Westgate Labs

21/12/2025

☀️🎉 We did it. The winter solstice is here and the days start getting longer from now, carrying us step by step toward the summer light.

🙋 Hands up if your horses have seemed especially hard work this year?! Congrats on making it, we hope busting this winter milestone gives you a well needed boost! 💪👊

18/12/2025

🎄 From Friday 19th December and over the Christmas holidays, our lab and office will be operating reduced hours 👉 bit.ly/ChristmasHours-2025

You won’t get us on the phone from 12-5pm on 19/12/25 due to staff Christmas event 🎅

If you need a direct response out of these hours, then please send a DM and we’ll do our best to respond as soon as possible. We're testing all samples, reporting results and sending any shop orders each day there is a post and will be back to our normal hours from Monday 5th January 2026 🙌

17/12/2025

⚠️📮 The window for safely posting samples so they reach us before the Christmas holiday has closed! Samples sent now are likely to get lost or delayed and arrive at the lab in an unviable condition for testing.

For posting advice and lab opening times 👉 bit.ly/Christmas-Posting-Advice-2025

15/12/2025

🐴💉 Is your horse a good candidate for the small redworm blood test this winter? Encysted stages of small redworm won't appear in a worm egg count, but they can be by an innovative blood test.

If your horse has consistently low worm egg counts (under 200 epg for at least a year), lives in a closed herd, and benefits from good paddock management with frequent poo picking, it is worth chatting to your vet about whether this test is suitable. Every horse that avoids an unnecessary moxidectin treatment helps protect this important medicine for the future 🙌

🤓 Start by assessing your horse's parasite risk and then follow our Winter Protocol flow chart for what to do next here 👉 bit.ly/WinterParasiteControl

🦄 On one of our subscription plans? We'll contact you to discuss the best action based on your horse's tailor made worm control plan, so just wait to hear from us!

12/12/2025

🎄 ✨ A little festive fun in the lab today. Wreath making led by lab tech Imogen and fuelled by festive treats from Plenty of Christmas cheer all round!

🎁 Planning on sending samples? Please check our website for Christmas opening times.

12/12/2025

📮✋ With reduced postal services over the festive period, please now delay sending worm egg counts to us until after the New Year. This will help ensure they don't get held up in the system over the Christmas period and arrive too old to test. Thank you 🙌

For more advice and lab opening times over the festive period 👉 bit.ly/Christmas-Posting-Advice-2025

08/12/2025

🏇 Don't delay! It may seem a bit early in the month, but with postal delays already impacting deliveries, the early part of this week is the best chance you have of ensuring samples posted to the lab arrive in time for testing before Christmas!

📮 Please avoid sending worm egg counts in the post after 12th December, as they're more likely to get held up at the weekend and into the festive rush and arrive too old to test.

🎄For more info and advice 👉 bit.ly/Christmas-Posting-Advice-2025

06/12/2025

👇 Great to see this covered in H&H. All the more important to risk assess, commit to regular testing, poo picking and to decide on your approach to tackling encysted stages of small redworm.

This year’s particularly warm and dry summer in the UK is thought to be linked to a “notable rise” in worm egg count results in our horses – even among those horses who have historically had low or clear results. The good news is there are steps owners can take to help combat the issue - find out more below...

05/12/2025

🌡️ Have you needed to treat more horses than usual this autumn following seasonal testing? If so, you're not alone! Population data shows a notable rise in the proportion of horses shedding redworm eggs, following an unusually warm, dry summer.

“What we’re likely seeing is the impact of a warm summer allowing the larval development phase to speed up, meaning horses can become more readily infected as they graze. There’s also been less forage available, so horses have been cropping the grass closer to the soil and dung piles and there’s been less opportunity to rest and rotate grazing, further increasing infection potential."

Professor Jacqui Matthews, Recognised Specialist in Parasitology and Director of Veterinary Science at Austin Davis Biologics

Horse owners are recommended to risk assess their horses for parasite infection, using either the CANTER or What’s Your Worm Risk profiling tools and to speak to their prescribers to decide on their approach to encysted stages of small redworm this autumn/winter.

👉 Find out more here: bit.ly/autumnWECrise

🎬To sign up for a free webinar, focussing on redworm infection, 7pm Wednesday 14th January, click 'going' on the Facebook event page here: fb.me/e/4rPYI7SHH

04/12/2025

❄️The arrival of December means we need to make a plan for encysted redworm. What to do will depend on your horse's parasite risk and other influencing factors.

📅 If you last tested or treated in October or before and you've had wintry weather with daytime temperatures on the pasture consecutively below 6C for a few days, then it could be a good time to schedule a blood test with your vet, or treat. First work out your horse's parasite risk and refer to our Winter Protocol Flow Chart to help you decide on your approach.

You'll find all the information you need to make a plan this winter for your horse here 👉 bit.ly/WinterWorming

03/12/2025

🐴 🪱This is your invitation to our next webinar 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 & 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹!
We'll be taking a deeper dive into the science of testing, risks and results and answering your questions to help you stay ahead of these two important horse parasites.

Does a blood test cover encysted redworm? What is the evidence for large redworm making a comeback? How do we manage these conflicting threats as wormer resistance increases and our treatments become less effective?

Join us on Wednesday 14th January at 7pm for this free update that you can't afford to miss!

🎤 With Professor Jacqui Matthews and Claire Shand
🎥 Live on Facebook
🎁 Attendees on the night will be entered into our giveaway
👉 Save your place: fb.me/e/4rPYI7SHH

02/12/2025

🎄 Christmas tunes are playing in the lab and the tree is up! You can really help us stay merry by planning ahead and getting worm egg counts sent as soon as you can this month!

📮 Pressure on Royal Mail with national sales, the festive rush and reduced deliveries means that the risk of samples being lost or arriving too old to test is high at this time of year. We wouldn't recommend sending samples in the post between Friday 12th December and Monday 5th January.

🎅 For more advice on when to post and info on our Christmas opening times 👉 bit.ly/Christmas-Posting-Advice-2025