A system for monitoring vital signs of an animal such as a horse comprises a band on leg(s) or a neck, an accelerometer configured to measure at least one of resting patterns, activity patterns, movement patterns, position patterns, lameness, kicking, stomping, lifting leg, pawing, and a non-accelerometer sensor configured to measure at least one of the following non-accelerometer-measured bioparameters of the animal: temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate. One or more processors are configured to receive sensor output data and reference data concerning the measured bioparameters of for example a horse, or of a population of the horse, and determine a suspicion of a specific medical condition by: (i) scoring at least two bioparameters and comparing a cumulative score to a threshold cumulative score or to a threshold cumulative range; or (ii) identifying an abnormal pattern. The processor(s) may send an alert if at least one specific medical condition is suspected.