Signs of good health and biological constants

The horse’s behaviour is a very good indicator of his state of health. Here are a few signs and average values to enable you to get a good grasp of his state of health. If anything looks suspicious, the vet should be called out rapidly.

Signs	Normal	Abnormal
Attitude	playfulness, constant appetite, reacts when called	Low morale, loss of appetite, seeks to be alone, doesn’t move around much
Coat	Shiny coat, dappled	Dull coat, coarse hair
Droppings	Nicely formed, slightly damp, not unpleasant smell	Over runny or dry, foul smelling
Intestinal noise	Present throughout the abdomen	Distinct decrease, absence of noise, or increase
Rectal temperature (taken for 1 minute in the rectum, thermometer touching the mucous lining)	37,5 to 38°C (horse at rest)- note : a foal’s temperature up to 1 month old can vary between 37,5 to 38,5°C.	>38,3° C in the morning
Heart rate at rest (with a stethoscope or hand held flat against the point of the elbow, under the shoulder muscle, or measure of the pulse)	30 to 40 bpm, goes up to 160 to 250 after strenuous exercise- note : a foal’s normal heart rate is 50 to 70 bpm	> 50 bpm at rest
Breathing	Frequency : 10 to 14 breaths a minute, inspiration and expiration is regular, can go up to 45 after strenuous exercise	> 16 breaths a minute at rest, dilated nostrils, pus or blood weeping from the nostrils
Mucous linings (eye and gums)	Pink	Seem pale= anaemia Seem red = congested seem yellow = icterus
Hooves	cold, hoof wall is smooth and regular	hot, hoof wall is split, deformed
Fold of skin (over the eyelid and not on the neck)	quick retraction	Persists for over 2 seconds
Capillary filling time (press your index for a few seconds on the gum, then once you remove your finger count the time for the mucous to become pink again)	< 2 seconds	> 2 seconds
Urine	Thick, slightly cloudy, light yellow	Very dark even black, strong unpleasant smell

Blood

Note : All the examples of values here are given as an indication, for an adult, in the knowledge that they may vary from one individual to another. You will find them on the analysis report requested by your vet.

Blood count

Number of red blood cells : 6 to 12 million/mm3
Haemoglobin : 11 to 19 g/L
Hematocrit : 32 to 52%
White blood cell count (leucocytes) : 5000 to 9000/ mm3

Leukocyte formula (expressed as a % of the number of white blood cells)

Neutrophils : 45 to 70%
Lymphocytes : 25 to 50%
Monocytes : 1 to 7%
Éosinophils : 0 to 4%
Basophils : 0 to 2%

Biochemical analysis

Enzymes

        ◦ Creatine kinase (at rest) : 12 to 60 U/L
        ◦ Transaminase SGOT : 90 to 340 U/L
        ◦ Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) : 175 to 300 U/L
        ◦ Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (gGT) : 2 to 30 U/L

Other

        ◦ Fibrinogen : < 4 g/L
        ◦ Total protein : 60 to 70 g/L
        ◦ Albumin : 34 à 50 g/L
        ◦ Urea : 0,2 to 0,4 g/L
        ◦ Creatinin : 13 to 20 mg/L
        ◦ Lactic acids : 0,16 to 0,3 mg/L
        ◦ Total bilirubin : 10 to 30 mg/L