Equine Wormers

[kent18]

Help. I have had my horse on coventional wormer,now a woman on our livery yard is trying to convince every one on the yard to move to herbal wormers.She is only doing it because a friend is studdying at Bishop Burton Animal colledge and can do a Test for free for everone one the yard.but it is a known fact that herbal wormers are not proven .ie. there have been no scientific data to support herbal wormers.Ive ask my vet and he says dont move to herbal worming.but this woman wont listen ,I mainly think it is out of greed,that it is free.If it does not work it will cost a fortune in vets bill .Some comment and oppinions would help .please.

[carmalee]

Unless there is a policy at the yard that everyone has to use a specific brand demanded by this woman - it's your horse so do what you think is right. I'd be very interested in the outcome.

[Schutzengel]

It's your horse, and your responsibility together with your vet to decide what is right for the animal. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Don't be bullied.

[kent18]

Thanks for answers.The person on the yard is only a customer the same as me,and has no authority to get people to change.The owner of the yard does not take much control over things like this,but we have tried to talk to him ,in that all the horses should be on the same worming programme or it is useless to worm the horses..My point is that hebal wormers are not scientificaly proven and if some go on herbal wormers (mainly because this time they are free) I think my old horse is at risk,he is 30 years old and been on conventional wormers all his life.we are considdering leaving the yard to protect our horse,to me these people are being silly to change just because its free.

[carmalee]

bit of a dilemma there really - this is what happens in yards when there aren't any policies in place and enforced by the owner/yard manager. Such a pity cos it causes dissention and now your old horse maybe has to move. Still, your old boy/girl is the important thing. Just as a thought, if there hasn't been any de-worming policy in place and presumeably your old boy/girl has been there for a while, why not have a word with your vet and see what he/she thinks. Poor you - what a situation

[kent18]

Thanks carmalee.it looks as if you are a horse owner or lover.We orrganised the worming programme for the last 2 years and everything was fine,but this year this woman has come on to the yard and wants to get everone onto herbal wormers only because it is a friend of hers at the colledge that wants to do this test /project and we know this person is greedy and feel she only wants it because it free.How short sighted of her and others that will go allong with her.I value my old boys health and happiness over the cost of wormers.There are a few people that dont want to go to herbal but are affraid now that if they dont go allong the will have problems .What sad bad places livery yads can be.

[wildwood]

As has been said; your horse. your decision. If the Yard owner has no worming policy and others don't want to go for the herbal worming you may want to get together and impress on the owner that a Livery Yard should have a proper worming policy for the good of all, not some namsy-pamsy method which may work or not.
You've done well to get your horse to 30, don't let it down now by feeling obliged to give-in to a bully. At least make inquiries as to other Yards who may have a vacancy in your area. It is ofcourse best to stay at the present place but if it means the health of your horse..... I know what I'd do.

[paddywak]

If the system you are using has been running for 12yrs and everybody has been happy with it I would be tempted to tell the new comer where to put her herbs and go away (or somthing like that)

[carmalee]

sounds a bit like a Mexican stand off with half wanting the freebies (which may or may not work) and half wanting to stay on the existing programme. There is a school of thought that thinks these herbal de-wormers are okay - why not ask your vet - presume you've done some research on the internet so would be good to get get all your ducks in a row before instigating either a showdown or moving your old boy - and yes, I am horsey which is why I've been poverty stricken most of my life! Go well

[echokilo]

Personally I would not risk it ... worming should be the same for everyone and if it can't be agreed between everyone then the yard owner should be approached to wirte a plan which everyone either sticks to or leaves ..... do you all buy conventional wormers in bulk to get a discount? Perhaps you could suggest or organised this ..... in the scheme of things the cost of proper wormers is surely negligable when compared with the costly consequences of herbal remedies failing.... it really annoys me when people but cost above animal welfare .... stick to your guns! x

[kent18]

Thanks everyone for you input.Ive decided to move yards as this is getting silly now.i spoke to the owner in the last 2 days and he was against the herbal wormer,even to the point he said any horse on herbal will have to stay in .then the next day I found he had agreed to let them use herbal.So i am going back to a yard i was at 4 years ago.I know my old bot will be happy there.And will be able to keep him on the worming programme he is on.just let the others get on with it,cost does not come into it with me ,my horses health is more important,and i dont want to take risks at his age,he 30 now and going strong. Thanks everyone for youe input.