So, if I understand correct, you found your horse hot, wet with sweat in more than just the saddle and girth areas, no cooler/Irish knit/blanket, in her stall, after the staff had all left for the day and the expected low is 30f (below freezing).
I would have been irate. I don’t find that to be acceptable at all. Cooled down with sweat marks where the tack was, no biggie. But hot and wet with sweat? Oh hell no.
I do not see where the OP says her horse was hot, just that it had wet marks that are assumed to be sweat.
Damp with warm sweat was the phrase used. Then, your hand would be wet if you touched it in a follow up post.
To me that reads as hot and sweaty.
I use a doggie high velocity dry to get that sopping wet sweat off. It takes FOREVER to dry, and a pro doesn’t have time for that.
I second whoever said you need to clip her, no matter how little of a coat she’s got.
She wasn’t breathing hard but the sweat was warm and abundant, and made your hand damp if you touched it. I’ll take a pic if this happens again.
I’m likely going to clip her and chat with those involved to get a better picture of what is going on. As far as transgressions go, I don’t like this at all but worse things can happen. Ultimately I’m grateful she is being taken care of and exercised while I’m laid up (not really excusing this but after some time to think it through with a cool head, maybe the situation is more complicated than it appears). My feeling is she was put away rushed due to a lack of time and help. It was NOT dried old sweat marks, I know what that looks like and that is fine IMO. This was fresh and juicy sweat, which is a weird thing to say but pretty spot on in description.
I like the Coat Defense idea too, I’ve been seeing ads for that. Probably the best thing to do is communicate and see what I can do to make everyone’s job easier.
Well, again, I would ask the trainer and/or person who rode her. If the timing is such that the ride is done at the end of the evening, I’m not sure what else can be done.
If you have an unclipped horse and the weather is warm, how much time does someone else have to spend to cool down your horse?
If she was cooled down but still damp, and inside the barn was still mild, I think it’s fine. That’s how horses dry. I would not expect a trainer or pro to blowdry my horse, ever.
I’m assuming she was not sweaty under a blanket. In which case, I’m ok with it. Obviously clipping would change things, assuming someone would be there to blanket at the end of the shift.
I agree that it does sound like your horse was more wet than I’d like to see in this situation. But I also agree there’s not much to be done about it. Ideally a cooler would be thrown on and then removed a few hours later. I think it’s worth discussing with the trainer to request that if a cooler isn’t possible, the horse not be worked to a sweat in the cold.
@ratchet, have you talked to anyone at the barn about this yet? Wondering how it turned out.
While not a fan of putting them away wet, if she was no longer actively sweating , breathing normally and was out of drafts I wouldn’t be too worried.
If she was hot, wet, steaming with breathing you would notice then I would have something to say.
Add me to those who think that putting a wet, hot horse away in his stall is failing Horsemanship 101.
This is one of my pet peeves.
If you don’t want to spend hours PROPERLY cooling the horse down (not just throw a “cooler” or “mesh” on wet Horse, which Horse can then get entangled in overnight - yes I have witnessed it), then just don’t work Horse so hard! Horse is not clipped? Take that factor, temperature etc. into account when you ride.
I would have been irked and I would definitely (but politely) talk to someone about it.
Every ride ends with at least 10 minutes of walking. He’s never be breathing hard or actively sweating by the time we go back to the barn (if it’s in the 40s-50s). I untack, brush, prep feed, brush again. He is still almost always is damp under the saddle area that is unclipped. He is a TB with a medium coat and it just takes a looong time for that to dry in the winter. I throw him in his stall with dinner. Clean the lot and run-in. Only then is he usually dry enough to brush again and blanket (if necessary).
If it’s not going to be cold enough to blanket that night, I don’t worry about it at all and spend less time brushing. I’ll just brush off the dried stuff in the morning. I would not be upset to find some dampness on my horse in his stall assuming his actual temperature was fine after the workout.
Clipping does solve this problem though if you’re worried about it.
FWIW, my horse isn’t stalled overnight–just in for breakfast and dinner. Don’t know if that makes a difference for anyone. He’s survived thus far without me hand walking him for 45 minutes while he dries. 
And a horse with dried sweat will roll and itch, leading to the potential to get cast or, as you noted, hung up in a cooler/scrim/etc.
@ratchet, any updates?
Hi everyone! Sorry for the brief delay, the Ukraine crisis (I have family over there I haven’t heard from since it began) and other life stuff just got really heavy.
I was told maybe we shouldn’t clip her due to her thin skin? I haven’t tried clippers on her yet, but she is pretty laid back so I don’t really anticipate it being too dramatic. I don’t think this is something that happens too frequently, but I will finally have time to talk to my trainer tomorrow more in depth and in person. 
She was warm and wet but not breathing hard or actively sweating. I think this was a mix of not having time to really cool her down or curry her out, hopefully this will also change soon with the hopeful addition of more staff. I really like boarding for the most part, but it definitely can be a compromise sometimes. Luckily this has been the only “thing” I’ve experienced so far at an otherwise great facility. I’m sure we can work it out!
Jingles for your family.
Best wishes to your family! I would not stress too much about the sweat as long as the horse wasn’t breathing hard. When horses play in the pasture & get sweaty, they do not fall over & die if someone doesn’t blow dry them. They just…take a drink & dry off. In a stall (sheltered) with access to water, assuming it won’t be turned out in negative wind chills in the next 30 mins, this is not a health risk for a normal horse.
Jingles for your family.
if you clip her are you able to affirm that they’ll blanket her at night? From your post it sounds as if she was put away wet, without any blanket. Once you clip her you’ll need some kind of assurance that they will do-right by her after her rides for the night.
That’s because you don’t blanket a wet horse, ever. Hello skin funk if you do.
i would worry about colic more. YOu don’t put away a wet horse into a little stall where they cannot walk around, esp in the winter.
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