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Equine Emergencies

EQUINE EMERGENCY-FIRST AID

Know your horses “normals”:

                Adult Temperature……………….99-101.5 F

                Foals and yearlings……………….99.5-102 F

                Pulse, resting………………………..24-42 beats per minute

                Respiration, resting……………….12-20 breathes per minute

 

EQUINE FIRST AID KIT

  • Clean towel

  • Chlorhexidine scrub

  • Gauze sponges/telfas

  • Cling wrap

  • Roll cotton

  • Flashlight

  • Thermometer

  • Clippers

  • Twitch

  • Eye ointment-NPB, Atropine

  • Ace bandage/BB satin sheets or standing wraps

  • Mineral oil/dose syringe

  • Saline

  • Wound ointment (SSD cream)

  • Sterile syringes and needles

  • 1” tape

  • Scissors

  • SMZ-TMP/Uniprim

  • Bute

  • Banamine-injectable or paste

  • Poultice pads

  • Vet wrap-4”

  • Hoof pick/knife

Frequent Emergencies

Colic

Clinical signs: Sweating, pawing, looking or biting at sides, stretching out, rolling…

WHAT TO DO:

  • Remove feed

  • Walk animal if horse is down and rolling

  • Take temperature, pulse and respiration, if possible to do safely

  • Examine mucous membranes for color

  • Listen to stomach for gut sounds

  • Note consistency and color of manure or absence of manure

  • Note if horse has eaten his breakfast/lunch/dinner or drank water

  • Give 10mL’s of Banamine in the vein or muscle (for 1000lbs horse) OR give 12mL’s orally (for 1000lbs horse) OR give dose of oral Banamine past based on your horse’s weight

  • Carefully administer mineral oil with an oral dose syringe (the more the better)

  • You may even want to load your horse in the trailer to see if this will stimulate motility

  • call DVM if no change after doing the above

Choke

Clinical signs: excessive salivation, feed coming out of nose, retching and arching neck

WHAT TO DO:

  • Remove feed

  • Take a clean sponge soaked in WARM water and squeeze it out INSIDE horse’s mouth

  • Massage throat area, see if you can feel a blockage-and continue to massage blockage

  • Try to keep horse relaxed

  • Call DVM

Bone Fracture

Clinical signs: swelling and heat over area and non-weight bearing lameness

WHAT TO DO:

  • Apply a temporary splint with cotton and Vetwrap

  • Other resources may be used to apply a splint if cotton is not readily available—pillow, newspaper, plywood, twitch

  • Call DVM

Eye Injuries

Clinical signs: tearing and mattering around the eyes, keeping eyelid closed, painful swollen eyelids, visible laceration or cloudy spot in the eye

WHAT TO DO:

  • Keep horse quiet

  • Administer Banamine paste orally (1000lb dose) or injectable Banamine 10ml’s IV or 12mL’s orally- once a day for 3 days. After 3 days, administer Equioxx tablets-1 tablet orally once daily

  • Administer Atropine eye ointment once a day for 3 days (will dilate pupil)

  • Administer triple antibiotic ointment 3-4 times a day for 5 days.

  • Have a horse wear an eye mask/fly mask during treatment

  • Call DVM to update on ongoing treatment and especially if no change after 1-2 days

Lacerations

Clinical signs: they are obvious—blood loss/tendon or bone visible

WHAT TO DO:

  • Flush wound with COLD tap water or sterile saline and cover with clean/sterile wrap

  • Use a pressure wrap of Elasticon/Vetwrap and gauze sponges to stop persistent bleeding.

  • DO NOT APPLY OINTMENT TO A WOUND THAT WILL NEED SUTURING

  • Call DVM