Keeping Horses Cool

[Lord_Helpus]

The heat has been turned on, and it is not fit for man nor beast outside. What do you all do to keep your horses cool and happy? I am hoping to hear some new suggestions, because I feel as if I am losing the good fight.

My horses come in for breakfast and go out at dinner. In the afternoons they have a box fan in the front of their stalls and another fan high in a corner which mainly blows the hot air around. This fan is also a mister and we have just added back the hoses for the summer. Sadly, these cheapo little things seem to have either no mist or a “drenching the stall in 2 hours” mist. There seems to be no middle ground. SIGH.

Horses also have 4 way cross ventilation, which does not help when there is no wind.

What do others do?

[Alibhai_s_Alibar]

My favorite cooling method is only short-term, but it makes a difference: either after a ride or just on one of those miserably hot days, hose off the horse completely with cool water. Then stand the horse somewhere out of the sun, like in the shade or in a barn, in front of the largest fan you can get your hands on until the horse is dry. Those big barn aisle fans are ideal for this. It will leave your horse cool to the touch, and has the added benefit of leaving your horse with a smooth and glossy coat. My horse practically falls asleep when we do this. I’m in central NJ, so my definition of hot isn’t the same as “Florida hot,” but it leaves my guy cool and dry all over.

[beau159]

CoolAid products!!

I finally caved and bought a set of the wraps and I love them. Super awesome for icing the legs after a ride.

They do also make cooling sheets too, among other things.

[Jazz]

It’s been very warm here too lately, feels like 40 degrees some days
I do all the same things as you although I’ve never thought to try a mister. I have had success with clipping the horses with a #10 although you do have to invest in fly sheets where you clip for the mosquitos at night which are crazy!! For my one senior horse who has seasonal allergies, heaves and is very sensitive to the heat (a wonder he’s still alive) I bought him a mesh show scrim I found on sale for like 30$ and when I soak it in a bucket of water for a minute and put it on him it works really well however depending on the day only lasts between 1-3 hours before it’s dry and useless. I don’t know if this would work with crazy high humidity but I’ve had success with any humidity lower than 70 or so.
Hope this helps:)

[TWH_Girl]

Hose them often, give cooling liniment sponge baths, make sure they have shade, avoid riding when it’s really hot, make sure they have clean fresh water and are drinking. There isn’t much you can do really.

[ryansgirl]

Alcohol baths and access to share but not closed up where there is no air circulation. If you hose them make sure you scrape as much water off of them then hose scrape repeat. That water if not removed will only make them hotter - seen that happen too many times.

[seabreeze]

Ditch the box fan and invest in a sealed-motor fan. They move so much more air and make a huge difference in comfort levels.

[stressgirl37]

My first horse was a seal bay Standardbred. She loved to stand in front of a rain bird sprinkler.

[HungarianHippo]

I’ve run a garden sprinkler for an hour or so while doing other chores, and the horses all stood around it, with deep contented sighs. :lol: Not something you can do all day, of course. During the workday my gang is turned out but has free access to an open area of the barn with a big sealed-motor fan running. So they tend to graze for a while, then retreat to the barn for bug relief and a breeze from the fan, rinse and repeat. When I’m home I’ll do a hose-down as others have mentioned.

But other than that, I don’t worry about it. As long as they have water, they won’t be hurt by being hot and sweaty, same as us.

[Palm_Beach]

This is not the first year it’s been hot. Horses have been on the earth for 55 million years in one form or another. They do not need to be kept at an optimal temperature to be healthy. As long as they are out of the sun and have plenty of water they should be fine. Give them salt or electrolytes if you need to. They will acclimate to warmer temps just as they do to colder temps.

When I turn my horses out in the afternoon they stand in the sun and eat grass even if it’s still hot and humid. Obviously if the temp and humidity were so awful they’d go stand in the shade, but they don’t. They stand out in the sun eating grass until it sets. And they have plenty of hay in front of them in the stalls, and get fed a concentrate before they get turned out, so they are not “hungry.”

[Palm_Beach]

If you compete, you are well aware that your horse needs to be able to stand out in the sun for a period of time in the heat of the day, as well as perform. And you can’t control traffic, so if you hit a snarl on the way home and inch along on a hot afternoon your horse is stuck in the back with no breeze. Let them acclimate to the temps and you have a horse that is much more heat tolerant.

[2DogsFarm]

I have to agree with @Palm Beach

We just got through a 4-Day heatwave with Heat Index over 100F & humid.
Horses spent some time in a stall - all 3 in one 12X12, by their choice - but mostly they chose to graze in my pastures with zero shade.

I kept water buckets & trough topped off & hay in stalls.
Biggest horse - 16H TWH - seemed to be the most sensitive to the heat, but everyone made it through.
Sweaty enough so I did not worry about anhydrosis, but not so bad I thought they needed hosing.

In fact, I drove my mini Saturday when temps were n the 90s - just a single class at a local show, so all of 15min tops.
I was more overheated than he was.
Gloves, apron, hat - WTH was I thinking! :grief:

[tabula_rashah]

My guys have 10 acress with access to a run in, plenty of trees/wooded areas and clean water. I body clip my old lady that doesn’t shed well. That’s about it. It’s definitely cooler out in the field under the trees than it is in the barn and I won’t leave fans running with no one there

[IPEsq]

The giant aisle fans may help move the air more. You don’t need to hose them off all over but can put some water over the jugular area, behind the ears, and similar places. A full body bath (or the soaking mist) where air is stale and humid won’t make them feel any better.

[walkinthewalk]

My horses can come in/out during the day;. The heat/humidity has been so oppressive they have been staying in the barn; hot swirling heat is better than dealing with the deer flies.

i have barrel fans, the horses will stand in front of those for hours — I keep hay in front of them so they have something to munch.

since there isn’t a fly spray that works on deer and horse flies, I spray them with a 60:40 mix of ACV:water; I keep it in the refrigerator so it acts like a cooling astringent and does keep the flies off for five minutes, lol

i am retired so I can go to the barn during the afternoon and spray their chests ---- it’s a bit of comfort with the barrel fans blowing on them.

I also shower them down, squeegee them off, and stick them in their stalls at night with those barrel fans blowing on them ---- my stalls are made of pipe panels so air circulation is a little better than solid wall stalls:) I have the fans on heavy duty outdoor timers.

[joliemom_again]

My guy is out 24/7 with access to a large run-in. I began this week by removing his flysheet (Rambo Protector, it’s a little too heavy for days mid-90s and above). After work, I pulled him from the pasture, stuck him in a washstall, then hosed him with cold water, making sure to spray the inside hind legs, chest, and neck. Scrape. Then Nurse Joliemom gives him his alcohol sponge bath. Scrape. Stand him in front of large fans.

During his afternoon spa time, he never moves in the washstall nor in front of the fans. His eyes are at halfmast as well as his other bits and pieces.

Other than that, there’s not much I can do. Luckily he has both the run-in as well as afternoon shade.

[Guilherme]

Put them into a pasture with trees and a stream.

G.

[Synthesis]

@walkinthewalk

My horses can come in/out during the day;. The heat/humidity has been so oppressive they have been staying in the barn; hot swirling heat is better than dealing with the deer flies.

i have barrel fans, the horses will stand in front of those for hours — I keep hay in front of them so they have something to munch.

since there isn’t a fly spray that works on deer and horse flies,

I will spray down with Deep Woods OFF when the deer/horseflies are bad. They try to touch down and are endlessly frustrated.

[RedHorses]

I clip the one of mine who has a weirdly dense, longer than it should be summer coat. I clip him early. Here it is around the end of May, beginning of June. He’s almost shed his winter coat, but the summer coat hasn’t finished growing at that time. Which allows him to have enough coat by the worst heat and humidity in July that I can take his fly sheet off and he won’t get attacked by flies.

This horse suffers in the heat. He has some trouble with internal temperature control. I first clipped him because his temperature was getting high enough to upset the good bacteria in his gut. He’s better at temperature regulation than he used to be, but if I want to take the fly sheet off I can’t wait and see how he handles whatever heat we get. He still gets cold easily too.

[walkinthewalk]

@Synthesis

I will spray down with Deep Woods OFF when the deer/horseflies are bad. They try to touch down and are endlessly frustrated.

Thanks! DH uses that when he bush hogs. I’ll give it a try on the horses:)