Question To Those Living Under Extreme Heat

[Mersidoats]

It’s been 95 with insane humidity in my part of Florida for a few weeks now. All turnouts have shade. Waters are filled and refreshed daily. Fans in stalls and aisles. I hose off everybody in the afternoon if I’m around. Non-sweating horses go in the shaded pen with the misters on. The misters make a huge difference.

I don’t do any heavy riding after 9am. I might walk someone in the back pasture, but nothing intensive. I keep rides short, maybe 30 minutes. Everyone is hosed off post-ride until they are cool. I’ve got one mare that threatens to quit sweating every summer so she is on a very light work schedule with sweating supplements. I watch her like a hawk - so far she a been doing just fine in turnout and during work.

I hate these months. I’m counting the days till October.

[RhythmNCruise]

I’m in eastern NC where the heat and humidity team up to make it unfit for man nor beast outside during July-August (and sometimes September, and even October now and then). My horse is not a good sweater and has gone completely dry in summers past. So far, he’s still sweating, but I’m watching and waiting to find him dry-coated and panting any day now. He’s on two scoops of One AC a day plus two tablespoons of salt. He gets hosed down at least once per day, sometimes twice. He has access to shade and an airy stall with a fan if he so chooses (I wish he would use it more!). His meals are always soaked in water and I’ll add a little extra to make it extra soupy during hot times like this. Water is dumped and replenished daily to keep it cool and clean.

That’s about all I can do. He was born here, so hot/muggy summers are nothing new for him, but when there are multiple days with the heat index reaching over 100, it’s tough on any of them.

[Belmont]

@anon40672407

How do people tell if the horses are NOT fine, though?

Someone mentioned above a horse that was not sweating anymore. That would be a sign.

But they can’t really tell you how they feel, so how do you tell?

I don’t know if I learned this and have forgotten, or if I never learned about this.

I judge it by the how I would judge if my horse was NQR during non-excessive heat warnings.

Is he/she eating and drinking normally? Does he/she look NQR? Drawn up?
Is he/she acting lethargic? Breathing heavily? Irregular sweating?
Does he/she look distressed? Colicky? Etc Etc.

[Sparrowette]

The barn where I keep my arthritic mare and her yearling filly has misters and fans. I’m really glad about that because this was yesterday.

[Calhoun]

Oh geez, I can’t even The thought of getting into my car if it was sitting outside to go check on my horse . . .

Sending you cold positive energies and an end to the heat dome soon. Sparrowette, take care of yourself and your animals.

[sascha]

@anon40672407

I recently visited the lava caves in northern California, and if I were boarding horses anymore, I’d think hard about digging a cave. They were so cool in the terrible heat wave.

Wouldn’t do for riding, but would do for just keeping them comfortable.

In my area I know of a couple of indoor arenas that are built into sides of hills. They stay much cooler in summer and much warmer in winter.

[clanter]

74F this morning almost time to drag out the Baker blankets, felt very Cool almost cold

[Sparrowette]

Count your blessings. It’s about a quarter after 5 here, and 99°.