Checking the Vitals: The Lungs
Doug Byars, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM
August 7, 2010
Since you can’t tell your horse to “Take a deep breath,” listening to your horse requires some technique to hear lung sounds.
Since you can’t tell your horse to “Take a deep breath,” listening to your horse requires some technique to hear lung sounds.
Understand the structure and function of the equine upper respiratory system to understand horses’ breathing.
Researchers discussed respiratory topics in horses including influenza outbreaks and vaccination boosters, furosemide for exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, dorsal displacement of the soft palate, dynamic respiratory tract endoscopy (during exercise), and more at the 2009 convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
This is exemplified by the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, which must get up to “speed,” often from a standing start, to ensure that sufficient oxygen is delivered to the working muscles to allow them to continue to function optimally.
The harder a horse works, the more oxygen it needs and the more air it must move into and out of the lungs. Understanding how the horse’s respiratory system works can help horse owners recognize problems and/or manage horses to prevent them.
Learn how your horse’s anatomy works with our complete anatomy and physiology guide, including basic terminology, skin, forelimbs, hindlimbs, feet/hooves, head and neck, tendons/ligaments, muscles, digestive, cardiovascular and reproductive systems.
By the time a horse crosses the finish line in a five-furlong race, has completed a Grand Prix show jumping round, or gone one-sixth of the way round a 3-star cross-country course, he will have moved somewhere around 1,800 liters of air in and out of the lungs.
The Rutgers Equine Science Center will sponsor its annual Equine Science Update on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture on the Cook Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
The respiratory system’s main goal is to transfer oxygen from the air we breathe to the red blood cells where the oxygen will be transported throughout the body and be available for all organs and tissues.
Gain an understanding of how the horse is constructed and what this means in the realm of form to function.
Combining scientific research with real-life case management is the mission of the new Hoof Project Foundation headed by David Hood, DVM, PhD. Noted for his research on hoof problems such as laminitis, Hood hopes to work with the horse-owning
For those interested in the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Equestrian National Governing Body issue, the following important information has been added and is now available on the AHSA web site at
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.
What Hay is Safe for My EMS Horse?