Auscultation/Examining The Heart The larger and fitter the horse, the lower the heart rate tends to be. Increased heart rates have many causes, including excitement, stress, pain, infection, respiratory and metabolic problems, and primary heart problems. Why is my horses heart rate so high? Exercise, excitement, fright, and hot weather Read more…
Rapid breathing that is not associated with recent exercise is commonly seen in horses suffering from severe disease processes including heaves Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO), allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), exhaustion or heat stroke. How fast should a horse breathe? The horse’s respiration rate, temperature, and heart rate are all helpful in Read more…
The effects of smoke on horses are similar to effects on humans: irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract, aggravation of conditions like heaves (recurrent airway obstruction), and reduced lung function. How are animals affected by the smoke? The Effect of Smoke on Animals During wildfires, the air quality is Read more…
The normal heart rate of an adult horse at rest is 30-40 beats per minute (bpm). Foals have a higher resting heart rate that averages 70-120 bpm. Does a horse have a low heart rate? In adult horses, the normal range is 26 to 50 beats per minute while the Read more…
8 to 16 breaths per minute. The normal respiration rate for a horse is 8 to 16 breaths per minute. Respirations triple when a horse walks. If a horse exercises extensively in high temperatures, respiration rate may increase to 120 breaths per minute. What is a high respiratory rate in Read more…
Any heart rate over 40 bpm warrants a call to your veterinarian. A heart rate over 60 bpm indicates a severe condition and should be treated as an emergency. A normal respiratory rate for an adult horse is 8-15 breaths per minute (bpm). What are dangerously high heart rates? You Read more…
You probably know the smell well if you’re a horse owner. The smell is like that of a rotten egg. The odor radiates from the hoof, making regular hoof cleanings and farrier work more foul-smelling than usual. So, what causes Thrush to smell? Do horses feet smell? Horses’ hooves may Read more…
If the horse has healthy, normal hooves, but no shoes and you ride it, then nothing happens, at least, nothing that wouldn’t happen anyway. Horses were designed to go barefoot and speaking very generally, they tend to do better without shoes. Does a horse really need a horseshoe? Horse shoes Read more…
If caught early, the prognosis is good as long as there has been minimal damage to the hoof area. If infection has crept in and the veterinarian had to clean, cut the hoof or open the nail hole to allow for drainage, keeping your horse’s hoof clean and allowing it Read more…
Young horses have a total 24 deciduous or milk teeth – 12 incisors and 12 premolars or grinders. Mature male horses have 40-42 permanent teeth and mares have 36-40 depending on the number of canine teeth present. How many teeth do donkeys have? Donkeys may have anywhere between 16 and Read more…