If you’re like most horse owners, the idea of surgery performed on your beloved animal is unpleasant at best, terrifying at worst. Those fears are not unfounded. Because of the species’ size and weight, their physiological reactions to many anesthetic drugs, and the difficulties of recovery, horses are trickier to safely anesthetize than most other species. Yet through the years, veterinarians and researchers have devised strategies, pinpointed drugs, and developed equipment that can minimize the hazards and help your horse come through surgery with flying colors.

A Delicate Balance

Of course, anesthesia carries some risk for all species. “It is really controlled poison,” explains Gene Steffey, VMD, professor of anesthesiology in the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. “And any drug in excess will kill. The job of the person doing the anesthesia is to give enough to provide pain relief and still maintain life. It’s a delicate balance.”

Statistics show that’s especially true in the horse. According to some studies, says Steffey, “The reported incidences of life-threatening problems associated with general anesthesia are 0.07% in humans, 0.15% in small animals (dogs and cats), and 2.0% in horses. The populations of humans and small animals evaluated represented a broad range of physical conditions and degrees of healthiness, whereas the horse population was, in general, made up of systemically healthy individuals presented for elective surgery.” That figure is open to debate, however