Hi, my name is Dr. Lydia Gray, and I'm the Staff Veterinarian here at SmartPak.
Today, we're going to talk about equine vital signs: what's normal, what's normal for your
horse, and how and where to take them.
First, when we talk about equine vital signs, we have to be clear what we are talking about.
And that's temperature, pulse, and respiration, or TPR.
Most veterinary textbooks have established a baseline or reference range for these three
values.
And they are: temperature, 99.5 to 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, for pulse it's 28 to 42 beats
per minute, and for respiration, it's 8 to 16 breaths per minute.
Now, these numbers normally fluctuate based on the time of day.
They can also be on the high end of the range or slightly above it if, say, your horse has
just come off a workout.
If your horse is really fit, these values can be on the low end.
And again, there are reasons for these numbers to be abnormal, such as if your horse is experiencing
pain, distress, colic, laminitis, or even an infection.
That's why it's really important to establish these normal baselines for your horse.
I remember when I first got my horse, I took his temperature and he was 101.
And I panicked.
And then I took his temperature everyday, and it was 101 for two weeks straight.
And that's when I began to realize, "oh, he just runs a little hot."
So now that I know that and have documented it in his journal, which I encourage you to
do, it's fine, there is no need to panic, that's just his normal.
And when he is 102, then I know something is really cooking in there.
To get comfortable taking vital signs, you just have to practice on your own horse and
on anyone's horse that will let you.
So let's start with temperature.
You have a couple options.
You can use the old-fashioned glass thermometer.
And as you can see, I've put a string and a clip on the loop that it comes with.
This is to attach to the tail hairs of your horse, so that when you insert the thermometer,
it takes 2 to 3 minutes to cook, so to speak, so you can walk around and do other things
and then come back, and it won't be pushed out onto the ground.
There's no concern that it's going to sucked in.
That's another myth that I'm going to bust today.
It also comes with a handy case.
Your other option is the digital thermometer.
This only takes less than a minute as long as your batteries are good.
You do have to hold it, because there's nothing to attach it to the horse, so it could get
easily pushed out.
The next vital sign is the pulse.
Ideally, you would have a stethoscope, and you would listen to the horse's heart rate,
right behind the elbow.
It comes in two sounds: lub dub.
And you would only count the 'lub.'
If you don't have a stethoscope, no need to panic.
You can take the horse's pulse at the facial artery, which is right underneath the jaw,
or you can take the digital pulse, which is from the digital arteries, alongside the fetlocks
or ankles.
Those are a bit trickier, but good techniques to know.
And finally, respiratory rate.
It sounds simple, but it can be the trickiest of the three, because they breathe so infrequently.
And sometimes they'll breathe in and breathe out, and breathe in and breathe out, and then
not breathe for a little bit, and you're like "did I miss it?
What's going on?"
So, you can watch at the flank, for the rise and fall there of the belly.
You can watch at the nostrils for the in and out there.
You can even use your stethoscope, which you've just purchased, to listen to the inhales and
exhales along your horse's trachea.
For both of these, for the heart rate and the respiratory rate, I listen for fifteen
seconds and then I multiply by four, and that gives me my value in per minute measurements.
So, you can listen for any length of time you want, just make sure that your math is
correct.
For those horses that are super-fit, you might want to watch them or listen to them breathe
longer than fifteen seconds, because the numbers will be so low.
It's more accurate if you listen for twenty seconds, thirty seconds, even a minute if
you have time.
Other vital signs that you might be interested in having your veterinarian show you how to
take or check are the color of the gums (a pink, a dark pink, a red or purple, which
is bad), the moistness of the gums (are they tacky, are they dry, or are they correctly
moist?), the capillary refill time (often abbreviated CRT), the gut sounds, digestive
sounds, and then the digital pulse, as we mentioned earlier.
I hope this has been helpful to you.
Knowing how to take vital signs is really important for the horse owner, and the only
way to get good is to practice, practice, practice.