Equine Practice
Core concepts
Equine medicine demands knowledge of a unique gastrointestinal tract and a high-stakes colic presentation. Understand the anatomy that creates strangulation risk (the long mesentery of the small intestine, the narrow pelvic flexure, the cecum), and the distinction between medical and surgical colic. Learn the physical exam parameters that guide triage: heart rate, mucous membrane color, capillary refill, gut sounds, reflux, and pain severity.
Lameness and musculoskeletal disease
Be comfortable with the lameness exam sequence - observation at walk and trot, flexion tests, and diagnostic analgesia. Know common conditions: navicular syndrome, laminitis, suspensory desmitis, and osteoarthritis. Laminitis ties endocrine disease (equine metabolic syndrome, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction) to hoof pathology.
Respiratory and preventive care
Understand recurrent airway obstruction, strangles, and the core vaccination and deworming principles, including anthelmintic resistance concerns.
Traps
Examiners test whether you can recognize a surgical colic early - severe unrelenting pain, absent gut sounds, and reflux are red flags. Another trap is species-specific drug toxicity: monensin and other ionophores, and the danger of certain anesthetics and analgesics in horses. Do not apply ruminant drug assumptions to horses.
Worked example
A horse with acute severe colic, tachycardia, and no gut sounds on auscultation. The answer should prioritize referral or surgical evaluation, not repeated medical management. Rule of thumb: pain that does not respond to analgesia plus absent gut sounds equals a surgical colic until proven otherwise.