What Equine Vets Are Doing Differently in 2026
Ambulatory equine vets spend their days in a truck between farm calls. Their documentation problem is different from small animal — and the tools that work for them look different too.
Ilias R.
Copywriter
If you've ever ridden along with an equine ambulatory vet, you know the workflow is unlike small animal practice. Eight to twelve farm calls a day, 30-90 minutes between them, hands constantly dirty, paperwork balanced on the dashboard of a truck. Documentation isn't optional — it's just the last thing anyone wants to do at 8pm after a day in the rain.
The unique constraints
Hands are never free
You're holding a horse, holding a needle, holding a hoof. Typing notes between observations isn't possible. Voice is the only realistic input method.
Connectivity is unpredictable
Many farms are on the edge of cell coverage. Tools that assume always-on internet fail at the worst moments. Offline-first matters.
Doses are different
Horse drug doses are not "scaled up small animal" doses. Phenylbutazone, banamine, xylazine, detomidine, gentamicin — different ranges, different cautions, different brand names. Tools built only for small animal misfire on equine cases.
Each call is a unique exam
Lameness exam, dental float, pre-purchase exam, reproductive ultrasound, colic emergency — your notes for one don't look anything like the next. Templates have to be flexible.
What's actually working
1. Dictate from the truck
The drive between farms is the natural documentation window. Hands on the wheel, voice into the phone. A good AI scribe can take a 90-second between-calls recording and turn it into a complete SOAP note before you arrive at the next farm.
2. Equine-specific templates
Lameness grading scales (0-5), pre-purchase exam structure, dental float documentation — these have well-known formats. Your scribe should know them, not require you to teach it every time.
3. Drug calculator with equine doses built in
Bute at 2.2-4.4 mg/kg for a 480 kg horse. Detomidine at 10-40 mcg/kg. These calculations should be one tap, not a mental math exercise in the field.
4. Offline draft capture
Record now, sync later. If the tool requires connectivity, you'll skip using it on the calls where you most need it.
What to look for
Three quick filters when evaluating any documentation tool for equine practice:
- Does it have equine drug doses built in, not just dog/cat?
- Does it work offline and sync when reconnected?
- Can you dictate between calls and still produce a clean note?
If the answer to any of these is no, you'll find yourself going back to paper or typing in the truck.
VetStack ships with equine drug data (bute, banamine, xylazine, detomidine, romifidine, pergolide for PPID, and more) and is built for voice-first workflows. Try it free →
Tired of typing your SOAPs?
VetStack is an AI scribe for vets. Record your consult on any phone, get a complete, editable SOAP note in under 60 seconds, paste it into your PIMS. The average vet saves 2 hours of charting a day.
Try VetStack free5 notes a day, free forever. No credit card.
Tired of typing your SOAPs?
VetStack is an AI scribe for vets. Record your consult on any phone, get a complete, editable SOAP note in under 60 seconds, paste it into your PIMS. The average vet saves 2 hours of charting a day.
Try VetStack free5 notes a day, free forever. No credit card.
Keep reading
How to Cut Veterinary Charting Time in Half
Six concrete changes solo and clinic veterinarians can make this week to stop staying late writing notes — without skimping on clinical detail or compliance.
AI Scribes for Vets: How They Work and What They Get Right
A practical, jargon-light guide to AI scribes in veterinary medicine — what they do well, where they still need a vet in the loop, and how to evaluate one for your practice.
Why SOAP Notes Still Matter (and How to Write Better Ones)
Despite a decade of new documentation formats, SOAP remains the gold standard for veterinary records. Here's what makes a SOAP note actually defensible, useful, and fast to write.