recommend that you only bring your samples in between Monday-Thursday, so we can ensure your sample is fresh when it arrives at the laboratory.
We recently saw a 16year old horse whose owner had found his bed messed up a few times and was a bit concerned as to why this was happening. Following their concerns they put a Ring camera in the stable and discovered he was falling asleep whilst standing up and then falling overπ΄
This behaviour is usually seen as a result of lack of proper REM sleep and can happen when a horse doesnβt feel able to properly lay down to sleep.
We undertook a full exam, including a soundness assessment as often underlying lameness is the reason they donβt feel able to get up and down.
Katie didnβt find much on exam and between her and the owner they decided to try and modify his stable and she was worried he was slipping on the concrete trying to get up and down and thatβs why he didnβt want to sleep properly at night.
His stable was switched to rubber matts throughout and shavings as well as moving him to the next box along so he felt he was in a completely new space.
We were very pleased to then receive an image from his owner with him finally feeling able to properly go to sleep!π΄
Without the use of CCTV in this horses stable we would never have been able to see that he was struggling to sleep properly. Cameras are a great way of monitoring your horseβs behaviour and picking up on things that we may not necessarily see during the dayπ·
What a first day at Poplar Park Horse Trials, kickstarting the 2024 British Eventing Official seasonπ The weather conditions certainly put everyone to the test and on-site vets Katie and Alice went through lots of coats! Tomorrow is Ben, Alex and Annabelleβs turn, hopefully they get some drier weatherπ¦οΈ
