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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 (for 1000lbs horse) OR give 12mL’s orally (for 1000lbs horse) OR give dose of oral Banamine paste 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

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