How to Take a Horse's Vital Signs
Knowing how to take your horse's vital signs is an important part of monitoring your horse's health. Detecting changes in pulse, respiration rate, temperature, hydration level and intestinal sounds just might save your horse's life. In the case that your horse is acting a little "off," and her vital signs are abnormal, you should call a veterinarian as soon as possible. Have the above information ready.
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Instructions
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Take your horse's pulse. Use three fingers and push against the thick artery that runs underneath the jaw bone on either side of the horse's face (similar to the location on a human). Once you have found the pulse, count each surge of blood over a 1-minute time span. A resting heart rate should fall roughly between 30 and 40 beats per minute. If the heart rate is very fast (80 or more beats per minute), irregular or weak, call your veterinarian immediately.
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Measure you horse's respiration rate. Stand where you can clearly notice the changes in your horse's flank area as he inhales and exhales. Count each inhalation (expansion) over a 1 minute time span. A resting respiration rate falls anywhere between 6 and 20 breaths per minute. If your horse is demonstrating labored breaths, shallow, rapid breaths, or has flared nostrils, call your veterinarian immediately.
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Take your horse's temperature. Cut a length of yarn. At one end, tie a clip. At the other end, tie an equine rectal digital thermometer. Stand beside the horse's rump, facing her tail. Lubricate the thermometer, lift the horse's tail up and to the side, attach the clip to the tail, and insert the thermometer. Keep it in place as the manufacturer recommends, then remove and note the reading. A normal temperature falls between 99.5 and 101 degrees F. If your horse's temperature is below 99 or above 104, call your veterinarian immediately.
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Assess your horse's hydration levels. Lift your horse's lip and use your thumb to place pressure on your horse's gum just above the corner incisor. Remove your thumb and count the seconds it takes for color to return to that spot. Or pinch a small amount of skin at the horse's point of shoulder. Release it and watch how quickly it returns to normal. An immediate return (2 seconds or less) in either test is normal. If it takes 3 seconds or more for normal conditions to return, or the horse has dark red, brown, yellowish or blue gums, call your veterinarian immediately.
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Listen to your horse's intestinal sounds. Standing at the horse's side, bend over and place your ear against the horse's stomach behind the ribs. Normal sounds include a consistent assortment of gurgles, squeaks and similar noises. If you hear only faint and/or infrequent gut sounds, or a total absence of gut sounds, call your veterinarian immediately.
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Tips & Warnings
You should have your horse haltered and either tied or held by another person while you take his vital signs. Always exercise extreme caution when handling your horse.
Periodically check your horse's vital signs and establish what is "normal" for your horse. This makes it easier to detect abnormalities.
Equine sports such as Ride-and-Tie and Endurance riding have check-points where your horse's vital signs are checked. There are some differences from the above limits, as the horse is in competition rather than at rest, but you are still only allowed to continue competing if the horse's vitals fall within the guidelines.
Watch for additional behaviors indicating a potential problem, including: cold-sweats, lethargy, coughing, runny nose, head hanging, tongue hanging out, edema, swelling, abnormal bowel movements (extremely hard and dry, or diarrhea), agitation (kicking or nipping at self, stomping and pawing ground), laying down and not getting back up--even when prompted, no desire for food or water, limping, and inability to distribute weight on all legs equally.
