Helminth control practices used by equine keepers in France: a national survey

Abstract

In light of the increasing reports of anthelmintic (AH) resistance in equids, a national survey on helminth control practices was distributed to 42 528 keepers. A total of 4 344 responses was obtained. Respondents implemented preventive pasture practices with varying frequency according to the age of the animals, such as pasture rotations (78.1–80.6 %), excrement removal from pastures several times a year (15.9–27.2 %) and/or mixed or rotational grazing with ruminants (14.5–18.1 %). A majority of keepers routinely used AH treatments even though they did not perceive any major risk to the health of the equids from parasites (65.3–90.4 % according to animal age). The most commonly used AH molecule was ivermectin (73.7 % of users in foals and 92.1 % in older animals). Around 70 % of respondents estimated weight by visual inspection or systematically assigned a predefined quantity of AH that was identical for all animals. Deworming frequency varied according to respondent status (professionals > non-professionals), animal age (foals > older animals) and breed groups kept (galloping horses > other breed groups). Only 5.2 % of respondents collected faeces from animals > 1 year old for coproscopic analysis and selective treatment. Among those surveyed, 20.6 % used a wide variety of products, raw or processed, mainly purchased online, as alternative or complementary methods to veterinary treatments. Veterinarians were the main source of information and advice for implementing deworming protocols. These results demonstrate that there is room for improvement in practices for controlling helminths. They could serve as a basis for developing a guide to best practices, to be distributed to veterinarians and equine keepers during training sessions.