When it’s hot like that, I only ride or lesson in the am or pm. If my trainer can’t make those times, I skip the lesson.
Go with your intuition. Not saying this is the case with your trainer, but some trainers just care about the money they get from lessons/training.
Actually the FEI has some pretty useful data on when it is OK to compete and breaks that down by competition. But you do have to throw out the heat index (worse than useless and actually quite misleading) and instead look up the wet bulb globe temp (WBGT)
here’s the one I use, although you have to move it around to your location, and in your case move “cloud cover” to 100% since you are in a covered (you may also need to reduce wind speed if it blocks the breeze).
https://www.weather.gov/tsa/wbgt
And here is the FEI’s latest research (QUIT SCRAPING!!!)
https://inside.fei.org/sites/default…ORTING_DOC.pdf
And if you can’t make a case for your horse,there’s some solid OSHA guidance around WBGT and work 
https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/ot…otm_iii_4.html
And just for grins, the WBGT is 88 in Ocala right now. It moves to 87 under 100% cloud cover.
Here’s what the guidance is on 88 - 90: Working or exercising in direct sunlight will stress your body after 20 minutes, take at least 40 minutes of breaks after working in direct sunlight. 87 is a 30/30 guidance.
And if you really want to get serious, scroll down here and you get the military WBGT standards:
https://ksi.uconn.edu/prevention/wet-bulb-globe-temperature-monitoring/#
(if you have to get a heavy muscled pony fit, startig in July, in the deep south, you learn these things. )
alibi-18 you come across as hostile and negative and I will dismiss your comments from consideration. I hope your life improves so that you can find something to be positive about. I feel no need to justify my concerns to anyone nor convince anyone whether I am being ‘judgemental’ or not. That was not the intent of my original post.
To all the others who posted, I think you all get it and understand where I am coming from. :yes:
Forget the horses. If YOU, feel uncomfortable doing any strenuous exercise in heat/humidity? Take care of YOUR body. Nobody else has the right to assume you are a wimp, there are numerous conditions that effect ones tolerance of heat and cold that are nobody’s business. Often age effects our thermostat as well. Don’t let them bully you into sucking it up and doing it anyway. Make your own decision.
Likewise horses can tolerate things differently and for different reasons that their owners are under no obligation to discuss. Without knowing each horses specifics and medical history, you can’t really know if there’s risks or not. You make the decisions about your horse, let others decide for theirs.
For OP, you seem to be basing a lot of this on what you think this trainer is thinking about you versus anything said to you? Wouldnt give it as much importance in your riding decisions or get upset over it. Who cares what trainer thinks unless you are paying for that opinion in a lesson.
Have left barns because I did not like what I saw and heard from trainers, even if I was not using their services. Not a bad idea to consider if you are upset by this trainers actions with her own horse. Should always have a plan B anyway, start looking around. And don’t do anything you don’t feel is in your or your horses best interests.
I’ve been told by veterinarians that very well conditioned and fit horses sweat less that those who are obese or unfit. So if you see a horse working and not sweating is this not a question to be asked and answered? I know a couple people who ride endurance and I asked them and got a similar answer.
So before a judgement is made perhaps the facts need to be established.
G.
enterata, please help me out here, exactly what about alibi_18’s post do you find “hostile and negative” to the point that you will “dismiss your comments from consideration“? Please forgive me, but I don’t see it. This statement alone makes you sound very touchy. Many folks on CoTH are pretty straight shooters, and if you intend to hang around here, you might want to develop a thicker skin.
alibi_18’s post seems to me to be generally supportive of you, and otherwise merely asking questions. You might re-read the post without that chip on your shoulder.
The horse I was referring to is a confirmed non-sweater for years. There is no doubt.
Thank you but I certainly do not have a chip on my shoulder, nor am I over sensitive. I found post #20 to be a bit negative but don’t worry, I am not losing any sleep over it. I am a big girl.
Back a number of years ago a local barn hosted a clinic with an international trainer mid summer. Even though the arena is covered the weather was extremely hot and humid and most of the participants were big heavily muscled warmbloods. Not exactly the type of horse that does well in the heat. But after the 96 Olympics in Atlanta there was a lot of info and studies about working horses in the heat. The barn owners read all that and bought an ice maker and installed it in the barn. So when these horses came out of the arena they were stripped of saddle and bridle and cooled down with buckets of ice water. Scraped down and repeat until the horse’s body was cool. Then they walked or hand grazed them until they were sure they were cool. It was amazing how quickly the horse’s respiration rates dropped when they were doused with ice water and all of the horses coped well despite the heat and humidity.
I don’t handle heat very well. I didn’t when I was young and skinny either. I have had the dizziness and dry heaves from being overheated and I don’t push myself in the heat anymore. I am not a wimp - I am smarter than I used to be.
My horse is a well muscled warmblood and gets hot quickly. It would be so nice to have ice available to do that. What lucky horses. And, yes, I too have
experienced heat exhaustion. It is horrible and quite scary. I have never handled heat well and the older I get, the worse it is.
I just want to thank DMK for teaching me about WBGT. I taught Earth Science/ Environmental Science for years and never knew about this. I shared it in a post on our GMO’s facebook page… (I could not figure out how to get the WBGT for Ocala from the weather.gov site, but the Marion County EOC has it on their site… would love a lesson on how to work the gov site so I can share it on the Region 3 page…)
And I want to add that one local show organizer brings a portable AC unit to the shows and sets it up in the barn area… Southeast Baroque HOrse Shows (they have more than just baroque shows…)
And yet you DON’T answer the question. Exactly WHAT WAS “Hostile and negative”?
@lorilu it’s pretty easy!
If you are on your PC, just click on the map, then you can scroll in or out (it defaults to KS). CTRL plus the scroll button will movethe map out or in, then just click on your location. It’s not quite exact, but for example I live north of atlanta, so I click on ATL. It’s not like the WBGT changes radically between the city and me. 
If you are on the phone (I bookmark it and made it an icon on my phone), just tap and then spread the map in/out with your fingers. Usually I get somewhere in the vicinity of my ATL then make the map really large and put it right over my city.
You will notice if you play around with it, it updates for the relative conditions of wherever you click on. It’s not as good as actually having a WBGT set up to record from, but it is still way better than heat index or “feels like”.
@SusanO the ice and cold water is good, but the “Scraped down and repeat” has been replaced by more recent research ('96 was a while ago). You waste valuable cooling off time while scraping (which means you increase potential damage time to muscles/organs). Don’t scrape until you are done, continuously apply iced/cold/cool water until the horse is cool. You can even skip scraping altogether if you live in a non-humid climate, evaporation will continue to have cooling properties, but if you are in a humid area, scrape (since evaporation is greatly reduced and that could eventually make the water hotter than the horse, which is an issue).
Also, don’t waste time on the head/jugular. The skin is still the largest organ. Cover all of it!
Let me just say, your interpretation and response to her post was incredibly inaccurate by even the most basic communication standards and the most charitable reason I can come up with for your vindictive natured response is that you were suffering from heat stress and not quite in your right mind when you typed it out.
Also for the record, while it may not be OK for you and your horse to work in that weather (and that is perfectly fine), yesterday at 4:30, the pony in the profile pic drove for 63 minutes, moving time 59 min, 8.6 km at an average speed of 8.8kph. His HR/respiration were back to normal within 3 minutes of hosing and he was cooled down within 10 minutes. Our WBGT was probably an 85 or 86. I do not have an indoor, but I had a shady edge of the field I would do my walk work in (we were mostly doing 6-7 min trot/4-5 min walk sets, but the walk is “work” not loose rein walk). But he is fit and acclimated to working in this weather, therefore I can do more. If you were to judge my workout by your capabilities… well that would be wrong.
THANKS!! I have to use two fingers to “spread out” the map - and florida almost falls off the edge (can’t get it to scroll left-right…)
I’m a trainer in FL. My clients have full control over the timing and duration of their rides because I don’t want stressed horses and fainting riders in my barn. I teach and ride early in the morning and then again in the evening. If I need to ride mid day I hack under my oak trees as I don’t have a covered arena.
Most of the lessons I teach only last 25 to 35 minutes this time of year and my income decreases significantly in the summer. Many of my students ride less in the heat and take fewer lessons. It is my choice to live here and I expect this slow down since every summer is freaking hot in the sunshine state. I plan my finances accordingly.
No trainer should make a rider feel uncomfortable for choosing not to ride for any reason.
That is just plain smart. I wish all trainers felt that way.
Enough of them do that you should be able to find one somewhere near you. It sounds like a small issue but it can create an uncomfortable environment for a boarder that’s temp sensitive or their horse.
Never had heat issues coming out of the Southwest and long ago learned how to manage it and ride around it. Favorite tool is a box fan. Park rinsed off and dripping horse in front of it. Wonderful. Just be careful horse is truly cooled and respiration at resting levels before putting it back in the stall or they will reheat themselves.
especially if there’s no fan in the stall.
I hated riding in the cold and didn’t if it dropped below about 25f, planned my show schedule accordingly and made sure Horse and self were prepared for heat. With a bad sweater, used to keep a brace handy, sponge it on chest, neck and butt including inside upper hinds before getting on and halfway through work, immediately after pulling tack too. Then rinse and fan time. Often turned hose on self, especially on head after removing helmet. Refreshing.
I kept my ears closed to comments from the peanut gallery on not riding in cold or my summer activity…or even from a trainer more interested in lesson and hauling to Show income then my enjoyment of my barn time.
As a client and/or boarder, you need to do what works best for you and find a barn that matches most of your needs. Never going to be perfect but some things will grate on your nerves more then others. You need to sort out what you can live with or learn to be more accepting of and what ruins your barn time, COTH can’t fix that but you can. You can’t change what other people do with their horses but you can either let it go or change barns. No fault either way but it is up to you.
Boarding is compromise and no two boarders are going to make the same choices in what they can compromise on. Do what’s best for you and your horse.
How 
I’m not in Florida, but this time a year, it can be rare for the temperature + humidity to be below 150. Right now, it’s 163. It was even higher at dawn because while the temperature was slightly cooler, the humidity was over 90%. Yesterday was particularly hot and muggy and I don’t think the “heat index” was ever below 170.
[quote=“Texarkana,post:39,top
I’m not in Florida, but this time a year, it can be rare for the temperature + humidity to be below 150. Right now, it’s 163. It was even higher at dawn because while the temperature was slightly cooler, the humidity was over 90%. Yesterday was particularly hot and muggy and I don’t think the “heat index” was ever below 170.
[/quote]
If you look at posts above, you will see that “Heat Index” is not the best judge of recommendations. Read about the WBGT above…
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