It's going to be crazy hot, am I crazy to consider this?

[Jarpur]

Forecast for the next several days is horrendous – several degrees over 100F, with a “feels like” temperature of up to 112F!

I have a healthy 25 year old gelding, clipped for the summer. I normally hose him down a couple of times in the afternoon on hot days, and I have one of those cooling blankets (soak it in water, put on horse, cools horse). Along with a misting fan, an airy, insulated barn with shade trees at either end, and I just bought one of those recommended ag fans on clearance from Valley Vet. This horse does sweat; he gets One Ac, plus a Guinness Stout on 100+ days.

But I’m afraid that all of that will not be enough when it feels like 112. My husband and I have cleared out an area in our finished garage (with HVAC), laid down an old tarp topped with some of the lightweight interlocking pads we take with us for clinics, shows, trail rides, use for our wash rack, etc., and set up a small portable pen comprised of the metal panels that we take along on trail rides. We’ve got enough excess tarp to pull up the sides of the pen, between that and the pelleted bedding, we think we can avoid too much mess.

The idea being that we put the old boy up in the garage in the afternoons/early evenings, and he can be out on pasture, in his paddock, or chilling in his stall the rest of the time.

We’ve already walked him in and out, which went pretty well, encouraged by small pieces of carrot. Been years since we bothered to do a bunch of desensitization stuff (tarps, pool noodles, shower curtain, bridges, large inflatable ball, seesaw, etc.), but he was willing. We think the awful noise of opening and closing the garage door right behind him is going to be more of an issue (haven’t tried that as of yet).

Has anyone done this? Our shed row barn is so airy that I don’t think we can get a window air conditioner to cool his stall, and it gets too humid to have something like a Portacool work.

I’m open to suggestions. We want to feel that we’ve done everything possible. I bred this horse, and he’s the third generation of his line that I’ve had.

[cayuse]

Try the door a couple of times with him on the outside in case he gets upset, if that goes well maybe give it a try. The only think I wonder about would be if the change in temp would bother him, from hot to cool to hot as he goes from being out to inside in the afternoons and then back out. I also have an old-timer, the heat is always a worry. Mine get the One AC too. And the hosing and fans

[Jarpur]

Yep, that’s our plan with the door.

I’ve been checking out the Portacool reviews since posting and, apparently, some people in more humid climates than ours (it’s not arid here, not even close) have some success. Could go grab one at TSC or Ace today. It’s only money, right?

Good luck with your oldster. I love the oldies but goodies.

[SLW]

I don’t know where you live but we get temps in high 90’s, low 100’s with higher feels like temp and I’ve never considered moving any of my horses into the garage.

Your barn set up sounds wonderful- airy, in the shade, misting, big fans blowing. If your horse isn’t struggling to breathe, isn’t panting then he’s fine in the barn. Add salt/electrolytes to his rations to encourage him to drink water.

[ASB_Stars]

Seattle Slew had a stall set up with air conditioning in the barn. It looked like it was a well done jury rig, from the pictures. So, no reason that your horse shouldn’t have the same comforts, right?

[Highflyer1]

If something happens and the power goes out, will you be able to safely open the door? I agree that your barn setup sounds pretty sweet already.

[LCDR]

My first thought was to put a window air conditioner in his stall, but then I has second thoughts. Stalls are designed for ventilation, and the AC needs a closed space to work well, so a lot of boarding up might be required.

But if I had a loved older horse and were truly worried about heat, I’d be on my way to Home Depot right now for sheets of plywood and plexiglass and an air conditioner.

[lenapesadie]

You are not crazy.

Personally, I’m trying to devise a screened in porch for my oldster. He absolutely hates bugs.

[IPEsq]

We put an evaporative cooling fan in the barn last year, and that helped a lot.

[Displaced_Yankee]

We have a 27 year old mare who may or may not sweat. We routinely have 100 degree days with “real feel” being much higher due to the dew point. We are in central NC.

She does well at those temps in her stall with two fans. The stall to keep her out of the sun and the fans to keep the air moving (as much as it can). She does well. YMMV.

[Displaced_Yankee]

Do you have a link to what you bought? Or something similar?

[IPEsq]

Yes actually the BO sent us an email with a link at the time

Power Breezer Titan Evaporative Cooling Fan, 15GPH, 8 Blade, Universal 110/220V

[Jarpur]

We bought the Portacool (but left the emergency stall set-up ready to go in the garage). Directions say that it’s not meant for enclosed spaces, and works best in at least semi-open to open areas. Which pretty much describes our barn.

We’ve got the sliding door at the rear of his stall open, with the pipe half-gate back there closed for now as he eats. The front sliding door is slid open, with a pipe gate we had on hand propped up and fastened in place to keep him in the stall while leaving plenty of air gap. The Portacool is set up just outside, blowing into the stall.

The air it produces is not as cold as an AC, but feels much cooler than a fan blowing ambient air (or even our misting fan). Directions state that a Portacool works best in 85F or higher temperature, with 75% or less humidity, but will still help if those conditions aren’t met. Right now, our “feels like” temp is 106F with 58% humidity, so the conditions are right.

My horse is eating his hay from a bag hung just to the side of the stall opening. I saw him take a bite, place himself in the cooler air, think about it, then go right back to eating. So far so good, fingers crossed.

My husband has been a saint about this project. He’s insisting that we keep the pen set-up in the garage for now, just in case. I considered AC, but we’d have to negate all the naturally cooling features of our barn (oriented to catch the southeasterly summer breezes, air gaps at the tops of the barn walls, cross ventilation, etc.) to keep the cold air in. I’m hoping that using the Portacool, which is designed for barn use, will make enough of a difference to keep my darling comfortable.

Thank you to everyone who has replied with suggestions and/or encouragement, I really appreciate it!

[Weezer]

I wonder if there are any health concerns with moving him between a hot and cold environment? In the winter when we move horses between heated barns and the cold outdoors, they are prone to respiratory problems.

[Foxglove]

Don’t know that this will work for anyone, but I bed on deep sand --stall floors are clay, topped with about a foot of sand mixed with clay (keeps the dust down). When it is beastly hot, I hose the sand and put fans on the horses --they come in, and roll in their stalls (14 x 14), then usually lie flat out on the sand or stand with their heads in front of the fan in their stalls.

Sand works for me, however, I don’t generally keep my horses in the barn expect during extreme heat --the rest of the time they are out on pastures with 3-sided sheds. Stalls are where they eat their grain and “chill.” There are big “drum fans” blowing air down the aisles. Some have asked if I don’t worry about sand colic --no --if I feed hay, it is in nibble-nets tied into hay feeders. But as I said, generally horses are out --each has 5-10 acres and a 3 sided shed to call home.

[Jarpur]

I do add loose salt to feed, and have increased that amount, plus there’s a Redmond salt block available at all times. I’ll probably hang a bucket of electrolyte water today, too (always have plain available).

Today’s real temperature is supposed to be higher than yesterday’s “feels like,” so we’ll see how it goes. He is usually kept up only for his concentrate meals, otherwise, he’s out on pasture, or eating hay in the shade in the large gravel paddock (I move the hay around to catch the shade as the sun moves). There’s one particular corner of the paddock where the horses have always liked to hang out, very near where our forested bottomland begins – it’s a naturally cooler spot with generally a bit of a breeze.

The wet sand with fan is a clever idea!

I wonder about the in and out a little myself, but we can always adjust the vents in the garage (if it comes to that) so that it’s cooler than the outside, but not a drastic difference.

He’'s not been panting, but he is a bit on the darker side in color, and I admit that I’m a worrywart.

[fivestrideline]

A 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water sprayed on the coat will have a strong cooling and evaporative effect. It’s what we used on our anhidrosis horse if a show ended up being hotter than expected.

Liniment instead of alcohol can work too.

[Jarpur]

I’ll add this to my arsenal, thanks for the suggestion.

[candyappy]

It is harder to adjust when you go from cool to hot over and over again. I would worry about it being harder to adjust when he is taken from the garage with A/C even if it is cooler in the evenings/ overnight . Sounds like the humidity will be high as well?

Your barn sounds more than adequate with the fans and all.

[FjordBCRF]

Do any of you that clip your horses for the summer find that bugs are any more of an issue? Ive been considering this for my non-heat-loving fjord but haven’t bit the bullet yet. We’re still hanging in there pretty well so far, but temps are bound to go up and stay up sooner than later.