Understanding Your Horse's Vital Signs and How to Monitor Them

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Updated:

March 9, 2025

By Jess Hallas-Kilcoyne

As a responsible horse owner, it’s essential to know your horse’s baseline vital signs. Tracking their normal resting temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, capillary refill time, and gut sounds enables you to detect early signs of illness. Also, being able to assess and relay this information to your veterinarian can provide valuable insight into your horse’s condition during emergencies.

Essential Tools for Checking Vital Signs

To monitor your horse’s vital signs, you’ll need:

A digital thermometer (preferably plastic for safety)
A watch with a second hand or a stopwatch feature
An optional stethoscope for checking heart rate, respiration, and gut sounds (seek guidance from your veterinarian on proper use)

How to Take Your Horse’s Temperature

A horse’s temperature should be measured rectally. Digital thermometers are recommended over traditional mercury ones for safety reasons. If using a mercury thermometer, attach a string to one end and secure it to the horse’s tail using a clip. Ensure the mercury is shaken down to around 35°C (96°F) before use.

Steps to Check Temperature Safely:

Apply a water-based lubricant like K-Y Jelly to the thermometer.
Position yourself beside the horse’s hip while ensuring they are safely restrained by a handler or tied securely.
Lift the tail and gently insert the thermometer into the rectum at a slight downward angle.
Wait for the thermometer to beep (for digital types) or leave a mercury thermometer in place for at least three minutes.
Record the reading and thoroughly clean the thermometer before storing it.

By regularly monitoring your horse’s vital signs, you’ll be better equipped to recognize potential health concerns early and communicate effectively with your veterinarian when needed.

Related: The Equine Heart

Heart Rate: There are several arteries from which you can determine your horse’s heart rate, or pulse, the most easily detected of which is located on the lower jaw bone. Using the flat side of your fingertips (not your thumb or you’ll feel your own pulse), press inward and upward against the inner edge of the lower jaw until you detect your horse’s pulse. Count the number of beats you feel for 15 seconds and multiply this number by four to obtain heart rate per minute.

Normal Resting Vital Signs for a Healthy average horse

Respiration Rate: Respiration rate, or breathing rate, should be determined by observing the horse’s ribcage rise and fall with each breath. Stand beside your horse’s shoulder and watch the curve of the belly in front of the stifle, counting the number of breaths for one minute. Remember to count each inhalation and exhalation as one breath, not two.

Capillary Refill Time: To perform the capillary refill time test, which is an indicator of blood circulation, lift your horse’s upper lip and press your thumb firmly against the gum above a corner incisor for two seconds. This should create a white mark on the gum as blood is squeezed out of the area by your thumb. Remove your thumb and time how long it takes the gum to return to its original pink colour. If the blood takes longer than two seconds to return to the area, your horse may be experiencing shock or dehydration.

Gut Sounds: You can check your horse’s gut sounds by pressing your ear against his barrel behind the ribs, in front of the stifle. Normal gut sounds vary widely, but should always be present. Faint, infrequent, or absent gut sounds usually indicate colic and your veterinarian should be called.

It is strongly recommended that you check your horse’s vital signs when he is healthy to know what is normal for him. Be aware that taking vital signs on a horse that is nervous or excited can result in an inaccurate representation of his baseline vital signs.