Post-operative pain management in horses has advanced significantly, with multimodal protocols now providing better welfare outcomes than single-drug approaches.
Equine post-operative pain management has undergone a quiet revolution driven by improved understanding of equine pain neuroscience and the adaptation of human multimodal analgesic approaches. Horses recovering from major surgery now have access to pain management protocols that would have been unavailable a generation ago. The welfare impact is significant: better pain control means more comfortable recovery, faster healing, and reduced stress. The ongoing challenge is ensuring that advanced pain management reaches all post-operative horses, not just those in specialized facilities - and that owners are equipped to continue appropriate analgesia after hospital discharge.