Equine Telehealth Is Already Here

The Real Question Is Why We Give Away So Much of it for Free.

I suspect most equine veterinarians would say they don’t offer telehealth.

At least not in the way we usually think about it.

We don’t spend our days sitting in front of a computer conducting scheduled video consultations. Our work is still done in fields, stables and breeding barns. It always will be.

But if we’re honest with ourselves, many of us are already practising telehealth every single day.

It just doesn’t look like we expect it to after we’ve used it ourselves with our own physicians.

A client sends a video of a horse that’s not quite right under saddle. Another texts a photograph of a wound they’re worried about. Another younger vet emails blood results and asks if you’d change the treatment plan. 

A trainer rings on the way home from an event looking for advice before deciding whether a horse needs to be seen that night.

None of these interactions feel particularly unusual. They’re simply part of being an equine veterinarian in 2026.

Or are they?

When you stop and think about it, every one of those conversations relies on professional judgement. You’re gathering information, interpreting clinical findings, weighing risks, and making recommendations. The fact that you’re doing it through a mobile phone instead of standing beside the horse doesn’t make it any less veterinary medicine.

Perhaps the biggest change over the past decade isn’t that telehealth has suddenly arrived. It’s that we’ve quietly incorporated it into our daily practice without really acknowledging that it’s there.

The Clinic That Doesn’t Have Four Walls

Most equine practices have effectively created a second clinic.

It doesn’t have a waiting room or consultation rooms. There are no appointment books or reception staff directing the day’s schedule.

Instead, it exists in our pockets.

It’s the stream of text messages that arrives between farm calls. The WhatsApp videos waiting when you finish a lameness examination. The emails you answer after dinner because you wanted to make sure a worried client had a plan before the morning.

Individually, these interactions don’t seem significant.

Collectively, they occupy a remarkable amount of time.

More importantly, they require exactly the same thing our in-person consultations require: clinical judgement.

And that’s where I think many of us have a blind spot.

We often measure how many horses we examined today, how many calls we completed and how many kilometres we drove. Yet we rarely stop to consider how many clinical decisions were made from our phone between those visits.

That work is largely invisible. It doesn’t appear in the appointment book, yet it has become an increasingly important part of modern equine practice.

The Conversation Isn’t Really About Charging

Whenever telehealth is actually discussed, the conversation quickly turns to fees.

Should we charge?

Shouldn’t we?

Personally, I don’t think that’s the most interesting question.

The more important question is whether we’ve recognised just how much clinical work is now happening outside the traditional consultation.

Some of those interactions should absolutely remain part of good client service. A quick progress update on a horse you’ve already examined, a reassurance that a wound is healing as expected, or a brief follow-up after a procedure all help strengthen relationships with clients.

But other interactions are different – new cases, new problems, new patients.

A new lameness video.

A photograph of a wound you’ve never seen before.

Blood results requiring interpretation and treatment advice.

Radiographs sent for a second opinion.

A discussion about changing medication or modifying a rehabilitation programme.

Those conversations require us to gather information, assess risk and make clinical decisions. In other words, they’re consultations, even if they don’t happen in a stable yard.

Perhaps that’s the question we should be asking ourselves.

At what point does a conversation become a consultation?

There probably isn’t a universal answer, but every practice should have some guidelines to make sure they don’t become resentful of clients asking for advice, or be taken advantage of by clients that take significant amounts of time to manage.

A Simple Question Worth Asking

Rather than focusing on how long a conversation takes, perhaps we should ask something much simpler.

Did this interaction require independent clinical judgement?

If the answer is no, it’s probably part of providing ongoing service to your clients.

If the answer is yes, perhaps it deserves to be recognised as clinical work.

That one question may provide more clarity than trying to count minutes or messages.

The Part That Worries Me Most

Another aspect of telehealth that concerns me isn’t necessarily whether we’re charging appropriately.

It’s whether we’re documenting these interactions appropriately.

If a client sends photographs over several days and you adjust treatment based on what you see, where is that recorded?

If another veterinarian sees the horse a month later, can they understand the reasoning behind those decisions?

If there’s ever a misunderstanding, does the medical record tell the whole story?

As more of our communication moves to phones and messaging apps, these questions become increasingly important, as it is too easy to miss documenting every message, email, and phone call in one medical records system.

Not because anyone is doing the wrong thing, but because the way we practise is changing faster than many of our systems.

The issue isn’t really technology.

It’s continuity of care.

Our Clients Have Changed Too

Horse owners communicate differently today than they did ten years ago.

They send videos instead of trying to describe a lameness over the phone. They share photographs instantly. They expect answers quickly because that’s how every other part of their life now works.

In many ways, that’s a positive development. Better information often leads to better decisions.

But it has also blurred the line between a quick question and a clinical consultation.

Sometimes the difference is obvious.

Sometimes it isn’t.

Sometimes this even varies between clients as they recognize boundaries differently.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we need to become less accessible.

It does mean we should become more intentional about how we provide that care.

Protecting the Veterinarian Is Part of Protecting the Patient

One aspect of this conversation receives surprisingly little attention.

Every text message, phone call and video review competes for our attention throughout the day.

A phone rings while you’re driving between farms.

A WhatsApp notification appears halfway through writing clinical notes.

An email arrives just as you’re about to head home.

Individually they’re small interruptions.

Collectively they fragment our thinking and become a distraction, which then drains our attention and energy from other important tasks and cases.

Good clinical decisions require focus, and focus has become one of the scarcest resources in modern equine practice.

Perhaps protecting veterinarians from constant interruption isn’t simply about wellbeing.

Perhaps it’s also about protecting the quality of patient care.

Perhaps It’s Time to Recognise What’s Already Happening

I don’t think the future of equine telehealth is something we’re waiting for.

I think we’re already living it.

The real challenge isn’t deciding whether telehealth has a place in equine practice. It clearly does.

The challenge is deciding how we incorporate it into practice in a way that benefits our patients, supports our clients and remains sustainable for veterinarians.

That means thinking about documentation.

It means thinking about workflow.

It means thinking about expectations.

It means thinking about professional boundaries.

And yes, in some situations, it may also mean thinking differently about how those services are valued.

None of those questions have simple answers.

But they are questions worth asking.

Three Questions to Discuss With Your Team

If this article starts a conversation in your practice, I’d encourage you to begin with three simple questions.

• Which types of client messages require us to apply clinical judgement?
• How do we ensure those conversations become part of the horse’s medical record?
• Are we managing remote clinical care consistently across our entire team, or is every veterinarian doing it differently?

What a “Thoughtful System” Looks Like in Practice

You don’t have to overhaul your business overnight. Thriving practices are managing this “second clinic” using simple, structured workflows like these:

• The Centralized Inbox: Instead of giving out personal cell numbers, all client photos and videos are routed to a single practice WhatsApp Business account or communication app monitored by the reception team.
• The Digital Triage Log: Reception logs incoming media into the practice software under a “Digital Review” appointment slot, assigning it to the vet on duty rather than interrupting a vet mid-procedure.
• The Auto-Responder Boundary: Out-of-hours messages trigger an automated reply setting expectations: “Thank you for your message. Non-emergency media is reviewed by our veterinary team between [X] AM and [Y] PM. If this is an emergency, please call our main line directly.”
• The 1-Minute Charting Habit: Vets use dictation software on their phones to record a quick 30-second audio summary of their text advice, which support staff attach directly to the horse’s electronic medical record.

You don’t need to redesign your practice overnight.

You don’t need to introduce fees tomorrow.

You don’t even need to call it telehealth.

But I do think it’s time we acknowledged that remote care is no longer the exception in equine practice. It’s become part of everyday veterinary medicine.

The practices that thrive over the next decade won’t necessarily be those with the newest technology. They’ll be the ones that develop thoughtful systems, create consistent expectations and recognise the value of the professional judgement they’re already providing every single day.

The invisible second clinic is already open.

Perhaps it’s time we started managing it with the same care, professionalism and intention as the one we visit every day.

I’d love to hear how your practice approaches this.

Do you have clear boundaries around text messages and video reviews? Have you introduced structured virtual consultations, or are you still working through where to draw the line? 

This is one of the biggest shifts I’ve seen in equine practice over the past decade, and I suspect there isn’t a single “right” answer. Share your thoughts on our social media pages. I think our profession has a great deal to learn from each other.