Knowing how to check your horse’s vital signs is one of the most valuable skills a horse owner can have. Regular monitoring helps you recognize when something is wrong, often before obvious symptoms appear. Here’s your complete guide to checking equine vital signs.
Why Vital Signs Matter
Vital signs provide a window into your horse’s internal health. Changes in temperature, pulse, or respiration often indicate illness, pain, or stress before other symptoms appear. By knowing your horse’s normal baseline values, you can quickly identify when something needs attention.
Get in the habit of checking vitals regularly—at least weekly when your horse is healthy. This practice makes you confident with the techniques and establishes normal ranges for your individual horse.
Temperature
Normal Range
A healthy adult horse’s temperature ranges from 99°F to 101°F (37.2°C to 38.3°C). Foals run slightly higher, up to 102°F. Temperature naturally fluctuates throughout the day, typically lowest in the morning and highest in late afternoon.
How to Take Temperature
- Use a digital veterinary thermometer with a string attached
- Lubricate the tip with petroleum jelly
- Stand to the side of your horse’s hindquarters, never directly behind
- Lift the tail gently and insert the thermometer 2-3 inches into the rectum
- Wait for the beep indicating the reading is complete
- Clean and disinfect the thermometer after use
What Abnormal Means
A temperature above 102°F indicates fever and warrants a call to your vet. Below 99°F can indicate shock or hypothermia. Exercise, hot weather, and stress can temporarily elevate temperature, so take readings when your horse is calm and rested.
Pulse (Heart Rate)
Normal Range
Adult horses at rest have a heart rate of 28-44 beats per minute. Fit horses often have rates at the lower end. Excitement, pain, fever, or exercise will increase heart rate.
How to Check Pulse
You can check pulse at several locations:
Under the jaw: Feel along the inside of the jawbone for the facial artery. This is the easiest location for most people.
Behind the elbow: Place your hand behind the left elbow to feel the heartbeat directly.
Inside the fetlock: The digital artery runs along the back of the pastern.
Count beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4, or count for a full minute for accuracy. Using a stethoscope behind the left elbow gives the clearest reading.
What Abnormal Means
A resting heart rate consistently above 50 bpm may indicate pain, fever, or illness. Rates above 60 bpm in a resting horse are concerning and warrant veterinary attention. Heart rate that doesn’t return to normal within 30 minutes after exercise may indicate fitness issues.
Respiration (Breathing Rate)
Normal Range
Healthy horses at rest take 8-16 breaths per minute. Breathing should be quiet and regular, with equal inhalation and exhalation time.
How to Count Respirations
Watch your horse’s flank or nostrils and count each breath (one inhale plus one exhale equals one breath) for 60 seconds. Alternatively, place your hand near the nostrils to feel airflow.
Check respiration before doing anything that might excite your horse—even approaching can slightly elevate breathing rate.
What Abnormal Means
Elevated respiratory rate can indicate pain, fever, respiratory illness, or heat stress. Labored breathing, flared nostrils, or abnormal sounds warrant immediate veterinary attention. Learn more about recognizing a healthy horse.
Gut Sounds
What’s Normal
A healthy horse’s digestive system produces regular gurgling, rumbling sounds. You should hear activity in all four quadrants of the abdomen (upper and lower, both sides).
How to Listen
Press your ear or a stethoscope against your horse’s barrel, just behind the ribs. Listen to all four quadrants—each should produce sounds every few seconds.
What Abnormal Means
Absent or dramatically reduced gut sounds can indicate colic—a serious emergency. Excessive, loud, or “tinkling” sounds can also indicate digestive problems. Changes in gut sounds, especially combined with other symptoms, require veterinary evaluation.
Capillary Refill Time
Normal Range
When you press on your horse’s gum and release, the color should return within 2 seconds.
How to Check
- Lift your horse’s upper lip to expose the gum
- Press firmly with your thumb for 2 seconds
- Release and count how long until the pink color returns
Also note the gum color—healthy gums are pale pink and moist.
What Abnormal Means
Slow capillary refill (more than 3 seconds) indicates poor circulation, possibly from shock, dehydration, or cardiovascular problems. Pale, white, brick red, or blue-tinged gums are all concerning and require veterinary attention.
Hydration Check
The skin pinch test assesses hydration. Pinch a fold of skin on the neck or shoulder, then release. In a well-hydrated horse, the skin snaps back immediately. If it takes more than 2 seconds to flatten, your horse may be dehydrated.
Proper hydration is especially important during hot weather and heavy exercise. For more on managing horses through different seasons, see our seasonal care guide.
Creating a Vital Signs Log
Keep a record of your horse’s vital signs, noting date, time, conditions, and any observations. This log becomes invaluable when discussing health changes with your veterinarian and helps you spot trends before they become problems.
Combine regular vital sign monitoring with attentive observation of your horse’s behavior and appearance. Together, these skills form the foundation of proactive horse care as outlined in our complete beginner’s guide.
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