Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Understanding Equine Preventive Medicine by Bradford G. Bentz, VMD. 

An important component of practicing preventive medicine and care for your horse(s) includes maintaining complete and accurate records on their health care and their treatment and management practices.

Good health records should include:

• Horse’s name(s), with names of sire and dam, breed, and registration numbers
• Identification: sex, color, markings, tattoos, brands, scars, and weight and height
• Foaling date and history
• Health history with dates
• Vaccinations
• Dewormings
• Illnesses and injuries
• Dental examinations and care administered
• Foot care
• Physical examinations
• Diagnostic tests run: Coggins tests, EVA testing, etc.
• Any diagnosed allergies
• Feeding program: frequency and amounts, supplements utilized
• Performance activity and records
• Breeding history and reproductive examinations
• Rectal palpations
• Vaginal exam
• Caslick’s surgeries
• Application of artificial lighting
• Uterine biopsies and cultures
• Dates of estrus
• Hormonal therapy
• Teasing record
• Breeding: method, to whom, by whom
• Foaling dates: details of foaling, problems, etc.; growth rate
• Boarding history
• Owners: names, address, when, and where