Planning for emergencies is important for all horse owners. Ihis video is with Dr. Russell Freeland, a surgeon at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. He said horse owners should always have a plan in place for health situations they can’t handle.

“They should have a plan for emergencies in the field as well as getting a horse to a hospital if advised by their veterinarian,” said Freeland. “The plan needs to be in place well before the emergency.”

Emergencies: Plan in Place

He said owners need to have a relationship in place with a veterinarian who will respond to emergencies in the field. That veterinarian will evaluate the horse and advise if referral is required.

“Hopefully a plan is in place to ship that horse to me in a hospital quickly [so I can] rapidly evaluate the horse,” he advised. “That should correlate to a better outcome in terms of treatment.”

In his colic video (linked below), Freeland said the success rate of colic surgery as well as recovery in senior horses is tremendously higher than it was 20 years ago. “That’s a reflection of better anesthesia as well as quicker surgery times,” he said. Getting a senior horse evaluated and to surgery quicker means a better outcome.

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