**Please keep in mind that while experienced horse owners, trainers, farriers, and other equine professionals can be great resources for advice, only licensed veterinarians can diagnose and treat an animal.
Before calling your vet, you should always:
– get your horse’s temperature
– get your horse’s heart rate
– check to see if your horse is panting
– check for “pain face” (triangulated eyes, flared nostrils, tense lips)
– check to see if your horse is BAR (bright, alert, responsive) or dull
– check the color of his gums
– check his capillary refill time
– see if he has been eating his food
– see if he has been drinking water
– see if he is willing to walk
– see if he is lame at the trot
– check for fresh stool
– check for swelling
Your horse’s temperature should be between about 97 and 102, depending on the temperature at the time and whether or not he has been worked recently. If it is outside of this range, call your vet. When it hits 108, your horse is in organ failure.
Your horse’s heart rate should be on the mid-20s to mid-40s. If it is outside of this range, call your vet. A heart rate in the 80s, you should already be at the hospital.
If your horse is off food for more than 2 days, call your vet.
If your horse has a cut over a joint, even if it’s super small, call your vet. If your horse has a cut that won’t stop bleeding, put pressure on it and call your vet.
Take your horse’s fly mask off every day to check his eyes. If he is squinting or holding his eye closed, call your vet. Eye issues are ALWAYS an emergency.
If you want to send me or your vet a picture of the problem, please send multiple pictures so we can tell where on the body the issue is located, get an idea of the size of the cut, swelling, etc, and a close up if you can get one so we know how deep the cut is.
If your horse is bit by a rattlesnake in the face, call your vet. The swelling will occlude their airway so they may die from suffocation if they don’t die from heart failure. It is always recommended to get your horse antivenin for any snake bite.
If your horse is walking like it’s had one too many drinks at the bar, don’t go anywhere near it and call your vet. Even if the horse doesn’t have Rabies, a horse that does not have control of it’s body is an easy way for you to get injured. (This could happen from head/neck trauma, WNV, EHV, bad arthritis in the spine, THO, or a brain tumor)
If you see green snot and chunks of hay coming out of your horse’s nose and mouth, your horse has choke and if it does not resolve on its own within an hour or two, call your vet. Try to keep his head low, massage the left side of his neck to help dislodge the esophageal obstruction, and feed a mash (no dry food) for the next 3-5 days while checking his temperature twice daily to make sure he did not get aspiration pneumonia.
If a hoof abscess does not resolve in 48 hours, call your vet.
If your mare is foaling and you do not see two hooves and a nose coming first, your foal does not stand within 1 hour, your foal does not start nursing within 2 hours, or you do not see a placenta within 3 hours, call your vet.
Hopefully this information will help more owners have a better understanding of how emergent their horse’s situation is. Remember to always have a good standing relationship with your vet when your move to a new area or adopt your first horse. A vet who knows you well is more likely to help you. Keep in mind your vet is also human, so treat them with respect! They will do their best to help your horse while simultaneously helping other horses, so be patient, be thankful, and don’t complain. Your horse will thank you! 💕🐴
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