TPR
FEED SCOOP FRIDAY: TPR
I tell owners all the time that one of the most valuable things I brought from my veterinary technician training into equine nutrition wasn’t a fancy skill or a complicated procedure - it was the ability to read a horse’s vital signs. Temperature, pulse, and respiration are the first things that change when a horse is struggling, especially in the heat, and they’re the easiest things for owners to learn.
My LVT background taught me how the body responds to stress, dehydration, and overheating before a horse shows obvious signs, and that’s exactly why I want every owner to feel confident checking TPR. You don’t need medical training to catch a problem early. You just need to know what’s normal, what’s not, and how to pay attention to the trends. When you understand how to read your horse’s vitals, you stop guessing and you start protecting your horse’s health in a way that actually makes a difference.
When you’re working horses in the heat, the fastest way to know how they’re actually handling it is to check their temperature, pulse, and respiration. Most owners have heard of TPR, but very few actually know what the numbers should look like or how to take them correctly. Once you show them, it becomes one of the simplest tools they have for spotting heat stress early.
Let’s start with temperature. A horse’s normal range is usually somewhere between 99 and 100.5°F. In the summer, especially here in Texas, it’s not unusual for a horse to bump up to 101°F after work and still be perfectly fine as long as that number starts dropping once you cool them out. Anything over 102°F after exercise is a big red flag, and anything that keeps climbing even after hosing means the horse is losing the ability to dump heat. Owners should know that a dull, quiet horse with a temp over 101.5°F is not “tired,” it’s overheating.
Pulse is next, and it’s easier to check than people think. You can feel it under the jaw, behind the elbow, or listen with a stethoscope if you have one. Count for fifteen seconds and multiply by four. A normal resting pulse sits between 28 and 44 beats per minute. Right after work, it’s totally normal to see 60 to 80. What’s not normal is a pulse that refuses to come down. If it’s still above 60 ten minutes after stopping, or if it drops a little and then climbs again, the horse is struggling. A pounding or irregular pulse is another sign that the cardiovascular system is working overtime to cool the horse, and that’s when you stop everything and intervene. Pulse can also indicate pain and is used when considering colic episodes as well. We aren’t going to get into that area today, but knowing your horse’s baseline will help you assess many situations. At the very least your veterinarian will find it extremely useful if you can provide this type of information.
Respiration is the easiest one for owners to learn and the earliest sign that something’s off. Just watch the flank and count breaths for thirty seconds. A normal resting rate is 8 to 16 breaths per minute. After work, depending on intensity, you’ll see anywhere from 40 to 100+. The key is how fast it comes back down. In the heat, respiration should still drop within a couple minutes of a break. If the horse is walking but breathing like it’s cantering, if the nostrils stay flared, or if the breathing gets short, shallow, and stacked, that horse is overheating long before the pulse or temperature tell the story. Respiration is your first warning sign.
When all three numbers trend downward during recovery, you’re in good shape. Respiration settles first, then pulse, and temperature follows as the horse cools. The horse should drink, perk up, and start looking comfortable again. When the numbers stall, climb, or refuse to budge, that’s abnormal recovery. That’s when you see the horse breathing hard even at the walk, pulse staying elevated, temperature creeping up, skin staying hot even after hosing, and the horse acting dull or unfocused. That’s the beginning of heat stress, and owners can catch it early if they’re actually checking TPR instead of guessing.
The routine I teach owners is simple. Take a quick respiration check before you ride so you know where the horse started. Pay attention to humidity because it changes everything. During work, glance at the breathing every few minutes and take breaks before the horse asks for them. After work, take TPR at two, five, ten, and twenty minutes. You’re not looking for perfect numbers - you’re looking for the trend. If the trend is downward, the horse handled the heat. If the trend stalls or reverses, the horse didn’t.
This is one of the most practical summer skills I can give my clients. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it keeps horses safe in weather that can turn dangerous in minutes.
Happy Feed Scoop Friday…go check the TPR!
