Table 1. Simple descriptive scoring systems utilized to score the level of sedation following pre-anaesthetic drug administration, the response to tactile stimulation of both testicles, the quality of induction of anaesthesia, the quality of intubation, the quality of the surgical conditions and the quality of recovery from anaesthesia in 36 ponies. A score of 1 represented the best possible score.

Score	Sedation score (1– 4)	Response to tactile stimulation (1– 4)	Induction score (1– 5)	Intubation score (1– 4)	Surgical conditions score (1– 4)	Recovery score (1 - 5)
1	Marked, profound sedation & ataxia	No response	Sinks smoothly to ground	Absent swallowing reflex, 1 attempt	No retraction of cremaster muscle, good relaxation	One attempt to stand, no ataxia
2	Moderate sedation with head lowered, mild ataxia	Slow, delayed response	1–2 steps, no paddling	Presence of swallowing reflex, no significant reactions, 1–2 attempts	Retraction of cremaster muscle	1–2 attempts to stand, minimal, short-lived ataxia
3	Mild sedation with head slightly lowered	Moderate response	Ataxia with or without paddling	Presence of swallowing reflex, pronounced reaction	Difficulty extracting testicle, slight movement	Several attempts to stand, ataxia and knuckling
4	No sedation	Rapid, marked response	Purposeful paddling, with or without attempts to regain feet	Impossible to perform intubation	Purposeful movement, top-up required	Several uncoordinated attempts to stand, ataxia and knuckling
5	-	-	Ataxia, paddling, danger to horse/handler	-	-	Violent, uncoordinated attempts to stand, danger of injury