Vital Signs for Assessing Your Trail Horse's Condition
Vital Signs reveal important information about your horse's condition. These include temperature, heart rate (pulse), and respiratory rate (collectively referred to as TPR), all of which indicate how efficiently his body is working. It's also important to recognize your horse's degree of hydration and gut sounds. Learn what your horse's individual resting vital signs are and how quickly he returns to them after exertion. A horse in good condition should recover his resting state in 10 to 15 minutes; a horse in poor condition may take up to 45 minutes; a horse in distress, even longer. Recovery rates are an excellent indicator of condition and extremely helpful in deciding when to increase or decrease your horse's level of physical activity. VARIABLE VITAL SIGNS FOR ADULT HORSES Temperature: Average resting is between 99.8 and 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit Pulse: Average resting heart rate is less than 42 beats per minute (bpm). Genetically determined and can range from as low as 25 beats per minute to as high as 42 bpm. High fitness resting heart rate could be as low as 26 bpm Working heart rate can range from 75 to 105 bpm Heavy work heart rate can go as high as 200 bpm Respiration: Average is between 8 and 15 breaths per minute Capillary refill time: Less than 2 seconds Gum Color: Light pink CHECKING YOUR HORSE'S PULSE AND HYDRATION Did you know that a horse's most accessible pulse points are located: along the inside of the lower jawbone on the underside of the tailbone along the side of the fetlock at the rear of the foot (digital artery) beneath the elbow on the left side of his chest There is a correlation between a horse's heart rate and respiration. The heart rate of a healthy horse should be two to three times that of his respiration. Respiration is the rate at which your horse breathes in and out. It is the means by which he brings oxygen into his lungs and expels waste products from his system. It also plays a role in cooling his body, accounting for about 25 percent of heat dissipation. Hydration: Hydration is critical to equine metabolism, muscle and organ function, and thermoregulation. About 60 percent of a horse's body weight is water, and a horse relies on sweating to regulate his body temperature when exercising. A dehydrated horse cannot sweat adequately to dissipate excess body heat, has impaired blood circulation, and is at risk for shock, kidney damage, and colic. Your horse's hydration level can be checked by monitoring sweat production, conducting the skin pinch test, assessing gum color, and testing capillary refill time. To conduct the skin pinch test, pinch a bit of the loose skin along the horse's neck. It should snap back into place within a second. Your horse's gums should be a healthy pink. Check capillary refill time by pressing the gums till they turn white, then releasing. A well-hydrated horse's gums will return to pink in fewer than 2 seconds. Gut sounds are sounds that come from your horse's belly. They indicate digestive activity. You can listen simply by pressing your ear to your horse's barrel or by using a stethoscope. Start with the lower flank area and listen for a full minute. In that amount of time, you should be able to hear a variety of sounds. Listen to both sides of the belly, in various places. Make a habit of listening to your horse's sounds periodically so you know what is normal for him. Excerpts from Trail Riding: Train, Prepare, Pack Up & Hit the Trail, by Rhonda Hart Poe -- Laree in NC Doppa & Mura Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang) "Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." - William Farley "I ride ponies because heart is not measured in hands." - Steve Edwards
