Picture this: it’s a perfectly normal day, wonderful weather, and you’re heading to the barn to get your horse for a trail ride.
You come into your horses stall and stop.
He’s laying on the ground, rolling violently. Or maybe there’s a big cut on his shoulder. Or maybe there’s some weird swelling on his leg. What do you do? How do you respond? Should you call the vet? Wait and watch? Is he going to die?
Horse emergencies are no joke. As such large animals, a horse that is down because of illness or injury for a long time can literally suffocate his own organs with his weight. When an animal goes down, it’s hard to get them back up, and if you live in a rural area, a vet may not be there right away. Not to mention that horses are expensive enough without an unnecessary vet call for something like, a bug bite that caused a little swelling on the horse’s shoulder.
It’s important to have the skills to know when something can be handled by yourself, and when you need to call the vet. First aid skills are invaluable, because when the vet is minutes away, every second counts.
In this article, we’ll be talking about what to pack in the first aid, how to stay calm in an emergency, and how you can treat minor ailments yourself or stabilize severe ailments until a vet comes out.
Note: I am not trying to slam vets, but I also know that we live in an age where not everyone is able to afford an impromptu call to get a vet out on the farm. On my farm, I treat my animals with natural methods like herbs and homeopathies, and those work for me! I believe that herbs, when used properly, can be gentler and more useful than chemical remedies. However, if herbs don’t work, I will resort to a chemical option. I’m not against vets, but I also believe that you should have the skills to be able to treat minor situations yourself.
Sometimes you might be able to CALL a vet to get a second opinion on a situation. Use this sparingly (don’t call because your horse has mildly crusty eyes and no other symptoms, for example), because vets live VERY busy lives, and they need to be treated with respect. However, if your horse has colic, a severe injury such as a deep puncture wound, potential fracture or muscle/ligament injury, or another injury that might require stitches (especially on thin-skinned areas like the face or legs), or has signs of a poisoning (by a bite or ingestion), these are situations that you would need to call your vet. These situations can get nasty FAST and a professional’s help could be the difference of life or death in some situations.
On that note, let’s talk about what you might need in your first-aid kit.
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For every five people that you ask what they put into their kit, you’ll get four hundred different items. And if you’re not familiar with many of the names of certain salves and applicants (what on earth is Furacin ointment?) it can get confusing pretty fast.
While I don’t own a horse, I do have goats and poultry, who are both extremely accident prone! I prefer to gather the essentials first, and then add onto the kit over the years as I discover holes and needs. You can’t have SO much stuff that you’re lugging a 20-pound carrier to the barn for every little emergency (and before you say “I’ll just keep it in the barn”, I can say from experience that it’s a bad idea. Barns are VERY dusty, and you want your supplies to be as sanitary as possible), but you don’t want to miss an essential that you would need on the spot.
Some of the things I keep in our First-Aid kit are as follows:
- Latex gloves. These are good for when you are dealing with open wounds and need your hands to be as clean as possible, when you apply a sticky substance, or when you need to get a manure sample to check for parasites.
- Thermometer. A good electrical thermometer is a must. Because of the strong rectal muscles of the horse, mercury thermometers aren’t recommended, since it could break.
- Stethoscope, for listening to lungs, heart, and gut.
- Lubricating Jelly. You’d be surprised how much you might need this.
- Gentle iodine solution, for washing out wounds
- Nonstick gauze pads
- Vet wrap
- Bag Balm. Seriously, this stuff is AMAZING for treating wounds. I’ve had chickens with wounds down to the muscle (one had a puncture wound that exposed her spine). After cleaning I pack the wound with Bag Balm, and within a week these birds go from mauled to healed. It’s amazing stuff. It’s also good for chapped fetlocks, sheaths, or udders.
- Green Goo Animal First Aid Salve. Look it up! It’s a fantastic herbal save that we put onto our goat’s horns if they knock off a scur and start to bleed out. Staunches bleeding, keeps out infection, and it even smells good!
- Homepathic Arnica Montana tablets. You have to find a reliable brand, like Boiron, but they are great for managing pain. One of the roosters lost all of his toes to frostbite and was in extreme pain, and he gobbled up those tablets that we gave him like candy. Animals know what herbs can help them– we’ve never had a problem with giving an animal in pain arnica. NOTE: The raw herb itself cannot be ingested, but it can be made into a topical salve to put on swelling and sprains.
- Blunt-tip surgical scissors
- Tweezers
- Watch with a second hand
- Instant cold compress (I don’t have this, but a lot of horse owners have them for a quick ice pack on an injury
- Large-dose syringe (without needle) for flushing wounds. You may also need some disposable syringes and needles inside the house for injections.
- Blu-Kote. It’s a spray on applicant for wounds that dried purple and seals it up. It will stain like heck, so exercise caution.
- Elastic adhesive tape
- Bolt-cutters. May not be applicable to your horse’s housing situation, but they’re good to have on hand if he gets caught in a fence.
- Weight tape.
- Vet RX by Goodwinol for horses.. This is a mix of essential oils in a base oil that you can administer orally to treat minor respiratory ailments. It works amazing with our goats.
Some people choose to add a twitch to their First-Aid kit to keep the horse under control. The idea of the twitch is that the horse is so distracted by the pressure of the twitch, they don’t focus on anything else. It’s entirely up to you as to whether you want to add a twitch.
Another thing some equestrians keep in the fridge is epinephrine. This can be a life-saver if your horse has an anaphylactic reaction to a vaccine or toxin.
Keep all your supplies in an easy-to-carry, sturdy receptable that you can keep by the door to be used at a moment’s notice. A grooming tote is excellent for this, but you can also use an old toolbox.
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How to Perform TPR
Sometimes, the ailment will be easy to see– your horse is limping, for example, or has a welt on his leg from a horsefly bite. But what if you know something is off, but you can’t see what? Or what if your horse is limping, but something else looks seriously wrong?
This is where TPR comes in.
TPR stands for temperature, pulse, and respiration, and it will often be one of the things that a vet asks about if you call him. These three elements can help determine whether or not a horse is sick or under stress.
Average temperature ranges 99o to 101.5o Fahrenheit. If it’s hotter, or the horse is ill or excited, the temperature will be higher. If it’s lower, then the horse could be going into shock or if it’s cold out, the horse could just be cold. The other vital signs and your horse’s behavior will help determine whether or not you should be concerned. To take temperature, insert the thermometer into the rectum (I believe you know where that is) and wait until it beeps, usually about 1-2 minutes.
A horse’s average resting pule is 30-40 beats per minute. A high pulse can mean excitement, pain, nervousness, elevated body temperature, shock, infectious disease, or maybe he’s just cooling down from exercise. They’re lower in cooler weather. You can use a stethoscope to take pulse, or put your fingers behind the horse’s elbow (where the leg meets the shoulder) or just under the jaw on the jugular vein.
An average respiration for a horse is eight to twelve breaths. This one is easy to gauge– get out a watch and track the movement of the horse’s nostrils (make sure you count breathing in and out as one, not two. Or use the stethoscope.
If you’re still not sure when you add everything up, check the horse’s capillary refill time. The capillaries are tiny blood vessels close to thin sections of skin. If you lift your horse’s lip and put pressure on it with a finger, you will see a white spot appear where your thumb was. The pressure pushed the blood out of the capillaries. How fast the color returns helps determine if there is a problem with the circulatory system. The gums should be a healthy pink, and the color should return in about two seconds. If the gums are purple, very white, or the color doesn’t return for longer than 2 seconds, you should call a vet, because that means the horse is either lacking oxygen (purple) or is anemic (white or long refill time).
You can also look up videos (with parental supervision, as applies) on how to do TPR if you need a visual.
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What if There’s a Real Emergency?
If there is a real emergency– your horse is thrashing around violently, his leg looks half severed, he’s bleeding all over the place– the first thing that you need to do is stay calm. Horses will pick up on your stress and it will escalate the situation. I’ve made up a handy little acronym to help in case of an emergency (although I’m sure people have come up with similar things)
Collect your thoughts. Focus. Breathe. If you’re freaking out and running all over the place, the horse will stress out too.
Assess the situation. Is there an obvious problem, like a wound or a difficulty to breathe?
Look for the next step. If your horse is rolling and thrashing, you need to calm him down before he hurts himself. If there is barbed wire wrapped around his leg, remove it. If there is an obvious bleeding wound, stop the bleeding. Take it one step at a time and stay calm. You are your horse’s leader, his “lead mare” (or stallion, if you’re a guy). If you’re calm, he will calm down too. If he’s super stressed, a little bit of lavender essential oil on a rag for him to sniff can help calm him down (it will also calm YOU down).
Make a call. If your horse needs immediate veterinary attention, call, especially if you suspect colic. Colicky horses go down fast, and a deep wound may require stitching.
By staying calm and focusing on the next step, you can make sure that your horse can get the help that he needs.
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How to Treat Minor Ailments Yourself
If you’ve assessed a situation and realize that it’s not major, you may be able to treat it yourself. Sometimes a homemade treatment may be all that the horse needs. Use wise judgement and do your research.
Minor Injuries: If the wound is shallow and isn’t gaping, you can clean it out with iodine and spray Blu-Kote on it. The Blu-Kote will seal the wound and keep flies from laying eggs in the wound. You may need to reapply it, and watch for any other signs of infection such as a foul smell or pus.
Minor Respiratory Trouble: If your horse has a slight respiratory infection, then you can administer one ounce of Goodwinol VetRX orally. Be sure to read the instructions thoroughly. The blend of herbs in the oil helps strengthen the immune system and heal the respiratory tract.
Thrush: Thrush is a bacterial infection of the hoof caused by unclean living area. Swab out the hoof and get it as clean as possible. Some recommend drying out the hoof and killing the bacteria with a bleach/glycerin soap combination, but there is another, more natural and gentle way by using diatomaceous earth or bentonite clay.
Minor Swelling: Use a hose to apply cold water to the affected area, or use a cold cloth if it’s a sensitive area on the face. If the swelling doesn’t go down in a few hours, however, ask a vet for advice.
External Parasites: If a horse has lice or mites (rare, but it can happen), you can lightly dust your horse with a commercial parasite killer (avoid the face), or you can use diatomaceous earth or powdered sulfur. I would recommend diatomaceous earth over the other two, since it is the safest and quite affective. The second would be the powdered sulfur, but use with caution, as it is very flammable.
Bug Bites: Horses suffer from bug bites too, and some are more sensitive than others. Peppermint essential oil diluted in coconut oil can bring fast relief. You can also use baking soda or a jewelweed salve to take off the itching. Sometimes horses will scratch so much that they cause “sweet itch”, an infection that inflames the skin and makes them loose hair. Witch hazel extract can be used as a soothing rinse for the inflamed skin.
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By knowing First-Aid and how to treat minor ailments yourself, you’ll not only give yourself peace of mind by knowing what to do, but you’ll also be able to make things easier for a veterinarian to diagnose a more serious problem through giving him information that you observe. And keep learning! Equus magazine devotes most of its articles to horse health, and Cherry Hill’s Horse Almanac has lots of information on dealing with horse situations day in and day out.
And if you focus on the next step and stay calm, you will be well on your way to getting the best help for you horse.