Early recognition of an illness or problem with your horse is easier to catch if you are familiar with what is normal for your horse. If your horse is usually a voracious eater and suddenly shows less interest in their feed, this can be a first sign that something isn’t right. Many changes in health status can be identified simply by observing your horse in his or her environment. Vital signs can be evaluated to provide indications of the type of illness or health challenges your horse may be experiencing. This article presents methods to help you make observations of your horse’s behavior and determine what is normal or abnormal and how to take and evaluate vital signs.
You are asked by the show manager to assess the health of five horses that arrived late last night at the horse show grounds because someone has complained that they are not healthy. If there is any chance that one or more are sick, they must be immediately quarantined, diagnosed, treated, and/or sent home. Your friend who works in a vet clinic advises you to get all their vitals and call the local vet if anything looks abnormal. Where do you start!? The vet will be much more prepared and will usually engage with you with a more informative and proactive discussion. Not every abnormal vital sign will result in a veterinary visit. In fact, noticing sub-optimal observations/signs may prevent an expensive vet visit by catching something early. Regular monitoring of your horses’ behaviors and vital signs can help you be proactive in adopting management changes when an issue arises.
“Normal” behavior can vary greatly between horses. While one horse is content to hang out watching pasture mates and is low on the herd hierarchy, the pasture clown who is always tearing off his pasture mates fly masks or blankets may have a very different “normal”. It is good for you to know what are the normal behaviors and vital signs for each of your horses.
The following guidelines layout the types of observations to make and how to evaluate, measure, or monitor normal and abnormal health indicators in your horses. The first set of observations reflect overall general attitude, actions, behaviors, and functions that your horse exhibits on a day-to-day basis. Your ability to make these informed observations will not only help you recognize a problem or illness earlier but sharing these observations with your veterinarian will inform your conversation with the vet and their response. If you call and just exclaim “Clover is sick!!” as opposed to “I’m worried about Clover, he stopped eating last night, his pulse is a bit higher than normal at 52 beats per minute, his gums are tacky and pale, and he is looking at his flank", the vet will be much more prepared and will usually engage with you with a more informative and proactive discussion. Not every abnormal vital sign will result in a veterinary visit. In fact, noticing sub-optimal observations/signs may prevent an expensive vet visit by catching something early. Regular monitoring of your horses’ behaviors and vital signs can help you be proactive in adopting management changes when an issue arises.
“Normal” behavior can vary greatly between horses. While one horse is content to hang out watching pasture mates and is low on the herd hierarchy, the pasture clown who is always tearing off his pasture mates fly masks or blankets may have a very different “normal”. It is good for you to know what are the normal behaviors and vital signs for each of your horses.
The guidelines presented in this document layout the types of observations to make and how to evaluate, measure, or monitor normal and abnormal health indicators in your horses. The first set of observations reflect overall general attitude, actions, behaviors, and functions that your horse exhibits on a day-to-day basis.