Where to Find a Pulse On Your Horse

The pulse on a horse can be found by placing a few fingers gently on the face just behind the eye, on the inside of the jaw line, on the jugular groove on the neck or on the digital vessels near the fetlock region. Practice finding a horse's pulse on several locations with helpful advice from a veterinarian in this video on caring for horses.

Hi I'm Dr. Joanna Robson. I'm a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. I have Inspiritus Equine Incorporated and I am here to teach you about where to find a pulse on your horse. There are a few different locations of where to find a pulse. Some are easier then others, however it's important to know more then one location. This is good information to know so that you can help your veterinarian if you are talking to them on the phone or if you are trying to determine if your horse has a fever or inflammation someplace in his body. And also to get comfortable and familiar with how pulses feel in many different horses. One of the easiest locations to find is on the face just behind the eye. This is the transverse facial artery and vein. One of the most important things when checking for a pulse is not to push too hard. If you push too hard with your fingers you can actually occlude the pulse and you won't feel anything at all. So very light touch with your fingertips. Usually two to three fingers across the artery and vein. And then being patient and quiet you'll be able to feel your horse's pulse beneath your fingertips. Second location to find a pulse is on the inside the jaw line again being very gentle with your fingers. If you slide your fingers beneath the mandible with the jaw here. And then pull your fingers towards you slightly you'll trap the vein and the artery. And you can feel for a pulse on the underside of your horse's jaw. Again not pushing too hard so that you don't completely occlude the vessels. Third location, and a very easy one to find for checking for a pulse in your horse is in what we call the jugular groove which is the big long groove in the neck. This is also location that we give quite a few injections, intravenous injections for our horses. To check for the pulse in the jugular groove you take your fingers down to where the neck ties in to the chest. Use three fingers, index, middle and ring finger. Place your fingers against that groove and you should very easily be able to find a pulse. Alternatively in some horses particularly if they are thin skinned or body clipped, you can actually watch the pulse, you can see the blood filling up and down the horse's jugular vein without even having to use your fingers. One of the most important locations to find a pulse in your horse is in what we call the digital vessels, down near the fetlock region of the horse. Being able to find a pulse in this area will tell you a lot about your horse's health in his feet and his distal limbs. You can check for these vessels on the back side of the fetlock again using light pressure from the fingertips on the backside of the sesamoid bones checking for a pulse. A strong bounding pulse may indicate that your horse has inflammation in it's feet. And those are different locations that you can use to check for a pulse on your horse.