Smart Worming - Caring for your Horse and the Horses of Tomorrow

As horse owners, we are custodians of the welfare of future generations of horses and ponies. One of the most important responsibilities we have in this role is to educate ourselves on how to deworm responsibly. By making informed decisions about dewormer use, we can protect the health of our horses while safeguarding the effectiveness of treatments for years to come.

The SMART worming approach is aligned with the latest scientific advice and makes it simple for you to transition from routinely using dewormers to adopting a more informed and sustainable strategy. Through risk assessment and appropriate testing, you can personalise your horse’s treatment schedule and ensure they only receive dewormers when truly necessary.

This not only supports the wellbeing of your horse but also reduces the risk of parasites developing resistance to dewormer ingredients, preserving their effectiveness for future generations. Together, we can make a meaningful difference by choosing sustainable practices that protect equine health for decades to come.

Simply monitor

Assess the worm burden and treatment needs of each horse individually

Faecal egg count (FEC) every 8-12 weeks through the grazing season
Test for tapeworm in autumn (and spring if at increased risk)

Assess the risk

Ask yourself whether your horse has any of the following risk factors:

5 years old and under
Grazing with youngstock
High stocking density
Poo picking less than twice a week
Repeated high FEC

Treat accordingly

Choose an appropriate treatment regime based on your findings

Targeted treatment for redworm and tapeworm (and roundworm, primarily in youngstock), based on risk assessment and test results
Routine treatment in winter for encysted redworm may be appropriate for at risk horses

Did you know?

For every 5 adult horses grazing, only 1 will need treatment. This means that when we deworm horses without checking their parasite risk, 4 out of 5 horses are wormed unnecessarily¹.
This extra deworming when it is not needed adds costs to the care of your horses. It has been proven that deworming decisions based on risk assessments and testing saves money compared to automatic (so-called "blanket") deworming. SMART worming is proven to be cheaper².
Parasites aren’t all bad and it is impossible to prevent horses being exposed to worms when they are grazing. It is beneficial to maintain a low level of worms called ‘refugia’ on the pasture.
Risk assessing and testing before treating with dewormers is the most sustainable way to use them, because it reduces the amount of dewormer released into the environment after you deworm your horse.
The overuse of dewormers causes widespread development of drug resistance in worms. We must stop excessive dewormer use now to preserve them or we won’t be able protect our horses from parasites in the future¹.