VermiVanguard

Last week my leprechaun friend left a pot of gold 🏆 Thanks Sarah Joy Cottingham from Horsempower for three brumby samples! I look forward to seeing what baby worms grow 😁

The samples were between 500 and ~750 EPG. Not what I consider very high. A nice reminder that horses have had worms for thousands of years and generally manage quite well with them. Deworming drugs were introduced relatively recently and their effectiveness is diminishing. I can’t remember the last time I found benzimidazole effective against strongyles!

I know owners find the idea of their horses having worms irksome. With widespread drug resistant worm populations, maybe we should consider shifting our mindset to accept that horses have worms - maybe it’s normal and ok…

Thanks Ballarat Adult Riding Club Inc for inviting me to do FEC at your fabulous event. It's been a while since I've been out and about. Loved catching up with you all and meeting new owners wanting to make informed parasite management decisions. Even had a lovely lunch provided 😋👌

I'm happy to have been invited to this event to do on-site FEC tomorrow 😀 Get your horse a FEC done for the special event price of $10 per sample.

I also hope to meet some of my clients (both humans and horses) f2f. I often wonder what the horses look like that I check for worm eggs, so be sure come and say hi 👋

We have a special visitor coming along to our dressage competition!! 🙌

Leni from VermiVanguard will be coming along to offer a mobile FEC service! So make sure to bring your 🐴 💩 and get them checked on the day.

Leni has also kindly donated some FEC vouchers for our monster raffle!

Please check out the page for prices and more information about the services.
https://www.facebook.com/share/14bgZRDNPoL/

Feeling so lucky and grateful that Sarah, from Horsempower, remembered me on her travels and collected a brumby poo sample - then dropped it off before even going home! 😁💩🎉

It had been travelling in the car all day, and I stored it out of the fridge before doing the FEC the next day. It came in at 2000 EPG with most eggs already larvated. Still, I'm so nervous I won’t get a good larvae yield from this precious sample. Hopefully, I’ll finally get some large strongyles🤞🏼

Thanks so much, Sarah, for thinking of me and dropping it off so promptly 🙌

The last parasite management workshop was such a lovely session in the new classroom at Haywood House! The smaller group size meant that most participants performed more than one FEC using their own samples, which was fantastic for building confidence. There were some very independent learners who quickly became skilled in FEC - well done everyone!

At least one person left so inspired they bought their own microscope to continue doing FECs at home - brilliant!!
There were also some fascinating questions during the presentation. I realised I need to bring a notebook for follow up.

The next workshop is coming up this Saturday afternoon, 4th Oct, at Elite Equine Nutrition. There are still a few spots available - if you’d like to join us. Follow this link for more information https://www.facebook.com/share/p/176FkjaV3z/

Razzle helps shed light on PPID and parasite management

Following on from my last post about Razzle’s role in my first field study, here’s an easy to read summary of the published research Razzle contributed to.

In short, as a group, PPID horses had higher FEC results than unaffected aged horses. However, results also showed that some PPID horses consistently had no detectible worm eggs, or very low egg counts. This highlighted the importance of performing individual FEC for monitoring horses with PPID to ensure sustainable and effective parasite control.

Effect of PPID on egg shedding after deworming Reports from the world of equine science

Spring worm wake-up and Razzle's legacy

What nice weather we’ve had this weekend, it’s starting to feel like spring. Worms tend be more active in spring🪱and regular poo picking a great way to reduce strongyle reinfection rate.

One of the stars of my first research project was the cutest mini pony, Razzle 🤩 belonging to Jess, an agistment owner who is a dedicated poo collector - every single day!

I found this both impressive and frustrating, because there were hardly any worm eggs in samples from that property. Collecting droppings daily (every 3 days at most) is the most effective way to reduce strongyle larval reinfection in your herd.

Faecal egg counts aren’t perfect for estimating worm burden, but they’re the best tool we have right now for monitoring egg shedding on pasture - an important part of parasite management. The only way to truly know a horse’s total worm load is to look inside.

Razzle had PPID (another focus of my research) and was sadly PTS shortly after the study ended. Jess allowed us to perform a post-mortem, and the total worm count showed just 40 worms in the gut! Amazing - well done Jess!!!

Razzle will always be remembered through this research, helping improve the management and welfare of other horses living with PPID.

Huge shout out to Jess from Yarrabee Farm, allowing access the property and horses, and for letting Razzle contribute to science even after passing. A difficult decision, but a valuable one 🙏

@@

The horse’s long-term relationship

Horses have had worms for thousands of years! Archaeological evidence shows worms were present in horses during the Holocene period, over 11,000 years ago 😲 Deworming drugs didn’t even exist until the 1960s, yet horses survived… 🤔

Worms don’t usually harm horses. It’s not in their best interest to kill their host. While they can cause disease, serious illness from worms is rare. With drug resistance on the rise, maybe it’s time to change how we feel about worms 🪱🤷‍♀️

Total eradication is not possible - your horse likely has a fair amount of encysted small strongyles even after deworming. Maybe that’s ok…

Instead of seasonal blanket treatments, that speeds up drug resistance ⏱, perhaps we should accept that some level of worm burden is normal.

Let’s save the drugs for the horses that really need them and, hopefully, the drugs will still have some effect.

Sample collecting and processing is a favourite part of research for many - and I’m no different. I’m always happy to help PhD candidate, Bec, collecting at the sale yards. Judging by the look on her face, she loves being with the animals and picking up poo too 💩😁 Bec has wonderful family support and on this trip, her dad kept us on track counting and recording as we collected. Lucky Phil’s a pro and there was no sleeping when counting sheep 🐑😴

Bec’s researching a rapid diagnostic test for detecting Barber’s Pole (Haemonchus contortus) worm infections in sheep. This worm feeds on blood and can cause illness or death very quickly. Victoria has been considered a low-risk area, but Bec’s finding Barber’s Pole prevalent in much of Victoria. Proving that this is an important area of research for our local farmers.

Bec is collecting samples from across Victoria to see how widespread Barber’s Pole is, and how it’s shifting with the changing climate. Samples are tested with a sensitive sequencing method that shows all the different worms in each sample.

Great work Bec, I’m sure we're all excited to see the outcome of all your hard work!