How to Take a Horse's Pulse and Respiratory Rate

Understand how to take your horse’s heart rate and respiratory rate to monitor their health.

We recommend taking a horse’s pulse and respiratory rate regularly at rest to understand the normal range for a horse within your care.

We suggest a healthy range for a horse’s pulse to be between 28-44 beats per minute and a respiratory rate of between 8-16 breaths per minute.

Every situation differs when working with horses, and each horse and its surrounding environment should always be taken into consideration when working with them. We recommend always taking the time to consider and be aware of normal behaviour and health ranges for horses within your care.

For more practical hands-on tutorials and videos to support your learning and progression, visit bhs.org.uk/video-library