Jane Slevin
President of The Friesian Horse Association of Great Britain & Ireland Ltd and owner of 6 Friesians kept at home
www.fhagbi.co.uk
As well as being President of The Friesian Horse Society, Jane currently has half a dozen Friesian youngsters of her own at home. She is busy backing these with the aim to bring them on to do some classical dressage and carriage driving in the future.
The horses are usually in at night but out in the day using two paddocks which are rolled and harrowed in the Spring and poo picked regularly in the Summer.
All Jane’s horses have been on Intelligent Worming programs for a year.
Diane Gilby, Jane’s equine advisor with Intelligent Worming comments on the program below:
“The first two years of the program form part of the fact finding process. We already know at the end of the first year that Jane has very little pasture contamination and that the worm life cycle is not currently in process. The second year of the program is targeted at flushing out any encysted small red worm still remaining.
Jane joined, in 2009, with a new horse ‘Truus’ who we found to have a large small redworm burden. Truus was in foal and so our focus was on eliminating the egg laying activity in order to prevent the pasture becoming contaminated. We have completed the first stage of the treatment process and will find out this year whether there are any larvae remaining.
Worming is something that has unfortunately been trivialised over the years. We have spent 10 years working on equine parasitology and find it amazing because every year there are new developments that we need to take into account. In our experience over 80% of horses in the UK today are on the wrong worming program for their individual requirement. Unfortunately there are so many ‘standard’ programs and advice available that most owners do not even realise this.
Each horse reacts to worm infection in a different way and it does not follow that horses grazing together have the same worming requirements. Personally, we all have a different natural immunity to disease, so do horses.
Intelligent Worming is still the only worming solution available in the UK that puts the advice of the British Veterinary Association, issued in January of this year, into practise.”
We talked to Jane to find out how Intelligent Worming has been working for them and here is what she had to say:
What worming regime did you previously follow?
I previously wormed the horse four times a year using different drug types to target the different worms according to season.
What prompted you to join Intelligent Worming?
I had bought a 12 year old mare in foal from the Netherlands where she had been wormed every 6 weeks so I was concerned about worm resistance and wanted to make sure I did the right thing with the foal. And, in fact, my suspicions proved to be right because her early results from Intelligent Worming’s faecal egg count tests did show a high worm count which it took 6 months to address. Because that foal was going to be grazing with the rest of the herd, I decided to put all my horses on Intelligent worming programs as well so that I could be sure they were all wormed according to their need.
How easy did you find joining Intelligent Worming?
I had seen adverts in equestrian magazines and went online to find out more. They phoned me to discuss how the programs work and how they could deliver what I needed. It was all very straightforward. What were the selling points of Intelligent Worming for you?
I like the fact that each horse has its own program which takes into account how it is kept and its previous worm management. Then, throughout the year, you know that the horse’s worm burden is monitored and reviewed so that you can keep a lid on any resistance that might be developing.
It can be a real worry for owners like me who buy horses direct from The Netherlands because the horses are generally out on the farms in Friesland and treated very much as herd animals so it is taking a bit more time for veterinary advice on wormers and resistance to get through.
A few people have had problems with red worm colic and have identified high roundworm burdens in the horses when they get them home, so Intelligent Worming gives me invaluable peace of mind.
A year down the line is Intelligent Worming still as good as you first thought?
Yes. I am now safe in the knowledge that I am not over worming and that I am doing everything possible to counter worm resistance.
They are very good about sending through reminders and everything arrives in the post so it’s so easy.
Are there any disadvantages that you’ve found to using Intelligent Worming?
I honestly can’t think of any myself but I acknowledge that it might be easier for me keeping the horses at home.
