How to Stress Less About Your Horses Health

Do you have a hard time keeping track of your horses vaccinations, feed protocol, vet check ups, and other maintenance for your horse? If you answered yes, then you need to start a horse health record for your horse. A horse health record is at minimum a place to record dates, services, vaccines, and medications. Individual horse health records are very handy when you take your horse to the veterinarian. If you have a written or printed record, all the details your vet needs are right there. I am always a little embarrassed when I must guess or estimate when I gave a vaccination or how long ago prior injury happened. Keeping accurate records can also make future planning very efficient. There is no guessing which wormer you need to purchase, what vaccination is due, or how long a horse has been taking a medication or supplement.

In this digital age, I know a lot of people don’t like handwritten records, however it is the handiest form if you need to grab it in a hurry. It can be stressful to search for things on your phone or computer while someone is waiting. I like to keep each of my horses’ records in a binder that is divided by horse and includes their health record, registration papers, and any other pertinent items such as a sales contract. Each document is in a page protector to make it easy to pull out. This keeps all the information in one place and organized. In the event of the sale of the horse, potential owners can be more confident in the care that the horse has received, and it will be a valuable resource for them once they own the horse. Finally, if you change veterinarians, farriers, or other professionals who work on your horse, you will be able to give them an accurate overview of the care your horse has received to date.
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What should you include in a horse health record? A horse health record should include at minimum the following items:

• Horses identifying information - Name, Birthdate or Birth Year, Breed, Height, Sex, Color, Markings
• Vaccinations – Name of Vaccine, Date Given, Lot or Batch Number, Who Administered (Vet/Yourself)
• Worming – Name of Wormer, Date Given, Fecal Count (if available)
• Hoof Care – Date, Trim or Shoe, Farrier Name (if you have changed farriers or had to use someone else), Notes on anything abnormal
• Dentistry and Annual Health Check Ups – Date, Vet/Practitioner, Notes on results or any abnormalities

Some additional items to include to have the most comprehensive record for your horse would be:

• Normal Vital Signs – Weight, Temperature, Resting Heart Rate, Resting Respiration Rate
• Illness and Injuries – Date, Injury or Illness, Vet/Practitioner, Details including medications administered
• Chiropractor, Bodywork, Other Treatments – Date, Treatment, Practitioner, Notes
• Feeding – What type of hay, grain, or supplements, How much for each feeding, Additional instructions such as feed this horse separately or mist hay down to reduce dust

Including notes on your horses feed is important. How do you know if your supplement  is working? Or how long it took to make a noticeable difference? If you do decide to add a supplement or change feed, it would be helpful for your reference to note why you are changing or adding something to the horses diet and the date the change started. It can be hard to remember a year or more later when you are evaluating your feed and results. In addition, if the horse exhibits a behavior change, or has a problem (like colic or elevated temperature) you can add that change to the possible reasons. It will also allow you to accurately note if a supplement or feed is giving you the results you wanted.    

If you have a breeding program, you will want to include the date and details of each breeding for the mare and stallion. You would note if anything was abnormal and refer to it later if the mare isn’t successfully bred. In addition, a record of vet checks, ultrasounds, and details regarding the pregnancy and foaling are very important in determining which mares or stallion/mare cross you will want to breed again.

You can and should tailor your records to fit your needs. Don't get intimidated by fancy records, or complicated systems. Record keeping can be very simple. The new year is a great time to get started, so gather those sticky notes with cryptic scribbles on them, wormer and vaccine packaging with dates on them, and all the other random papers floating around. Use them to get your record started. Be diligent in record keeping this year, and be amazed at how much less stress you have when it is time to schedule the next check up.