If you’re ever unsure about the health of your horse, and ask someone for help, be it a vet over the phone or friends over forums, you’ll get a much more useful response if you can describe what’s going on. Saying ‘my horse is acting funny’ isn’t as useful as saying ‘my horse is coughing and its membranes are pale’.

Checklist to consider:
- Obvious; is it bleeding? Is there an arrow sticking out of its chest? Is a mare going into labour?

- Breathing; is it fast, slow or normal? Is the horse putting more effort into breathing than normal? Is there a cough, wheeze or other noise?

- Stance; is it standing, lying down, kicking at itself, doing anything unusual?

- Heart; Is the heart rate fast or slow? Is it irregular? Can you feel a pulse away from the heart?

- Gums; are they pink? Dark? Pale? Yellow? Blue? If you press on them how long does it take for the colour to return?

- Faeces; Is the poo normal? Is their diarrhoea, constipation, chunks of something, worms, or blood in the poo?

- Discharge; Is there any mucous, snot, blood, pus etc and where is it coming from?

- Behaviour; Has food or water intake changed? Are they urinating/defecating more frequently]

- Other; is it losing hair? Has the hair grown really long? Is there a bump or lump anywhere? Is the skin red or hotter than the surrounding area? A change of colour?
Basically, just be specific about what’s going on, and try not to jump to a diagnosis. For example, if you see a horse lying down a lot, don’t assume that it has colic, it might have sore feet!

Here’s a basic guide about how to get some of the information for the checklist.

Passive observation. Before approaching the horse in the yard or paddock, have a quick look.
The first thing to look for is any obvious wounds or bleeding, abnormal bumps, discharges etc.
Then consider how the horse is standing or moving. Does it have a limp? Is it stepping short?
Then attempt to count the number of breaths the horse takes in a minute. From a distance this should be difficult to do- a normal adult horse has a very slow respiratory rate of 8 to 16 breaths per minute, and it is difficult to see when a horse is breathing, even when right up close. If the horse is making a lot of effort to breathe, then that’s an important symptom. Foals have a much higher respiratory rate of 20 to 40 breaths per minute.

Up Close. It’s helpful if the horse is in a halter and being held by a friend while you do this.
Standing at the side of the horse, you should be able to place your hand on its flank and count the breaths per minute. If you have a stethoscope (lucky you!) you can listen to the lungs.
To find the heart, convince the horse to stand with its left leg slightly forward and listen just behind the front limb. In some horses you’ll be able to feel a heartbeat without a stethoscope. The heart of a horse is quite big, and hard to miss. Normal heart rates are 28 to 40 beats per minute in adults, and 80 to 100 beats per minute for foals. Of course, if the horse has just completed an endurance ride, it’s going to be higher than this! The heart beat should be regular.
Take the opportunity to feel under the horse’s jaw for any swellings which can indicate an infection.
You can try taking the pulse from the facial artery as it runs under the jawbone, as this is usually the easiest place to find it. Remember that a horse’s heart rate is fairly slow, so you will have to leave your fingers in the same place for a few seconds to feel one pulse. You can ask your vet to show you where to do this next time they visit your horse if you have trouble.
Examine the gums (also referred to as mucous membranes). They should be a nice pale pink. If they are dark, too pale, yellowish, bluish or any other colour you should ask your local vet.
Taking a temperature is the last thing you should attempt to do, as many horses get upset when someone lifts up their tail and puts a cold thermometer into their anus. Always stand to the side of the horse when doing this, not directly behind them, because you'll be able to see their reaction and it will be harder for them to kick you. Digital thermometers are very convenient, fairly cheap and easy to use. Just remember not to stick it in your mouth after using it on a horse.

Normal Values:
Adult Heart Rate: 28-40 bpm
Adult Breathing Rate: 8-16 bpm
Adult Rectal Temperature: 37 - 38.3 degrees C
Foal Heart Rate: 80-100 bpm
Foal Breathing Rate: 20 - 4- bpm
Foal Rectal Temperature: 37 - 38.8 degrees C
Mucous membranes (gums) should always be pale pink.

What a wonderful guide, thank you! Although some of them seem obvious, there are others that you included that I would never have thought to do, or known to do, like having the animal have it's left leg forward. Thank you again.

Here are some more additional information regarding horses.

1. Normal body temperature in adults : 99.50 F – 101.50 F.
2. Normal pulse rate : 33 – 41 / minimum.
3. Age of puberty : 15 – 24 months.
4. Length of 0 estrus cycle : 21 days ± 5 days.
5. Length of 0 estrus : 6 days ± 4 days.
6. Gestation period : 336 days ± 5 days (average 340 days)
7. Breeding life : 18 years ± 2 years.
8. Best breeding season : early spring.


I just have a question, why is it that foals have higher rates than adult horses? Is this also the same with humans?

Smaller animals in general have higher heart rates than larger animals. You'd also expect a pony to have a higher heart and breathing rate compared to a big draft horse. Young animals also have a higher metabolism because they're rapidly growing, and because they're also smaller, they need to spend more energy on keeping warm.

It's the same with all species, the young have faster rates and higher temperatures.