B115
Checking Hydration (Skin Tent)

 

The loose skin over the neck is the best area for evaluation.

 

 
The skin should rapidly snap back and return to normal when released. A small ridge, like the one above, may remain even in normal animals. If the skin remains significantly raised or "tented," the horse is considered dehydrated and treatment should be sought. A video of this procedure can be found below. The horse in this video has a NORMAL skin tent.

 

 

If the video does not play, you must install an MPEG video
player on your computer (e.g. Windows Media Player).
Click here to download Windows Media Player.
Or
Install Internet Explorer from our CD Manual.