I slide a medical spatula into George the Connemara pony’s mouth, carefully finding the interdental gap in his teeth after his incisors. He begins licking and chewing, working out if it is edible. My job is to hold it in place for at least 30 seconds to get a good sample of his saliva on the absorbent swab, which will be analysed to see if his antibodies indicate a burden of tapeworms.
Back a decade or two, deworming horses was a routine three-monthly job in the horse-care calendar. But resistance to wormers has increased and there is growing understanding of the impact on the environment. Deworming should be targeted so that horses are only wormed if needed.
George was last tested for tapeworm in winter; he needed treatment and this was carried out. Today’s test is to check it has worked. Alongside, I will squish some of his fresh poo into a matchbox-sized plastic tub and send it for analysis of the eggs of other worms, which he’s normally clear of.
With the warmer weather, dung beetles are coming out of hibernation, so it’s even more important to avoid unnecessary wormer use. They are paralysed by ivermectin and it can persist in soil for more than two years.
Poo-picking is the other part of the parasite control equation. It’s a never-ending task, but I love a clear field. This breaks the lifecycle of the parasites by removing eggs from the pasture. But scrupulous poo-picking is also bad for dung beetles, as each dropping is their habitat and food.
I prise apart a horse poo and watch a black beetle scurry for shelter. It is large, about 2cm long, with a shiny gloss and legs fringed with spurs that help it tunnel and push dung. This is a Geotrupidae, or dor beetle, which buries the dung underground to feed on and breed in. It quickly disappears down a hole under the dropping that is the width of my thumb.
Other types of the UK’s 60 or so species live in the dung itself. They all prefer fresh droppings, so the avid poo-picker’s compromise is to leave a few of the latest offerings for the next poo pick.
Poo and saliva duly posted. Now, the wait for George’s results.
