Project WORMS (Working to Overcome Resistance and Make for a Sustainable Future): Stud owner and manager survey. Part 2. Routine testing for parasites, anthelmintic use and anthelmintic resistance.

Background: Youngstock are particularly susceptible to parasitic disease; anthelmintic resistance is an increasing problem. Objectives: Investigate the current approaches to testing for parasites and anthelmintic use in foals and adult horses on UK studs. Study Design: Cross-setional study; on-line survey. Methods: SurveyMonkey questionnaires (multiple choice, Likert scale and free text questions) distributed via practices, press, social media and snowball sampling. Descriptive and inferential statistics performed in Microsoft Excel and STATA. Statistical differences assessed with Fisher’s exact test or Mann Whitney U test. Results: 56 usable responses. Experience, faecal egg counts and veterinary advice were considered to be the most important factors by respondents in determining anthelmintic choice. The commonest product choices overall were a moxidectin – praziquantel combination, fenbendazole and pyrantel. Timing of anthelmintic treatment for cyathostomes in broodmares was based on faecal egg counts in 58.9%; treatment for tapeworms was based on ELISA results in 10.7%. With respect to foals, 61.8% received anthelmintic treatments regardless of test results; the commonest anthelmintic products used in foals were fenbendazole (56.6%) and pyrantel (47.9%). Anthelmintic resistance on the property was reported by 27.8% of respondents, but there was no association with reported illness. Main Limitations: Small sample size. Potential selection bias and response bias. Conclusions: Over a quarter of stud owners believed that anthelmintic resistance occurred on their premises. The commonest used anthelmintic product on stud farms was moxidectin-praziquantel combination. The commonest anthelmintic used in foals was fenbendazole. Testing for tapeworms was uncommonly undertaken. Results identify areas where testing for parasites and anthelmintic use on stud farms could be improved. Supplementary Material File (stud owners paper 2 final 21.03.25.docx) - Download - 122.51 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Peer review timeline Published Equine Veterinary Education Version of Record25 Jun 2025Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Collection

Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 336views 181downloads Citations Download citation James Crabtree, Imogen Schofield, Camilla Scott, et al. Project WORMS (Working to Overcome Resistance and Make for a Sustainable Future): Stud owner and manager survey. Part 2. Routine testing for parasites, anthelmintic use and anthelmintic resistance.. Authorea. 25 March 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174291438.89736328/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174291438.89736328/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.