In a recent survey of nearly 400 horse owners, almost 30% had purchased painkillers for their horses from someone other than their veterinarian. Nearly two-thirds of them bought drugs from a feed store and the rest purchased them online or from mail order catalogs. Five percent accessed medication from veterinarians who had never even seen their horse.

For those of you who have your horse’s best interests at heart, nothing beats a veterinary examination for finding out why your horse is in pain in the first place. If medication is indicated, your veterinarian can then select the right one and show you how to use it.

Most veterinarians don’t object to horse owners having equine pain medications on hand. They just want to make sure that the horse, their owner and others in contact are all safe when they’re used.