Taking a Horse’s Heart Rate
Doug Byars, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM
October 7, 2013
The easiest place to take a horse’s heart rate, or pulse, is the mandibular artery located under the jaw.
The easiest place to take a horse’s heart rate, or pulse, is the mandibular artery located under the jaw.
Being familiar with your horse’s normal resting temperature, pulse, and respiration rates (TPR) help you recognize when things are abnormal. The TPR vitals help you determine “how abnormal.”
Since you can’t tell your horse to “Take a deep breath,” listening to your horse requires some technique to hear lung sounds.
Knowing how to identify abnormalities in your horse’s heart rate and rhythm will help you and your veterinarian treat him or her when illness strikes.
Unlike heart and respiratory rates, abdominal sounds do not punch a specific time clock for generating “gut sounds.” The rhythmic peristaltic churning of food mixed with fluids within the gut varies in slower waves depending on meal time, the meal itself, and the level of activity. You don’t actually “time” bowel sounds, but you do want to know if they are present.
Rabies is a rhabdovirus that has been a human threat since antiquity. The virus is capable of infecting all warm-blooded animals with some variation in susceptibility. Rabies is considered 100% fatal to the infected host. However, in order for
Twice, my 12-year-old Paint gelding has gotten his third eyelid “stuck” over the top of his eyeball for 10 or 20 seconds. The first time was when water splashed in his eye during a bath.
My 18-year-old Percheron/ Morgan gelding was diagnosed with insulin resistance. Just prior to being confined to stall rest for a connective tissue injury, his insulin was 67 microIU/mL. The vet did a dexamethasone suppression test to rule out PPID,
Comparisons of humans to horses logically can start with the anatomy. We stand upright; horses stand prone on their four limbs. What we call our knees are the stifles of horses, and our heels or ankles are horses’ hocks. Our foot is their cannon
Leaders in veterinary research and the equine industry should develop policy initiatives that recognize needed changes in the research landscape. Equine medicine remains grossly underfunded. As companion animals, horses receive few government
Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with
© 2022 Copyright Statement dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing User Terms, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
