Horse Medical Help

Vital Signs

Vital signs will be more meaningful once you have established normals. To do this, take the vital signs twice a day for three days and average the readings. Choose various times of the day but always when the horse is at rest, not when he has just been working or is excited.

Taking a Pulse

Choose an artery close to the surface of the skin. Lightly press your fingertips against the artery. Count the beats for 15 seconds and then multiply by 4 to get the rate per minute. The maxillary artery, on the inside of the jawbone, is one of the easiest places to find a strong pulse, even on a quiet, resting horse. It's best not to let your thumb rest on the horse when you take a pulse as you might pick up a throbbing from your own heartbeat and get a misreading. Another easy-to-find pulse spot is the digital artery located on both the inside and outside of the horse's leg, just above the fetlock. Normal resting pulse rates are as follows: 2 weeks old - up to 100; 4 weeks old - 70; Yearling - 45-60; 2 years old - 40-50; Adult - 30-40.

Deworming

All horses have worms. A good deworming program should target strongyles (bloodworms), ascarids (roundworms), Oxyuris equi (pinworms) and Gasterophilus (bots). Adult horses should be dewormed every two months, year-round. Foals should be dewormed from one month of age, every month until they are weaned, then every six weeks until they are one. Then they can be on the adult cycle of deworming.