October 2003

Audible Investigations

Got a stethoscope in your barn? No? Maybe you should. With our article in hand, you can learn to use one effectively.

Listen carefully. Before long, you’ll be able to note differences.

A stethoscope can give you loads of valuable information about your horse’s health. Your veterinarian uses it to garner many different important pieces of information about what’s going on in your horse’s lungs, heart or abdomen, but it took him or her years of training to learn the techniques. While you can’t achieve that level of expertise from an article, you can find out how to use the stethoscope to your advantage.

Heart Rate

It can be tough to get a reasonably accurate pulse rate (pulses per 15 seconds x 4 = pulse per minute) by placing your finger over an artery, even if the horse does stand perfectly still, let alone…