Beginnings of sweat issues

[grandprixer]

Hi all. My horse is looking like he decided to start not sweating in the summer heat.

After a decent ride today at about 85*, I noticed the horse we were riding with was nearly dripping with sweat while mine had patchy sweat over his shoulder and neck. He wasn’t super distressed but was breathing hard. About 15 minutes after we finished working, while heading back to the barn and untacking, the sweat was filling in to almost full coverage but still not as much as I would’ve expected. He cooled off fine under a fan after a cold hose. Also to consider is that the other horse isn’t as fit and worked an extra few minutes, but not a huge amount more than my boy. So it could be situational but I’d rather not chance it.

He’s always been a drippy and dramatic sweater, so even though I don’t think he’s in any kind of danger like some of the dry horses I know, I want to deal with this asap. He’s also not known for drinking a lot so he might be a little dehydrated more than anything.

Right now after every ride I give him 1/2 sco of beet pulp soaked in 2.5g water with some rice bran oil for extra fluids and calories. Would adding a little electrolytes to that help? I’ve also heard beer, would giving him a few hurt? Does it have to be a specific kind?

TIA! A lot of this might just be situational since it was only one time, but I’d rather aggressively treat nothing than let it become an issue.

[MsM]

When my guy had sweating issues a mash with Guiness Stout worked the best! And he still loves a beer!

[wsmoak]

Be careful with the electrolytes… if he’s not sweating, he isn’t losing them through sweat.

Thumps: Electrolyte Imbalance in Horses - Kentucky Equine Research

“Electrolyte losses go hand-in-hand with sweat production; if a horse sweats a lot during endurance work of one type or another, supplementation is warranted. If, conversely, a horse exerts little athletic output and thereby sweats minimally, few electrolytes will be lost and supplementation requirements will be lower,” advised Crandell.

[grandprixer]

Yeah that’s why I’m confused on whether I should. I really don’t know. On one hand I know they can help stimulate thirst and can even help with sweating depending on why he’s struggling, but I don’t want to overload him without the water to balance it. I’m planning on only giving them when I ride, mixed with his beet pulp, which is a half bucket of water. So he’ll at least get some to drink with each dose, although I know it’s not all he needs.

[ThreeWishes]

Acupuncture helped my horse immensely

[RhythmNCruise]

My guy has anhidrosis. He’s fine until the heat/humidity gets extreme and it doesn’t cool down enough at night. The past two years he stopped sweating completely. The first year it was just during a major heatwave and he was able to get into his shelter with a fan and recover. It cooled off shortly after one night and he seemed to “reset” and sweated fine the rest of the summer.

Last year we were at a new barn and he was pastured 24/7 with a loafing shed but no fan. He didn’t go in the loafing shed much for whatever reason and stood in the blazing sun all day. He stopped sweating completely and I’d find him standing in the pasture with nostrils flared and breathing like he’d just run the Kentucky Derby. At the time he was going through a lot of weird behavior and other physical issues and hated the barn, so we tried putting him in a stall with a fan but he went bonkers doing that. So I went out and hosed him off two and three times a day and started him on One AC and/or Platinum Refresh (I tried both, can’t remember which one first). That started him sweating a little bit, but not enough to thermoregulate properly. It took a cool snap finally coming in to reset him again.

This year I started him on Platinum Refresh at the beginning of April. He literally sweat the next day even though it wasn’t that hot, LOL. He’s not a heavy sweater normally. I have kept him on the Refresh because it seems to work and it included electrolytes whereas the One AC doesn’t. He ran out of Refresh once and I had some One AC as a backup (this was last week) until the new Refresh came in, and I swear he was sweatier the next day than he normally would have been, almost like switching them up kick-starts something. He’s back on the Refresh now and I’ll keep him on that as long as it’s working. Luckily he’s gotten over his phobia of the barn and has a stall with a fan to chill in during the day now, so that should keep him happy.

I have heard, but have no proof of this, that beet pulp can exacerbate anhidrosis. Not sure why that would be, but it’s something I read when I was researching how to help my dude.

Good luck to you! Hopefully your fella will be fine.

[Renn_aissance]

It will be good for you to figure out if this was a one-time thing, or if he really has shut off sweating. Monitor his resting and active respiration rates; his body temperature pre-ride, post-ride before a cold shower, after a cold shower, once he is cool; how hard you work; and how long, in minutes and seconds, it takes him to return to a normal level of respiration after you come down to a walk to cool out. If he does have anhidrosis you will want this information to monitor him in summers to come.

If he has shut off, I would not mess around with giving him a beer or adding electrolytes, I would go straight to a product made to stimulate sweat production. Most of them take two weeks to kick in. My horse responded well to One AC for the first 4 or 5 years, then stopped responding to that unless I triple-dosed it. I put him on Platinum Refresh, knock on wood, that has worked well. He sweats enough to cool himself until the humidity gets over about 68% with temperatures above 85. After that, he can’t thermoregulate without medication. I live in the mid-Atlantic, so this is fun.

Order medication and use the couple of days until it arrives to assess whether you need to give it.

Oh, and if he does turn out to have anhidrosis, next year, spend late winter and spring getting his respiratory system as fit as you can. It will help him handle exercise in summer better.

@RhythmNCruise Funny you mention the response your horse had to Platinum Refresh and One AC. Last fall, we had some muggy days stretching longer into October than I had expected and I ran out of my Refresh bucket. I picked up some One AC at the tack shop and figured I’d try that for the week I thought I needed it. Damn if he didn’t sweat to a lather the next day.

[sheltoneb]

Try hosing your horse down prior to riding. You can also wet him during the ride.

[MsM]

I used a spray bottle with water and alcohol to cool my horse before riding on hot days when he was having issues.

It seems like every horse responds to interventions differently. My horse did not respond to acupuncture. One AC helped some. But combining that with the beer really got him sweating normally.

My horse developed the issue a couple of years ago as he was rehabbing from an injury. It might have been the medication or perhaps the sedation for the MRI when he sweated profusely in the winter. We will never know. Since then I keep him on a low dose of One AC during the summer and add in the beer when it is really hot or he is working hard.

[grandprixer]

That’s very interesting about beet pulp! This is the first summer he’s ever been on it. But then again, he’s only getting .5lbs 3-5x a week. That’s really a small amount of beet pulp, and he’s been on much higher fiber diets before with hay and hasn’t had issues.

I tried to see if there was anything online about it, but there’s only anecdotes that I could find. Maybe I’ll think about rice bran instead.

[TBKite]

There is a case study and a review of current research in this issue. I just got my mare back from a long term free lease and discovered she has completely stopped sweating. So far hosing her down before work and quitting or resoaking as soon as she’s dry is keeping her temp stable.

It seems to be like type 2 diabetes for sweat glands, with high body temp replacing sugar. The sweat glands just give up and stop responding to the constant high levels of simulation.

Keeping the horse cool reduces the sweat gland fatigue, allowing the mildly affected horse to start sweating again. Chronically affected horses have permanent damage to the sweat glands. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence for any treatment other than reducing the heat stress as soon as signs are noticed.

[TBKite]

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AN362

Hopefully this link works this time.

[vxf111]

I’ve had my now 13 year old gelding since he was 3. He has lived in the same general part of NJ the entire time. One summer he randomly stopped sweating. I put him on 1AC that summer and then stopped in the fall. The non-sweating never came back. It’s been years. I actually completely forgot about it until I saw this thread.

He has a LOT of allergies. I mean a LOT. Food allergies but also environmental allergies. He gets allergy shots and I’ve done my best to eliminate as many allergens as I can from his life (I can’t eliminate them all, he’s allergic to mosquitos and deer flies and I cannot wholly eliminate those). I do wonder if the non-sweating and allergies are related? The summer he stopped sweating was before his allergies were diagnosed and managed.

[Jarpur]

I just purchased one of these sheets for my old horse, because this summer is already on the brutal side (hasn’t arrived yet):

https://www.ridethebrand.com/catalog/item-detail/37200-/coolaid-equine-cooling/pr_63911/cp_/shop-now/exclusives/coolaid-/horsewear

CoolAid® Equine Cooling Blanket and Neck Wraps

Although he hasn’t had a problem in the past, I wanted to have something on hand, as it looks as though he may be beginning to develop an issue (I’m also giving him One AC). If it works, I’m getting another for my other horse.

My horses love Guiness Stout! They split one on the really hot afternoons. I’ve heard that the Extra Stout (only available in bottles and a tad more $) is a superior product for the purpose, so that’s what I get, although I don’t like having glass at the barn.

My veterinarian told me that, if I wanted to offer a bucket of electrolyte water, to make sure there was always a supply of plain water, as well.

[lenapesadie]

Platinum Refresh works a treat for my horse.

The issue isn’t how hot it gets during the day (though protecting horses from that heat is wise) it’s the nighttime temps that are the problem. When nighttime temps start staying above 70, horses with sweat issues suffer more.

If you suspect your horse is having issues, I’d hop on getting him meds ASAP. The more he suffers with heat the harder it may be to fix him up.

My local vet keeps Refresh at his clinic. Yes he charges a few bucks more than ordering direct from PP. If I was concerned about my horse I’d gladly pay a bit extra to have the Refresh right away.

Make certain your horse is getting loose salt. Blocks do not count.

Best of luck

ETA: Refresh had my horse sweating in 3 days. He had been fine his entire life (a known fact as I bred and foaled him) until he was 7. Then he had a “heat incident”. Stopped sweating completely. It was horrific. Beer and OneAC didn’t do squat for my horse. Horses with sweating issues need protection from high temps. No riding at noon in high summer. No turnout in paddocks w out ample shade. Overnight turnout and days in stall under fans is ideal. Better to be proactive than to wait until the horse’s condition deteriorates.

[grandprixer]

Ok I ordered him 1AC. That seemed to have the most consistent results, and I’ll try refresh next if it doesn’t start working.

I still can’t find anything connecting beet pulp and anhidrosis, but I saw some things relating high fiber diets with higher body temperature, which I suppose could mean a higher risk of sweating issues. But he’s been on much higher fiber diets before in terms of other forage without issues, so I’m not sure it’s the cause.

Allergies are an interesting point - he’s definitely got some weird allergies going on. They seem to be environmental and probably bug because a full fly sheet helps him a lot, although now I guess he really can’t wear it. I don’t have the money for testing right now when it’s been managed with a sheet and occasional dex.

I wasn’t able to get a reliable temperature on him today, but he came in from the pasture sweating. He dried in the cross ties while tacking up, and sweat really slowly while we were riding - it did eventually come in almost fully, but it was very patchy and took a while. He didn’t really get too hot while riding, but I made sure to take breaks - and I rode extra early. So I think he’s definitely having some issues but so far they seem pretty minor. Tomorrow I’ll have a different thermometer to take temps for sure, but I don’t think a little extra sweat would hurt him either way if the 1AC works.

http://imgur.com/a/xVEvxke not sure if this will work but this was after I got off. Normally he’d be almost dripping.

[Renn_aissance]

Huh. Please report back on how this works!

My horse didn’t like beer. I figured his 21st birthday was a great time to see if this Irish fellow would respond to a Guinness a day. He did not want any part of it. My trainer very much enjoyed my horse’s birthday, and he seems to sweat normally, so all’s well…

@grandprixer That patchy sweating looks suspect. Glad you have One AC on the way. Takes about two weeks to kick in.

[grandprixer]

Thanks! I agree that it looks suspicious. We’ll see how it goes as summer starts, I’ll just keep a really close eye on him. I’ll probably give him beer until the 1AC gets here just for fun. Any cheap brand recommendations? I can’t afford Guinness and I’m a teenager, so beer isn’t really something I know about or can just go to a liquor store and ask for lol.

“I swear it’s for my horse, not me!”

[SmlHpy1]

My guy didn’t sweat well last year. This year I’m a bit unsure, but he does seem to be doing better. His respiration seems better overall and I notice my lack of concern regarding his breathing. Whereas last year I felt he was breathing too quickly most of the time. I tried One AC and beer last year with no success. We started Life Data Labs Sweat Formula last year. Had limited success. Probably started too late. This year we started the Sweat Formula in late April. We are hitting really humid days now and higher night temps. From my understanding, humidity and night temps that don’t go below 70 cause issues. There’s a FB group for anhidrosis. Removing alfalfa and putting them on a grain free diet seems to lead to success for many. My horse is underweight so I can’t do that. The group is pretty helpful though if you wanted to seek it out.

[Jarpur]

@Renn_aissance

Huh. Please report back on how this works!

Okay, I’ve had the opportunity to use it twice on one horse, once on the other. Turns out that the cut is generous, and I could use it on my slightly larger horse, too.

The material is somewhat similar, but not identical, to a heavier wicking athletic shirt. It absorbs water (dunked in a bucket as recommended, then wrung out) quickly, and is kinda “slinky” to put on the horse once wet.

As far as how effective it is, the old man (who had been panting slightly) quit panting, and wanted to go for a brisk hand walk through the pasture. I know him well (he’s a home-bred), and he gave every indication of enjoying the sheet.

The teenager (who had slightly noisy breathing) picked his back legs up repeatedly when wearing the sheet, but I think that may have been due to water dripping down inside his fly leggings. His breathing became inaudible during and after.

Second day that I needed to use it on the old man, I put the sheet on him, then hosed it down (another way to wet it that was mentioned in a video, although the company does recommend the dunking/wringing out method). I have small hands, and this is easier on them than the wringing. Same results, with my horse clearly feeling well, and wanting to go on a brisk walk.

After use, I redunked the sheet in a bucket of water, then hung it to air dry. It seemed to clean up acceptably that way.

Our weather was 99F, with “feels like” at 105F, with a slight, intermittent breeze.

I purchased this from Chick Saddlery, at a substantial discount since the 69" that fit my horse was on clearance (shipping was additional), and I’m not sorry I spent the money, as it seems to help.

Weaver CoolAid Equine Cooling Sheet