Post-operative monitoring in horses requires specialized skills and vigilance. Equine pain is subtle and complications can escalate rapidly, making skilled observation a critical welfare determinant.
Post-operative monitoring quality is one of the most direct welfare determinants in equine surgical patients. Horses that are not assessed frequently enough develop complications that escalate before intervention. Pain that is not recognized is pain that is not treated - and horses are notoriously stoic, masking pain through evolutionary adaptation. Validated pain assessment tools provide objective measures that reduce the subjectivity of pain recognition. The complexity of post-operative equine nursing - monitoring vital signs, gut sounds, reflux, incision sites, and behavior simultaneously while managing medications and supportive care - requires staff who are specifically trained and experienced in equine critical care. Specialist equine surgical facilities provide this expertise more reliably than general practices.