Product: Horse Side Vet Guide website and mobile app
Recommended? Yes
Horse Trail Chicks’ rating: 5 carrots out of 5
The Horse Side Vet Guide (HSVG) is a one-stop-shop for horse health information. It provides a wealth of knowledge – more than I have seen anywhere else and definitely better organized – and is available on a website and as a mobile app.
HSVG was created – and is continually updated and improved – by Dr. Doug Thal and his wife, Kristin. Dr. Thal grew up on a cattle and horse ranch, has been an equine vet since 1993, is board certified in Equine Practice, and owns an equine hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He became frustrated with clients diagnosing their horses (often incorrectly) after a quick internet search and then treating their horse on their own (often incorrectly) or asking their vet for a specific treatment without the benefit of diagnostic assessment or testing. His goal with HSVG is to educate and empower horse people so that they can assess their horse’s condition, provide the most pertinent information to their vet, and understand the diagnostic tools and treatments the vet may use.
The website is divided up into:
- Knowledge base:
- Centered around a long list of “observations” of your horse you might make
- What type of diagnostic tools the vet might use, when presented with your observation
- Treatments that a vet might prescribe for treating various conditions
- Skills for assessing and treating your horse such as how to take a pulse and how to give an injection
- Supplies you should have on hand
- Vitals and Anatomy – which has excellent, detailed graphics of horse anatomy, to help you assess what vital structures might be involved in a health condition, as well as normal vital signs.
- How-to videos
- Blog
- Equine First Aid kit – list of items recommended to have on hand
- Whole horse exam form and video – the whole horse exam is “a collection of skills that all horse owners and equine professionals should be able to perform on their horse.” It is available in English and Spanish.
What I love most about the site is how easy it is to use. On the home page is a graphic of a horse where you can click on any part of the body (as well as water, feed, urine, or manure) and it takes you to a list of observations you might make regarding that part.
You then click on the specific observation, which opens a page with information the issue, what might be causing it, what to do, what not to do, when to call the vet, and what the vet might do for diagnosis and treatment.
There are also links to skills. These pages tell you exactly what supplies to gather, what to do, and how to do it safely. In many cases there is a video, which really helps with the more difficult skills.
The content is also available on the mobile app. Once installed on your phone, you can access it anywhere without an internet connection, so it’s perfect for emergencies on the trail. No other first aid guide with this much information could fit in such a small package, or cost so little – only $4.99 (note that the website is free of charge). The site and app are searchable so you can quickly find what you are looking for. You can also record your observations such as vital signs and store your veterinarian’s name and phone number in the app.
The best way to use the HSVG is to not wait for an emergency. I suggest – at a minimum – reading and/or watching the video on the Whole Horse Exam, and familiarizing yourself with the site or app so you know how to find what you need in an emergency.
Where to obtain: The website is HorseSideVetGuide.com and app is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Monica
The graphics from HSVG on this page are copyrighted and are used here with permission.
