Horse Emergencies
HORSE EMERGENCIES and your VET

There’s nothing scarier than a real medical emergency. The first call should be to your vet.

Gather any information that may be pertinent. That could be the horse’s vitals, pictures, a timeline of what happened and when it was first noticed.

 It’s common that people want to wait and see if a issue resolves on its own. The problem if it doesn’t, it’s often much worse by the time you do actually get the Vet out. Remember calling your vet does not incur a charge and it can alert them that either they need to come immediately or they might be called out later in the day

One thing you absolutely don’t want to do is watch the horse struggle with something and then wait till night to call your vet. Not only would your horse be worse off but now the vet is having to do the examine any procedures in the dark maybe after they’ve had a long day.

Sometimes with that initial call and the information you pass on the vet may give you some advice and then have you check in a few hours later or they might determine that they really need to come out and see the horse.

Many times finances play a part in an emergency call with our mobile vets. There’s a large fee for an emergency visit in addition to the exam and whatever needs done. And this might sound morbid, but the cost of a call to have your horse euthanized and then removed from your property would likely be more than having the horse treated

I’ve seen a few instances where people say they called the vet and the vet is reluctant to come for an emergency. If you have a true Emergency be very clear that you communicate that with your vet.

One of the very most important things is having a good relationship with the vet that you use and having regular visits will keep you in good standing so if there is an emergency, you’re at the top of the list. If you don’t have an ongoing relationship with a veterinary clinic they may not come out to see you.

This also means that your vet is familiar with your horse and has a general understanding of its health history and perhaps could help you make better decisions

It’s not uncommon for someone to have a vet out and the horse needs to be euthanized and then the client doesn’t want to pay the bill. Don’t be that person. Your vet works hard and probably has a family to support and emergencies are just a stressful for them . Especially ones where they lose a patient It’s grief for them too.

Where they witnessed the heartbreak of the family, and the loss of the horse. Vets carry that around with them long after they have left the appt. Often they have an appt right after that w no time to even process. It builds up. Compassion fatigue is real.

People that have horses long term often develop a close relationship – the vet has seen their kids grown up, and cares about the family as much as the animals. It’s not just a simple transaction.

We are very lucky to have such great, compassionate vets that we work with here at Van Roekel and at Brandon Equine.

And if you never have a true emergency, you are very lucky It’s one of the scariest things you could go through. Love your horse and love your vet. They really go hand in hand.