I have a horse that does sweat but is still very heat sensitive. What can I do to make it easier for her? She’s already on electrolytes. Do things like One AC/ cans of Guinness help at all for a horse that already sweats? Any help at all would be great because it’s hard on both of us dealing with it.
My mini sweats, but not enough to make me happy. One AC helps him sweat more.
Imo anhidrosis supps do help horses handle heat better. That being said, protecting horses from heat exposure is ideal. Breezy shady areas are crucial!
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we had one that we air conditioned his stall
the main reason was not heat but he was allergic to almost everything
One AC definitely helps my dude. He’ll stop sweating completely when the heat/humidity reach peak levels in mid-summer. Sometimes the head index stays around 90+ even after sunset. It’s horrible.
Beyond that, I make sure to feed him salt, provide him shady shelter with cross-ventilation (and a fan if I can find a battery-powered one for the little barn he shares with his girlfriend at the new barn…no electricity).
No riding in the heat of the day. Hosing off multiple times a day if possible.
I’m not looking forward to it. Add in the bugs and it’s just…not a fun time to be a horse.
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I would cold hose every evening until you get their temperature down. The reason you do this in the evening is to hopefully get their temperature lower in the overnight hours. Otherwise they are hot 24/7 and that’s a lot of heat stress. I’m definitely not looking forward to summer and my horses are mostly healthy.
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What are the signs that they struggle? (Under saddle - out of breath/tired, or in turnout, or just seem miserable?)
Do you have a stall/stall fan for the hot parts of the day? Mine are on night turnout in the summer which helps a lot, in front of fans during the day. I think they would be miserable if they did not.
I feed One Ac – it takes a while to kick in, so began weeks ago. On days that are 100+ (not unusual here in the summer), I feed Guinness Extra Stout (the one in the bottles, not cans) which they love.
I hose off as needed during the day (the horses show up when I get the hose out) and, last summer, I bought an outdoor misting fan and set it up in the barn for hot afternoons.
It doesn’t cool off that much here in the evenings during summer (it can be in the 90s at 9 or 10pm), and this year I will try hosing at night as recommended by 4horses.
I don’t ride her at all in the summer so she’s not overtaxed. She has pasture board with a run-in shed but it’s too far away to have a fan. We made a makeshift stall with a fan for her but being separated from her herd makes her panic to the extent that she gets hotter and more worked up inside of it than she is in the pasture
That’s tough; I think my horses would be miserable in their pasture in the summer and I live in NY so it’s not really that hot compared to many other places.
The first couple of years I had my horse he was a poor sweater. And I live in the devil’s armpit that is Florida so it was no bueno. I tried things like One AC and Guinness … what seemed to shift him into sweating again was multiple acupuncture sessions. He’s never had a problem again in 5 years.
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Could you set up a misting station? I have one under a shelter that I turn on when heat and humidity warrant it. The horses seem to look forward to spending time there. The water coming up from my well is 60 degrees, year ‘round.
A misting fan would be nice too, except you don’t have access to an electrical outlet.
I use let m sweat for my low sweater and it helps. I also feed salt. I’ve already started for this summer. He also has a run in with fan at nite and trees to go under during the day.
I’ve mentioned this before, but as a recap: I set up misters in the lower limbs of trees edging the dry lot. Yes, the horses appreciated them, unfortunately, so did the yellowjackets 
. They were very territorial about the misters and I became concerned about possible wasp attacks.
I attempted to use these misters for three successive summers, but always had to stop for safety reasons, and eventually gave up even trying. This experience made me hesitate for years before purchasing a misting fan, but (fingers crossed) attracting yellowjackets wasn’t a problem last summer. It might be because the fan strongly blowing air as it emits the mist discourages them.
A misting fan could also make a possible slip hazard, as the mist falls onto the barn aisle, and a trip hazard, due to the cord and hose, but there isn’t anyone else but the two of us normally visiting our barn so that isn’t an issue here. I also don’t like leaving electrical appliances on in the barn when I’m not around, in case of possible problems, so I don’t use the fan when not home. Still, I think this was a worthwhile purchase for my situation.
Oh wow, that’s not something I’ve heard of before! Do you know how it works to make them less heat-sensitive? I will have to look into if there is an acupuncturist in my area!
I just started my gelding on One AC to see if it helps any with heat induced Fecal water syndrome.
What about the Guinness is suppose to help?
My horses love Guinness – they practically begin drooling when they see me coming with the bottle – and splitting the occasional beer can’t hurt them.
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Honestly it was like voodoo lol. There was a veterinarian who was very “holistic” that showed vin the same series I did. At the shows she would place the needles and in about 5-10 minutes he would start spontaneously sweating. I think I did it 3 or 4 times about 6 years ago and he’s been a good sweater since.
The non sweater at the barn my horse is at didn’t like Guiness at all. Thank goodness the one ac works.
It seems very individual, requiring trial and error. One AC didn’t work for my horse. Acupuncture didnt work. Guiness stout helped a lot. Horsetech Swetworks seemed to work the best, combined with a Guiness when he really works in the heat (He loved a mash made with Guiness!)
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