This week I am going to take you all back to elementary school when you all learn about teamwork. You learn about it at a young age and it ends up playing a role throughout your life.  Who knew when your teachers were talking to you about the importance of teamwork that years later you would be reading a blog, written by a cat, about the same thing? I’m a cat, cats don’t do teamwork. However, as you all know, I have put together one of the best teams around to take care of your horse and they really thrive on teamwork. This is why it is so important that my doctors work as a team with your farrier, your trainer and any other professional you have working with your horse to provide top notch care and achieve results based on a common goal.

Farrier

You’ve heard the saying “no hoof, no horse”. Your horse’s hoof care is imperative to his wellbeing. Farriers play such an important role in your horse’s soundness. From proper trims to specialty shoeing, they can really make a huge difference in a horse’s movement and performance. Having a farrier and veterinarian who are willing to work together towards a common goal will allow for any problems or issues with your horse to be addressed quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

If you’ve ever had a lameness exam performed on your horse, you know that the docs always start by looking at your horse’s hooves. They will pick them up, test them for soreness with this big metal clamp thing, and they will look at the angles and shape of the hoof. Once the lameness exam is complete, they may even perform nerve blocks in which they inject anesthetic around nerves. This causes anything below the nerve to go numb, just like Novocain for a dental procedure.  With the nerve blocks, the docs can determine if the problem stems from your horse’s feet or is further up his leg.

If the lameness is from the hoof, it can usually be resolved with proper shoeing. Diagnostic imaging, such as radiographs, will likely be suggested. These can show the docs and your farrier the angle of your horse’s coffin bone within his foot along with his hoof/pastern angle. Changes to trimming and shoeing can be made based on your horse’s lameness exam and radiographic images. This is why it is essential that your veterinarian and farrier work together. Your farrier is extremely knowledgeable about all things horse feet, and your veterinarian is extremely knowledgeable about all things horse feet and lameness. Therefore, putting both their brains together to address you horse’s issue will certainly help resolve it quickly.  Take it from this cat, have a farrier who is willing to work with your veterinarian. It will save you a lot of time, money, and heartache in the long run.

Beyond lameness, it is super helpful when you have a farrier who is willing to work with your veterinarian in the event of an injury or illness.  One incidence in particular I can think of is laminitis. A quick diagnosis and corrective shoeing can be the difference between life and death when it comes to laminitis. Excuse me while I get on my soap box for a minute, but I feel it is necessary. Find yourself a farrier who knows his/her limits and is willing to say, I don’t know or I’m not comfortable with that. That farrier is worth his/her weight in gold and could be life saving for your horse.  Having a farrier who is humble enough to admit this will allow my docs to employ a farrier with the appropriate skills to apply corrective shoeing. As you all know, my docs love to educate, so if your farrier isn’t comfortable with what your horse needs, my docs will be happy to teach them. If your farrier doesn’t tell us that he isn’t comfortable with performing what your horse needs, my docs won’t know that he/she needs direction. This could be disastrous for your horse. Ok, soap box over now.

Trainer

Your trainer is a wealth of information. They know horses and they know your horse. They can tell when a horse isn’t performing his best. Having a trainer who is quick to notice when something is amiss is priceless.  No one knows your horse better than you, but your trainer can provide you with an outsider’s perspective. They can be present to communicate with your veterinarian when you may not be able to be there.

In my experience trainers are a wealth of information, some good and some, well, not so good. Having a trainer who is willing to listen and learn is invaluable. I’ve been present when some trainers come through the clinic, and I can’t help but shake my head at their old school ways. I know you all have read my numerous blogs on colic, but when a trainer comes through saying they’ve been walking a colic for the last 4 hours and it still isn’t better, I can’t help but face-paw. I know you know not to do that but sometimes trainers are a little late to get the new info.

On the other hand, trainers are really amazing at picking up when your horse is mildly colicky and they are usually very comfortable in administering medications.  That being said, a trainer who is open to listening to your veterinarian, learning new things, and making changes to their daily routine for the better of your horse, is irreplaceable. Just like with your farrier, my docs are ready, willing, and able to educate them so they can provide the horses under their care with the best and most up-to-date veterinary care. In doing so, my docs are able to help you and your horse stay in tip top condition all while preventing any unforeseen issues down the road.  As horse people who have worked with trainers for years, my docs know just how important it is to have a trainer who is willing to be a part of your horse’s care team.

Other Professionals

Other professionals, including, but not limited to your veterinary dentist, equine massage therapist, equine transportation team, and grooms/stable hands are all part of your horse’s team. While my docs provide a wide array of veterinary care including dentistry, lameness, acupuncture, and spinal manipulation, they have informed me that not everyone is as blessed to have a team that provides it all. This means you may have to have a different person out for all the different treatments your horse needs.  Having professionals who are a part of your horse’s team who are also willing to communicate with all the other professionals in your horse’s life is going to make your life and your horse’s life run that much smoother.

On occasion, there may even be more than one veterinarian involved in your horse’s care, so having two veterinarians who communicate effectively about your horse is incredibly important so that nothing gets missed. Two heads are better than one, right? Well, sometimes, but not always. In my opinion, stick with one veterinarian or one veterinary clinic where all of your horse’s records will be kept. That way you won’t run into issues like missing or duplicate vaccinations, expired coggins the day before a show, or incomplete medical records. It can get very confusing and frustrating for everyone involved when there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Find a veterinarian or clinic you are comfortable with and stick with them.  Veterinarians are not like underwear; you do not need to change them every day.  As for all the other professionals in your horse’s life, just like your farrier and your trainer, find those who are openminded, want to learn more, want to communicate with each other and your veterinarian and want to be a part of your horse’s team.

Remember: teamwork makes the dream work!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. The humans are always busy working on podcasts. Stroll on over to the podcast page here and listen to what they have to say. I know I always find something new to listen to. And make sure you subscribe to my blog before you go. You can do that by scrolling down just a bit further to the purple box.

Bleeders. Nothing ruins a good run like seeing blood at your horse’s nostrils. This week we’re gonna chat about Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, or EIPH. That’s the fancy acronym doctors use to describe bleeders. EIPH is complicated! Hang on for a wild ride with some really good prevention stuff at the end.

Bleeding while running seems like a bad plan

It seems like a theme to life here at the Clinic. Horses have some serious design flaws, and bleeding from your lungs because you ran too fast certainly seems like one of them. As an apex predator, I do have to run down the occasional mouse out in the shed, but I’ve never encountered bleeding from my lungs. When I asked my Docs about this, I was blown away by the explanation (total airway pun there. I do crack myself up). 

Fast-running horses move air out of their lungs so quickly, they literally suck the air across the blood vessel wall. What the what?!? That’s just crazy. When horses are running fast (cats too, just in case you didn’t think we were athletes), the guts are a huge component of breathing and heart rate. As the inside front foot hits the ground, the guts push forward on the diaphragm, pushing the air out of the lungs, and causing the heart to contract. As the hind feet push off to propel the horse forward, the opposite happens. The guts move back in the abdomen and pull air into the lungs, and give the heart room to expand. This means horses aren’t moving air in and out with their muscles alone, that massive GI tract is throwing its weight around. This all works in a very delicate balance. Anything messes that balance up, and poof you’ve got blood cells on the wrong side of a blood vessel wall.

Small bleeds

A cat could lose himself in Google Scholar for days looking at EIPH research. You don’t think I spend all my time just sleeping on the keyboard, do you?? Anyway I spent a long weekend with no humans around diving deep into EIPH. The literature is kind of scattered on the early stages of EIPH. This is not because no one is looking! Completely shameless plug here for supporting basic level science research. This is how curious cats find the answers to life’s questions! 

Anyway, a pretty decent association has been made between inflammation and EIPH. Fungus in the airways plays a role, and Winter/Fall seems to, as well. Oddly, bacteria don’t seem to matter. The research also shows that lots of these horses start out with tiny bleeds, the lungs scar and develop more inflammation, and they bleed worse. It is well documented that age is a huge factor in EIPH with older racehorses being way more prone to having career-limiting episodes. 

What’s it all mean??

Great, you say, but what does this mean for horses? Never fear, I have wisdom to drop. Many of you have heard of giving furosemide (Lasix) to bleeders. It works, but it only works OK, not spectacularly. Furosemide makes the blood thicker so it’s harder for it to cross those blood vessel walls. It does this by dehydrating your horse a little bit. If you’re going to use it, make sure you talk to my Docs about managing this dehydration, and the potassium loss that goes with it. 

The way, way more important thing to do is prevention! Those fungi I talked about earlier? Those come from the air. Keeping horses in really well-ventilated spaces is a huge preventative measure for not just EIPH, but also all kinds of respiratory challenges. Think about hay bags on the trailer, stabling at equine events, arenas (especially those indoor ones). All of these are great ways to put your horse in an area with massive amounts of fungus traveling through the air. 

What’s a human to do? Wet your hay down, especially if you’re feeding it from anywhere higher than the ground. Keep your stall meticulously clean and dust free. This goes for anytime, really, but in particular those indoor stalls at horse shows can get NASTY. Think about the ammonia smell that knocks you down as you walk in the doors. All that ammonia is murder (literally murder) on lung cells! Finally, encourage show management to keep arenas appropriately watered down to keep dust in the air to a minimum.

Confounding factors

EIPH rarely shows up all by itself in older horses, and by older, I mean horses over 4 years. It’s really, really important to do what’s called a Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) on these horses to make sure all the lung things are taken care of. In one study nearly half (!!!!!) of all the barrel horses tested had asthma and EIPH. You can give that horse all the Lasix you want; it’s not going to run any better because it still can’t breathe! Lameness is also strongly associated with EIPH. What I’m saying is don’t go all cowboy tough on this one. Talk to my Docs!!!! This is complicated and you need help to keep your horse performing at their best.

EIPH is way more than a little blood from the nose. Manage your horse well, and they’ll have years of performance ahead of them. You know where to go for help with that. My awesome Docs are just a phone call, email, or even a text away.  

Until next week,
~Tony

P.S. The humans have a great podcast on this topic called Airway Issues. You can find it over on the Podcast Page if you’re not already subscribed to the podcast. If you want to step up your game on this stuff, that’s a great resource. Trust me. I’m a cat.

In case you all missed it, a few weeks ago, everyone here at the clinic up and abandoned me and Teenie for a weekend.  Yes, you read that right, they left us all alone to fend for ourselves. Well, not really, they had a kitty-sitter come and feed us and medicate me, but don’t think for a second that I didn’t protest their absence.  When they came back, they explained to me that the reason they left was to go on a team-building trip. That’s all well and good, but aren’t Teenie and I part of the team too? Then they explained that they went kayaking and that it involved water and getting wet, so I finally understood why they left us. Team building is such an important aspect to the well-oiled machine that is this clinic.  So, this week, I want to talk to you about the people in my clinic that make the gears turn and allow us to come treat your horses every day.

The Office Staff

When you call the clinic during the day you will get the girls in the office. They are the first line of communication between you and the docs. They control the schedule. And let me tell you, sometimes they can be really strict! They keep the docs on point making sure they get to their appointments on time, bill and collect money appropriately, and answer all your questions throughout the day. Furthermore, they keep the financials of the clinic up and running. Without them, the doctors and technicians would be lost.  Not to mention they make sure my feeding schedule is set and I receive my insulin daily, as you all know I am extremely demanding when it comes to food. Thankfully, I have them wrapped around my little paw.

Beyond keeping the docs in line, the office staff processes, packages and mails lab work. When we have a horse hospitalized, they will also administer medications as per the docs instructions. Similarly, when you call and request a medication for your horse, they get doctor approval and then get the medication prepared for you to pick up. I have been thinking about getting my own Facebook/Instagram page, but then I am reminded, I don’t have thumbs so making posts would be rather difficult. Nonetheless, Springhill Equine has both Facebook and Instagram which are primarily monitored and run by the office staff. I suppose I could employ one of them to manage my page, but I’ll just take over Springhill’s page when I want to. As you can tell, the office staff is essential to the everyday ins and outs of running the clinic.

 The Technicians

This past week was veterinary technician appreciation week. A week really isn’t long enough to show just how much our techs are appreciated. They deserved to be recognized every single day for their efforts. Teenie and I like to show our appreciation by vomiting daily, drooling all over the computer screens, and getting locked into places we are not supposed to be.  As you know, whenever my docs are working with your horse, they almost always have a technician with them. This is not only for the safety of my docs but for your safety and your horse’s safety.  Our technicians are first and foremost horse people. They are wonderful at reading horse language. This allows them to know what a horse is going to do before they do it. Knowing and understanding horse language allows them to predict when and how a horse is going to react to certain situations. This allows them to keep the docs out of harm’s way.

Beyond horse handling and communication, the technicians provide your horse with love and care as if they were their own horse. They love each and every horse. A major part of the techs job is to be prepared for every appointment. They arrive at the clinic before the docs, they look at the schedule and get everything ready to load on to trucks for the day. When the docs arrive, the techs go over the plan for the day, they check to make sure the truck is stocked and that all equipment is charged and ready to go. When we have horses that are hospitalized, they administer medications and provide treatments to any hospitalized patients.  The technicians are the doc’s right hand women. They are always one step ahead of them and always cleaning up after them. In case you didn’t know, the docs can be pretty darn messy. They expect me to clean it up but, I have more important things to do. Thank goodness they have amazing technicians who don’t mind picking up after the docs, and, well, me.

The Veterinarians

You all know my docs and you know what they do for you and your horses. I want you guys to know a little more about them though. Veterinarians go to school for at least 4 years before they even go to Veterinary School. Veterinary School is also 4 years long. So at the very least they have been through 8 years of school to become veterinarians. All the docs in my practice went on to participate in a year-long internship after veterinary school where they got to practice all they had learned while under the watchful eye of another veterinarian.

When you schedule an appointment with my docs they are giving you and your horse their undivided attention. They look over every aspect of your horse to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan going forward. What you probably don’t know is that even after your appointment is over, they are still thinking about your horse. They will often go home, research, and think about your horse for hours. So, while they may not be with you and your horse, I can promise you, cats honor, they are thinking about you and your horse. They worry, they internalize, and they grieve right along with you every step of the way. And they do it all because they love horses as much as you do.

 The Wild Card

Dr. Lacher’s husband, Justin, is the wild card on our team. He does a lot of different things. For example, he pays all the bills and does the bookkeeping so we can keep getting drugs and supplies to use on the horses. If you’ve been to one of my seminars, you’ve seen him running the audio and video equipment. You might have even listened to the podcast he hosts and produces with Dr. Lacher called Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. Or maybe you’ve read one of the books he’s written about all the crazy horse things that happen around here, called the Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband series. If you’ve watched one of the videos we’ve released, he was behind the scenes making it happen. Justin wears a lot of hats around here, but the most important one is Chief Cat Scratcher. It’s a critical role.

 The Cats

Not to be out done by any of the other team members, the cats, aka myself and Teenie, are an essential part of the Springhill Equine team. We provide hours of entertainment for everyone. We regularly get ourselves into trouble which keeps the team on their toes. Teenie enjoys bathing everyone in her drool and screaming demands for treats daily. I, on the other hand, prefer to keep things a little more lowkey and would rather wander down the street only to have the docs and techs come find me later.  Of course, you know yours truly provides you with this weekly blog, but did you know that when you bring your horse to the clinic, I also provide free “CAT” scans of your trailer?  When your horse is hospitalized it is up to Teenie and me to keep a close eye on him and alert the docs of any problems.  They say they check the cameras at night, but we know they rely on us to keep the horses in line.

Needless to say, the Springhill Equine Team is a group of fine individuals who have been selected carefully. Everyone plays an imperative role in your horse’s care and without each and every one of them, I would surely starve. It is the goal of the Springhill Equine Team to provide care and support to you and your horse, night and day, no matter what.

 Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you haven’t been listening to that podcast I mentioned, you can find on the Podcast Page. It’s what all the cool cats are listening to these days!

As horse owners I know you all know every curve, every scar and every lump or bump your horse has. So, when a new bump pops up it can be concerning. Any time I have a new scratch or lump or scab the humans are all over me, making sure I am okay.  Frankly, it’s rather annoying. I am a perfectly healthy cat and don’t need them all over me all the time. I just need them to feed me and respond to all my demands.  While I’m aware of my health, horses, they just aren’t as smart, and they need you to keep track of them.  Monitoring new lumps and bumps can be lifesaving for your hose. This week I want to talk to you about a type of tumor that horses get that, for the most part, the docs will tell you not to worry too much about and just keep any eye on: Melanomas.

 What is a Melanoma?

A melanoma is a type of skin tumor that occurs mainly in grey horses but can rarely occur in other colored horses as well. These tumors can pop up on your horse’s body just about anywhere. The most common areas include the underside and dock of the tail, corners of lips, neck, and head. They can also be found in and around your horse’s sheath, anus and from your horse’s iris in his eye.

Melanomas can pop up at any age in any horse with little known about any predisposing factors other than your horse’s color. That being said, most grey horses will not start to develop tumors until they’re around 10 years old.  I am well into my teens, I am not grey, and thankfully, I am not a horse, so I think I am safe, but be sure to check on your grey horses.

As I mentioned, melanomas are part of owning grey horses. It’s usually advised to keep an eye on them for any significant changes.  However, it is important to understand that “keeping an eye on them” does not mean allow them to grow uncontrollably. In fact, if your horse has been diagnosed with melanomas, you should have my docs check on them at least twice a year, measure them and possibly even take some photos of them. This will help ensure that the tumor does not progress rapidly and cause long term problems for your horse.

 Treatment

While it is common practice to keep an eye on melanomas, there are other treatment options for them as well. One option is surgical removal. However, removal of one tumor will not prevent the development of other tumors. Likewise, if a tumor is too large or in a precarious location, surgical removal cannot be performed.

Injection with a chemotherapy agent is another treatment option. Cisplatin in the form of injectable oil or impregnated beads can be used around tumors to reduce the size of the tumor and allow for possible surgical excision. Treatment with cisplatin can be extremely effective, but it often takes several treatments and can get expensive.

Finally, there has been a vaccination developed for use in dogs that is still experimental in horses. The vaccine is created from your horse’s specific tumor, targets proteins in the melanoma cells, and stimulates an immune response. The vaccination shows promise for treatment of melanomas in horses, but more work is needed to prove its effectiveness.

Whatever form of treatment my docs recommend, it is important to start treatment early and not necessarily just keep an eye on it.  Ask my docs which method is best and how to start treatment if your horse is diagnosed with melanomas.

 Complications

 If a melanoma is left to progress without intervention, they can become obstructive.  Tumors around the head and neck can obstruct your horse’s airway and predispose your horse to choke. As you can imagine both of these conditions can be life threatening. If left to progress and grow, tumors around the anus can prevent your horse from passing manure.

Similarly, tumors in and around your horse’s sheath can lead to difficult urination. Remember our discussion about sheaths a few weeks back? Annual examination of your horse’s sheath will help the docs monitor your horse for tumor development, and if your horse in on one of our wellness plans, this examination is included.  (Here is my shameless plug to sign your horse up for 2021 Wellness today.)  If a tumor is allowed to progress and obstruct your horse’s sheath, urine scalding becomes a concern.  When your horse cannot fully drop his penis from his sheath he’ll still have to urinate, and urine will splatter in all directions including on his abdomen and legs. This can lead to burning of these areas which is very painful.

Melanomas that arise from the iris of the eye can also become obstructive, leading to vision and other ocular problems. Any kind of tumor in the eye should be treated immediately. If left to progress, your horse may lose his vision completely, may develop uveitis (inflammation), glaucoma, or may lose his eye completely.

Besides obstruction, melanomas can become ulcerated, particularly underneath the tail.  It is a warm, moist, dirty area and the perfect environment for these tumors to get really ugly and nasty really fast.  Unlike cats, horses are disgusting creatures who fail to groom themselves regularly. Anyways, since your horse is lazy and allows you to groom and clean him, you must be the one to keep the underside of his tail clean.  However, despite your most diligent efforts, melanomas are tumors and will do whatever they want, including becoming ulcerated, necrotic and/or infected.  Once this happens, they can be nearly impossible to treat and can result in my docs having to recommend humane euthanasia for your horse.

The takeaway message is this: Have my docs monitor any lumps or bumps on your horse and show you exactly what kind of changes to watch for. Early, aggressive treatment is key and can be lifesaving for your horse.

Until next week,

~Tony

PS – Looking for more information on other conditions that may come up with your horse?My people also have a podcast that is filled with incredibly useful information, check it out here. Also, we will be having a VIRTUAL facebook seminar on Thursday October, 22 at 6:30. They will be talking about asthma/heaves. Wow, we have seen a lot, I mean a lot of heaves this year. 

Checking Vital Signs

In my recent column about colic, I talked about taking your horse’s vital signs as a good way to help your vet manage an emergency. Today I’ll go over how exactly I want you to do that, because it’s YOUR horse, right? So, you really should know how. I’ve enlisted some help to show you exactly what I’m talking about, so make sure you look at the pictures and watch the videos.

Heart rate

First of all, go buy an inexpensive stethoscope. You can get one for as little as $20! Amazon, CVS, Walmart, they’re not hard to find. Sure, my doc probably uses a fancier one to hear all the subtle things, but a basic one will let you count the heartbeats just fine. Then practice ahead of time, don’t wait for an emergency to happen. Put the stethoscope ear buds in your ears so they point forward. Listen for the heartbeat on the left side, just behind your horse’s elbow, about where the girth rests. It’s helpful to have him stand with his left leg forward a bit so you can push the stethoscope forward under the muscle and get good contact with his chest. Try pressing more or less firmly until you can hear the heart clearly.

A horse’s normal heart rate is around 26-46 beats per minute (much slower than yours). Since it’s so slow, you will probably be able to hear both heart sounds. It will sound like “lub-DUB”. Be careful that you don’t accidently count double – “lub-DUB” just counts as one beat. Set your stopwatch for 15 seconds and count the beats in that time. Then multiply by 4 to get his actual heartrate. For example, if I listen for 15 seconds and hear “lub-DUB” 10 times, I multiply 10×4 and his heartrate is 40 beats per minute.

There are places you can feel the pulse with your fingers to count the heart rate, but these are usually trickier to master than just listening with a stethoscope. When my doc comes out to vaccinate your horse, or whatever, you can ask her to show you the technique for listening to the heart or feeling the pulse.

Respiratory rate

Counting your horse’s breaths can be done in a couple of different ways. You can listen with your stethoscope, but it’s usually just easier to look at his flanks moving in and out. If he’s breathing hard, you can watch his nostrils flare, but if he’s breathing normally this might be harder to see. Remember that inhale + exhale = one breath. Count for 30 seconds and then multiply the number of breaths by 2 to get the respiratory rate. The normal respiratory rate of a horse at rest is 12-20 breaths per minute.

Gut sounds

Gut sounds are what you will hear when your horse’s intestines are moving normally to push food through. A normal horse has active rumbles all over his belly, and you shouldn’t have to listen for much longer than 15 seconds to hear some. Your horse’s gut sounds can be heard on both sides of his belly, high and low, in front of his hips. Again, practice ahead of time to get used to his normal.

Digital pulses

Digital pulses are a good indicator of the amount of inflammation in your horse’s feet. My doc’s favorite place to feel them is at the fetlock (your horse’s “ankle”). Using your thumb and middle finger, feel on either side at the widest part of the fetlock, towards the back. You will often feel a “squishy” area that is the artery and vein on either side – that’s the right spot. Use light pressure and feel for the pulse. It’s usually a light movement against your fingers and may be a little hard to find at first. Get to know what it feels like in a normal horse so you can tell if it’s more prominent than usual. My doc says if there is inflammation in the foot, the pulse will feel stronger than usual. She calls it a “bounding digital pulse”. It’s kind of like the throbbing feeling you would get if you hit your thumb with a hammer.

Temperature

Get yourself a plastic digital thermometer like my docs use. They’re quick and easy to use. Keep it just for your horse’s use of course! To take his temperature, it’s safest to have someone holding him for you in case he objects to it. If your horse strongly objects or you just don’t feel safe, it’s okay to give this one a pass.

Stand close to your horse’s hindquarters on one side, not right behind him. I know you might feel safer to stand farther away, but actually you’re usually safer if you’re right up against his side. Gently move his tail up a little and to the side, then slowly insert the thermometer into his anus a couple of inches, almost up to where the digital display is. Press the thermometer’s button to turn it on. It will beep again when it has finished reading the temperature.  A normal horse’s temperature is between 98.5-100.5 Fahrenheit. Take your horse’s temperature on different days to see what his normal temperature usually runs.

Mucous membranes

Take a look at the gums above your horse’s upper teeth. They should be pink or pale pink. Any colors besides that are a problem, so call my doc. They should be moist to the touch and not dry or “tacky”, which can be signs of dehydration. Next, press your finger onto the gum firmly. The pressure should be firm enough that when you lift your finger away, you see a white spot where your finger was. Count the number of seconds it takes for the spot to fill back in with color. In a normal horse, it should be less than 2 seconds. If it’s longer than that, it could indicate shock or dehydration.

Being able to take good care of your horse’s health is a critical part of good horsemanship. Practice taking your horse’s vital signs frequently, so that it’s second nature by the time you really need to do it. I guarantee that my doc will be happy to show you her technique when she’s next at your barn. There’s few things the docs at Springhill Equine like more than helping to educate owners on good care for their horses!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you want to learn more, you should really check out the Podcast the humans do. They are way more energetic than this cat, and they actually talk for thirty or forty-five minutes sometimes to teach you things. It’s really good stuff. And Patrons of the podcast get even more: their own Facebook group with videos, and they can ask questions about their horses, and all kinds of good stuff. Sometimes I feel like they’re trying to show me up, but it’s more than I’m willing to worry about this close to nap time. Anyway, you can find all the details here on the Podcast Page of my website.