Horses, just like humans, are susceptible to medical emergencies.
Chris Blevins, Kansas State Equine Vet Health Center Field Service Clinician, says understanding what to look for while caring for your horse is important. He tells KMAN there are several medical emergencies for horses, most of which, can be seen in the early stages.
“Lacerations, is definitely one of them,” Blevins says. “Then colic, you know, abdominal pain on a horse; respiratory disease; choke, so sometimes horses will choke on different feed type things in their esophagus; and then fractures and lameness could be emergencies too.”
He says one common medical emergency seen in horses is choking. He says that it is not uncommon for a hungry horse to get a little too excited with feed in front of them. He adds that horses most often choke on feeds that are too dry such as pelleted feeds and alfalfa cubes. Blevins says that while horses can still breathe while choking, there are other signs to look for.