07/22/2024
The hot weather looks like its here to stay a little longer so it is important to keep in mind appropriate care for your equine friends just as you do in our cold winter weather.
Some tips for keeping your horses cool:
💦 Provide 24/7 free access to clean, cool water. An adult horse at rest can drink 8-10 gallons of water daily depending on feed, and will drink much more when the weather is hot. Clean out water buckets and tanks more often in hot weather to prevent algae and bacteria from growing. Water related health concerns and infectious diseases (like Potomac Horse Fever!) are more common in ponds or slow running streams during hot, dry weather.
☀️ Provide relief from the sun. If it’s a day where you can’t bare to stand out in direct sunlight all day, your horse doesn’t want to either. Always provide shade for your horse whether its from a shelter, trees or a nearby building.
🐎 Reduce ride time and intensity. Horses heat up 3-10 times faster than humans and need to sweat for appropriate thermoregulation. Therefore, temperature and humidity levels, referred to as a heat index, play a large role on whether your horse can appropriately cool itself. The AAEP released a great chart to follow in order to calculate the daily heat index and determine if riding your horse is safe. However, the chart was created with horses in mind that may be accustomed to a year-round, warmer climate. In Alberta’s climate, we DO NOT recommend exercising your horse above a heat index of 140. These numbers are also a guideline for horses in regular work, so extreme caution should be used when exercising older, obese or out of shape horses even when they fit inside the heat index. To figure out, simply convert the current temperature to Fahrenheit and add it with the humidity to get your final number.
29 degrees Celsius = 85 degrees Fahrenheit + 70% humidity = 155. Too hot to ride.
22 degrees Celsius = 72 degrees Fahrenheit + 55% humidity = 127. Safe to ride with caution.
If you must ride a horse in hot and humid weather, you can:
⏰ Adjust your schedule (ride early in the morning or late at night).
💪🏻 Keep the work light and include frequent breaks that allow the horse to cool down and regain a normal breathing rate. Don’t work the horse beyond its fitness level.
😓 Watch for normal sweating.
💨 Create airflow (use fans) and work the horse in shade when possible.
🩺 Contact your veterinarian if your horse starts breathing heavily, becomes lethargic, distressed or uncoordinated.
🧂Provide free access to a salt block to promote drinking.
🛻 When transporting your horse, make sure your trailer is well ventilated and if parking your trailer in direct sunlight, unload your horse immediately once you have arrived at your destination.
How to cool an overheated horse:
🚿 Research shows that a cold-water bath to cool a hot horse is safe to perform. Spray the horse’s neck, shoulder, back, rump and legs with a steady stream of cool water, scraping the standing water off their body as you go to encourage water evaporation.
⛅️ Once horse is cooled to a normal body temperature, supply lots of fresh water and keep horse contained out of direct sunlight.
😎 Do not apply a cooler, sheet or blanket to cool the horse as this will block water evaporation from the skin.
Have any other questions about hot weather and horse care? Please contact us or let us know in the comments below! Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
