I have a sprinkler mat and will set up our barn fan, but last year I had an older mare collapse because of the intense heat. When it gets hotter in the summer, I will go out every hour and hose off all of them, just in case.
And I also have two older sheep, and they hate water but are always hot in the summer, even when they are sheared.
How do you keep your horses and other animals cool when itās this hot?
When you do hose down your horses, be sure you scrape off as much of the water as possible.
If left wet, that works opposite the desired cooling effect. Feel the water you scrape off, itās hot!
Or:
Make a cooling wash of equal parts mouthwash (Listerine is antiseptic), witch hazel (the priciest element, but worth it) & Wintergreen alcohol.
ETA: added to a bucket of cool water
Sponge on, no need to scrape as it evaporates, cooling the horse off as it does.
Might help your sheep too if theyāll stand for it.
We used to keep a bucket of this homebrew & a sponge by the arena if riding in heat.
Stop, sponge horseās brisket, belly, neck - wherever veins run. Sponge yourself too!
This has been proven false! Itās an old horsemanās misconception that still exists. Evaporation is what cools the body. Leaving water on the horse wonāt insulate them or heat them up further - thatās not how the thermodynamics of H2O works. The heat you feel in the water on the coat is not adding to the body temperature (assuming you arenāt spraying hot water), itās pulling it away as the water evaporates. That is also how sweat works!
Scraping is unnecessary but you can cool a horse faster by running water over them for longer vs one hose off and done. Wetting a horse and standing them in front of a fan works really well too. Itās all about pulling heat away from the body, either through running water or evaporation.
Other ways to help include fans and shade, cool (not cold) water to drink, electrolytes to replace whatās lost in sweat, and spraying down with a 50/50 dilute of rubbing alcohol and water. The alcohol evaporates āeasierā than water alone and has a cooling effect even in high humidity conditions. Be warned that alcohol will bleach a coat over time, so use only as needed. Liniment baths will accomplish this goal but are significantly more expensive 
For your amusement - It took me a bit to realize that the heading was in degrees Celsius, I could not figure out what the big deal about 45 degF was.
Same! When itās 90, Iād rather have it be 45 
I use Vitalize Blazinā in the summer just to help prevent any issues in the heat.
Product description:
A liquid product for horses designed to support normal recovery from heat stress and exertion. Blazinā is formulated to be used on an as needed basis to help your horse(s) comabt heat stress, promote cellular hydration, and aid in recovery and stamina during times of high temperatures and/or heavy work. If you are in an area where summer temperatures are high, youāre moving to hotter environments for competition, relocating to hotter environments, or your horse struggles with heat tolerance and sweating, Vitalize Blazinā is a great addition to your feeding regimen!
Ok.
But I know I feel cooler wiping sweat off myself rather than waiting for it to evaporate.
My homemade wash is less than 30% rubbing alcohol. & It makes me cooler too when I sponge it on horses as it runs down my arms.
Iāve been known to sponge myself off with it too 
I have heard about alcohol and water, I going to town today anyway so I will try to get some
this was officially disproven with the research leading up to the '96 Atlanta Olympic games. Yes, the water on the horse is hot, but thatās because itās moving heat off the horse and then the water evaporates, taking the heat with it. Thatās how the horse cools - evaporation
As long as the horse sweats properly, shade and a fan should be all it needs to endure the hot temps. If the horse doesnāt sweat properly, hosing periodically will definitely help.
If youāve ever been sweaty and had a breeze blow up or stood in front of a fan, you know how good it feels. Like instant air-conditioning. Itās funny that if we see our horses sweating, we get all freaked out about them being too hot. I donāt know about yāall, but I sweat plenty when Iām out in the heat, and all I need is some shade and a breeze to feel totally comfortable.
Now, if the horse ISNāT sweating in extreme heatā¦thatās an issue. And I have one that will do that.
Alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water (that is how they distill alcohol to produce, for instance, whiskey). So it provides better cooling by evaporation.
But water has a higher specific heat than alcohol (and just about everything else, including ice, which is about half that of water) so it draws the heat out of the horseās body, by conduction, much faster.
Once the water reaches the horseās body temperature there is no more cooling by conduction, so it is best to replace it with fresh cold water (either by scraping, and adding more cold water, or by just continuing to add cold water witout scraping)
The primary cooling effect is by conduction, the evaporation is secondary,so if you have a choice of āall waterā or āall alcoholā, choose āall waterā. But adding some alcohol to the cold water helps with the evaporation phase.
Yes, adding more water to what you scrape off is valuable. Simply scraping of isnāt useful, and if I was going to add more water, I wouldnāt bother scraping since that warmer water will be off quickly anyway.
Continuous hosing is best, but not often feasible.
Youāre right, conduction vs evaporation, I was simplifying things 
The water is hotter because of the conduction, and then when that water evaporates, that heat goes with it. So yes, adding a bit of isopropyl alcohol to the water will give you the best of both worlds.
While weāre on the topic, I donāt think we can get wintergreen alcohol up here in Ontario, or at least Iāve never seen it. A Google search brings up only one item on Amazon thatās imported and Iām not paying almost $30 for 500mL.
Does anyone know the ratio of wintergreen oil to rubbing alcohol? It seems I can buy each separately so could just make my own.
Thanks!
Why wintergreen? Just use rubbing alcohol, the plain stuff from the first aid section. I wouldnāt put wintergreen oil on a horse without being fully sure itās not going to cause a reaction. Cheaper and less risky to just dump plain isopropyl/rubbing alcohol in a bottle with some water.
We were showing all weekend so Iām relieved that the heat dome didnāt show up until today. My gelding is clipped and out 24/7, Iām not too worried about him.
My moms gelding is 21 (also out 24/7) and I imagine will be quite miserable this week. Our young mare is on stall rest and while the barn is open and airy itās going to get hot in there since there isnāt much relief at night.
I have to go out to handwalk the mare every day so at least I can put eyes on them and give them a late afternoon hose and syringe some electrolytes into them. Mare has buckets so we can keep an eye on her drinking. The boys are out in a group with an autowaterer.
Part of the misery with this hot humid weather is that even when you get some relief you end up itchy and uncomfortable from dried sweat.
I have a bottle of rubbing alcohol with wintergreen. It clearly says āwith wintergreenā on the front label, but wintergreen is not listed in the ingredients list, either as an active, or inactive ingredient (the alcohol is 70%). So I think it must be a very small percentage, or it would have to be listed.
But, as soneone else said, for cooling purposes, you might as well just use plain rubbing alcohol. The wintergreen might or might not make a difference when using it for massage, but it isnāt going to make any difference for cooling.
I use the regular alcohol - we can get it by the gallon jug. I was just curious as Iāve seen wintergreen alcohol mentioned on here for years but have never seen it sold in Canada.
Right? I was getting jealous !
I mix a small amount of liniment with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to use after rides - itāll take sweat marks off and help with drying. That might be an alternative if you have that on hand already.
I just like the smell of the Wintergreen.
Plain isopropyl would work the same.
Thank you for all the suggestions.
Itās been a long two weeks with the heat wave. We finally got all of the hay done and all the horse pastures set up. I mixed up a bunch of the alcohol and water solution, and the horses loved it! I also managed to get some on the sheep they hated me, but I am pretty sure they secretly enjoyed it. When we were doing hay, I felt like dumping a bucket on myself:)
When I put the barn fan up, the 5yr mare stood in front of it and would not let anyone else go near it. I ended up putting up a second one.
Thereās times in the winter that I hope for summer, and thereās times in the summer that I hope for winter.
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