Taking your horses vital signs
Temperature (Normal temperature: 99 – 101.5 F)
- Use a glass ring – top thermometer or digital thermometer
- Apply KY jelly, petroleum jelly or other lubricant (spit works!) to the tip of the thermometer
- Stand beside the horse’s hind leg, facing backward
- Gently lift the tail and insert the thermometer about 1 inch into the rectum
- Leave thermometer in place approximately 2 minutes.
- A string and clothespin or alligator clip attached to the horse’s tail from the thermometer will prevent the thermometer loss or breakable if it is prematurely expelled. Thermometers are not lost internally.
Heart Rate/Pulse Quality (Normal: 32 – 48 beats per minute)
- Using a stethoscope, find the heart by listening on the side of the chest behind the left elbow.
- Count the beats in 15 seconds. Multiply by 4.
- If you have no stethoscope, you bay be able to feel the heart or the left side of the chest.
- A Pulse is best felt under the jaw, just in front of the round part of the cheek.
Respiratory Rate (Normal: 12-20 breaths per minute)
- Watch nostril or flank movement to count breaths.
Mucous Membrane Color
- Mucous membranes should be a salmon pink color.
- Check the color of the gums, conjunctive (tissue around eye) or genitalia.
- Capillary refill time (CRT0 is determined by pressing on the gums enough to blanch the color, then releasing and counting how long it takes for normal color to return (normal: 1-2 seconds).