Vintage Equine First Aid

10/05/2026

Source: Mad Barn Academy: Equine Health & Nutrition

What arrangement helps your horse feel most settled?

The Three Fs (Friends, Forage, and Freedom) provide a useful framework for thinking about a horse’s daily life.

🐴 Friends: Can they see, hear, touch, or safely interact with other horses?
🌱 Forage: Do they have regular opportunities to eat and express foraging behavior?
🌤️ Freedom: Can they move, make choices, and engage with their environment?

The Three Fs may look different for every horse. Some thrive in a stable herd, while others need carefully selected companions or contact across a fence. Health, temperament, facilities, and management requirements all shape what is safe and realistic.

Which arrangement helps your horse feel most settled? Have you noticed changes in their eating or behavior when their routine or social group changes?

Share your experience below!

09/28/2026

⚠️ TRAVELLING WITH HORSES? CHECK YOUR ROUTE BEFORE YOU GO.

New World screwworm is not present in Canada. However, confirmed cases in Texas and New Mexico have resulted in Canadian import restrictions that may affect horses travelling to or returning from the United States.

Canadian horses cannot return to Canada if they have been in, or travelled through, an affected state during the previous 21 days. Even passing through without stopping counts.

Before travelling:

• Contact your local CFIA Animal Health District Office
• Check the latest affected areas and movement requirements
• Inspect your horse daily for wounds that worsen, discharge, unusual odor or visible larvae
• Contact a veterinarian immediately if you suspect a problem

Restrictions can change quickly. Always verify your entire route, not only your destination, before departure and again before returning home.

Preparation protects your horse and helps ensure you can both return safely to Canada.

Plan. Prepare. Respond.

Learn more through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency:
https://inspection.canada.ca/en/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/diseases/immediately-notifiable/screwworm/import-restrictions

09/27/2026

Great information to know
❤️

09/24/2026

EQUINE FIRST AID COURSES

STARTING TO BOOK FOR THE FALL SEASON OF 2026 FOR
September, October, November
I travel all over Ontario

Do you want to help your horse out in emergency situations

You are their first responders in any emergency situation

Vintage Equine First Aid is offering different equine first aid courses in all ages and levels
I have been teaching for last 5 years

We are affiliated through Equi-Health Canada

We are looking for host barns to host Equine First Aid courses

We offer a variety of different courses you can choose from

We have different incentives we offer as well

Contact for more information

Certified Equi-Health Instructor
Valery Lower
Call / Text / Email
705-890-2251
[email protected]
Www.vintageequinefirstaid.com
🐴
💜
Vintage Equine First Aid

09/15/2026

08/26/2026

Great 😊 video of information
💜

07/31/2026

07/29/2026

EQUINE FIRST AID COURSES

STARTING TO BOOK FOR THE FALL SEASON OF 2026 FOR
September, October, November
I travel all over Ontario

Do you want to help your horse out in emergency situations

You are their first responders in any emergency situation

Vintage Equine First Aid is offering different equine first aid courses in all ages and levels
I have been teaching for last 5 years

We are affiliated through Equi-Health Canada

We are looking for host barns to host Equine First Aid courses

We offer a variety of different courses you can choose from

We have different incentives we offer as well

Contact for more information

Certified Equi-Health Instructor
Valery Lower
Call / Text / Email
705-890-2251
[email protected]
🐴
💜
Vintage Equine First Aid

07/23/2026

Great information to know

Checking capillary refill time (CRT) and mucous membranes are simple assessments we use during physical exams to help evaluate your horse's circulation, hydration, and overall health.

Give it a try next time you are at the barn. We recommend taking a few moments now and then to check your equine partner’s gums while they are healthy. Learning their normal color, texture, and refill time helps you notice changes early. If you observe marked changes in gum color or a CRT over 2 seconds, contact your veterinarian so potential issues can be addressed.

We’ve put together the following guide, and a Starwood Equine team member would be happy to walk you through the process at your next appointment.

Normal values:
• Gum color: pale pink to pink (think “bubble-gum pink”)
• Gum texture: moist, not dry or tacky
• Capillary refill time: less than 2 seconds

How to check CRT:
1. Lift the upper lip to expose gums above the incisors.
2. Press your thumb or finger on the gum for 1 to 2 seconds until it turns white.
3. Release and count the seconds for color to return.

07/16/2026

Shared from another group

Sharing a Horse Air Quality Health Guide and return to exercise protocol.

Horses are particularly susceptible to fine particulate pollution from smoke.

Even after the AQHI drops back to safe levels, the damage inside the horse’s lungs persists. It takes time to clear the particulate debris, and for the lung structures to recover.

It takes minimum 4 days for horses’ airways to clear and heal (much more if the exposure was severe.)

If AQHI is 7 or over, there should be no intentional exercise. It is critical to wait for 48 hrs of improved air quality (AQHI less than 4) before introducing light exercise.

AQHI (air quality health index) assesses cumulative health risk from a mixture of pollutants, including airborne particulates. It has a scale of 1-10+.
It is intended to give actionable health advice.

Many weather services only report AQI (air quality index) which measures the single most prevalent pollutant on that day and has a scale of 0-500. It is intended to monitor and report general/industrial air pollution levels against regulatory standards.

Please monitor the AQHI levels for your area.