5 Warning Signs Your Horse Needs a Vet This Week

Horse owners see their animals every day, which is exactly why subtle changes are so easy to miss — and so important to catch. A shift in appetite, gait, or attitude that seems minor on Monday can be the early sign of something serious by Friday. Here are five signs that belong on your call-the-vet-today list, not your keep-an-eye-on-it list.

1. Reluctance to bear weight on a leg. Even intermittent lameness that seems to come and go can point to an abscess, a fracture, or laminitis — and laminitis in particular moves fast enough that a day's delay changes the outcome.

2. Repeated attempts to lie down and get up, or looking at the flank. These are classic colic behaviors. Mild gas colic can resolve on its own, but you can't tell the difference between mild and severe from the barn aisle — that's what a phone call and an exam are for.

3. Off feed for more than one meal. Horses are creatures of habit, and skipping feed is rarely nothing. Pair it with dull eyes or reduced manure and it moves straight to urgent.

4. Nasal discharge that's thick, colored, or one-sided. Clear, bilateral drainage after dusty hay is usually harmless. Thick yellow-green discharge, especially from one nostril, warrants a look — sinus infections and tooth root abscesses both present this way.

5. A fever you can't explain. Normal resting temperature for an adult horse is roughly 99–101°F. Anything persistently above that, especially paired with lethargy, deserves a call rather than a wait-and-see.

None of these mean panic — they mean pick up the phone. We'd always rather talk you through a symptom that turns out to be nothing than get the call two days late for something that wasn't.