Jonathon Pett
Establishment www.trojanequine.com
“We know every time we give a horse the IW-recommended treatment, it’s going to work and can be confident that we are spending our money in the right way. “
What worming regime did you previously follow?
We blanket wormed all the horses at the same time, four times a year and did not take any worm counts. However I knew this wasn’t the best approach and was looking around for the best advice as I was aware of resistance to some types of wormers.
What prompted you to join Intelligent Worming?
I had seen their service advertised in a magazine and been reading up about worm counts and decided it was time to review our worming.
I wanted a better program, especially for the mares and the youngsters. Bearing in mind that, if the mares have worms, these will be passed on to the foals, I wanted a comprehensive program so that I can be sure that, when I sell a horse, it’s 100% right.
How easy did you find joining Intelligent Worming?
Really easy. It was a case of chatting through our requirements and taking the dung samples – not a quick task, with 70 horses, but we managed to fit it in on rainy days.
What are the selling points of Intelligent Worming for you?
With Intelligent Worming’s guidance we have identified which horses have a high, and which have a low, worm burden. It’s amazing how we can have two horses, consistently grazed together showing such variance in worm count results. At first, we couldn’t believe that some had high worm counts, despite the fact that they had always been regularly wormed.
We have also found that we have a resistance problem in some of the mares, so their programs have been adjusted accordingly.
You end up with a program for each horse and we then group horses on similar programs together, so it’s so much simpler to administer, especially in a big yard.
A year down the line is Intelligent Worming still as good as you first thought?
Yes. In fact, it gets better and better. The first year was a bit of a slow process as we were gathering results.
Now we’re into our second year, we know every time we give a horse the IW-recommended treatment, it’s going to work and can be confident that we are spending our money in the right way. Before, we would have been giving some horses with low burdens chemicals that were entirely unnecessary and a waste of money and others wormers that would have had no effect.
Are there any disadvantages that you’ve found to using Intelligent Worming?
It definitely worked out a bit more expensive (compared to before) in year one but we expected that because we weren’t doing any worm counts then.
In our second year, we are making real in-roads and starting to see some savings. And, the way it’s going, these should be significant in the third and fourth years.
We are now so convinced that any horses arriving from outside for long-term schooling are also put on the Intelligent Worming Program. It does mean that those in for short-term schooling will have restricted grazing but that’s only sensible.
Jonathan and Amy run a stud and dressage / show jumping competition yard, by the Botanical Gardens in Carmarthen, Intelligent Worming’s home town.
They have about 70 horses in at any one time, with about 15 brood mares as well as the youngsters they are bringing on, current competition horses and horses in for schooling and breaking . Most are a mix of German and Dutch warm bloods.
The horses have access to about 60 acres of turnout from Spring through to Autumn and the grazing is rested during the Winter months due to the Welsh climate. The ground is harrowed and rolled when they can. Jonathan is now in his second year with Intelligent Worming, having previously blanket-wormed all the horses at the same time, four times a year.
