Post-operative care for horses requires specialized monitoring and management to support welfare through painful and stressful recovery periods.
Post-operative equine welfare requires specialized attention to the unique challenges of horse recovery. Horses are large prey animals with limited ability to communicate pain and a tendency to mask discomfort. The combination of post-operative pain, confined recovery environment, disrupted routine, and separation from herd companions creates multiple simultaneous welfare stressors. Modern multimodal pain management has significantly improved post-operative welfare compared to earlier approaches, but implementation requires trained staff monitoring horses closely enough to identify subtle pain indicators.