Stress in equine practice – causes and consequences

The Health and Safety Executive (2000) defines stress as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other demands placed upon them. It arises when they worry that they cannot cope’. Stress is a normal physiological, mental and emotional response to pressure. It is the way in which the body reacts to a personally meaningful situation in which the demands experienced by that person exceed his or her coping resources. There is a difference between pressure and stress and it is often these two things that are confused or ill-defined. A degree of pressure is good for you, to enable you to perform to your best ability. However, people vary in how they react to pressure, so what is motivating to one person may be stressful to another. Stress occurs when there is too much pressure or it is beyond the person’s ability to cope. Stress is not good for you.

Signs of stress

These are the early warning signs for stress. They occur when the pressure is too much for too long or the individual does not have the coping mechanisms in place to deal with the pressures. By identifying the early warning signs, steps can be taken to intervene and relieve them before they spiral out of control. Individuals express a variety of signs and each person may react differently. A change in normal behaviour is a common sign. Table 1 shows some common signs of stress.

Common causes of stress for equine vets

Equine practice is pressured, and at times stressful. Equine vets like to think of themselves as unique. Whether this is true or not, the reality is that along with the professional demands of their work, equine vets have to cope with a unique set of challenges, some of which are highlighted below.

Juggling the diary: clients invariably phone their vet directly for routine matters and expect an immediate response (at all hours of the day). The nature of equine practice is such that strong personal bonds are forged between vet and owner, making it difficult to delegate calls to others without feeling guilty and upsetting the client. [...]