Some useful tips on worm control are as follows:

1. Worm all new arrivals at the same time and keep them stabled for 48 hours to ensure any eggs are passed out by your horse before being let out to pasture.

2. Use a wormer against which there is no known resistance in the UK. This prevents new horses introducing resistant worms into your pasture.

3. Try to avoid using wormers ineffective against larvae for routine worm control, such as pyrantel.

4. Ensure you give your horse the correct dose according to its weight, as under-dosing will result in worms surviving leading to pasture contamination as well as causing resistance to develop.

5. Worm all your horses at the same time, with the same product.

6. Worm pregnant mares before and after foaling.

7. Select a wormer that has activity against small redworms, even in their encysted stages, such as a single standard dose of EQUEST.

8. Try not to overcrowd pastures, ideally fields should contain no more than one or two horses per acre.

9. Remove horse droppings from your pasture regularly, at least twice weekly.

10. Graze pasture with cattle/sheep. Worms which affect horses are host specific and cannot survive in cattle or sheep. Any larvae eaten by cattle or sheep will be destroyed - known as the biological vacuum cleaning effect.

11. Harrowing is inadvisable as it only acts to spread worms and is only successful in hot countries where exposed worms are killed by heat and dry conditions.

12. Always speak to your vet for a worming programme specific to your horse, and before worming always read the manufacturer's instructions.

13. And finally keep a record of when and with what you worm. With EQUEST you'll only need to worm every 13 weeks, slotting in your EQUITAPE treatment for tapeworm in the spring and autumn.