Riding in extreme heat

[DMK]

@candyappy

You can’t tell me that some people won’t misuse that formula and the horses will suffer the consequences.

You can’t tell me that didn’t happen before this particular (or any of the preceding) technology.

And this is where I get MY rant on.

[rant/on]Nothing irritates me more than people who work on the supposition that having more information/more education somehow makes you stupider. No. Just NO. People lacking common sense have always existed, they didn’t majikally get stupider or have less common sense because some clever NASA dudes got together and created the foundation of the cell phone technology. It beggars … dare I say it? It beggars common sense to go through life working on that assumption!

Do people learn new skills and maybe not some old skills that you might find valuable? Absolutely. But you missed out on a lot of vitally important skills learned prior to the last great technology shift and yet somehow you get to feel our generation gets the exclusive rights to common sense? Shit changes. Common sense is still here or missing, net of technology shifts.[rant/off]

(this concludes the rant portion of this post in case the [x/onoff] newfangled description was not enough.

[candyappy]

@DMK

You can’t tell me that didn’t happen before this particular (or any of the preceding) technology.

And this is where I get MY rant on.

[rant/on]Nothing irritates me more than people who work on the supposition that having more information/more education somehow makes you stupider. No. Just NO. People lacking common sense have always existed, they didn’t majikally get stupider or have less common sense because some clever NASA dudes got together and created the foundation of the cell phone technology. It beggars … dare I say it? It beggars common sense to go through life working on that assumption!

Do people learn new skills and maybe not some old skills that you might find valuable? Absolutely. But you missed out on a lot of vitally important skills learned prior to the last great technology shift and yet somehow you get to feel our generation gets the exclusive rights to common sense? Shit changes. Common sense is still here or missing, net of technology shifts.[rant/off]

(this concludes the rant portion of this post in case the [x/onoff] newfangled description was not enough.

I really don’t understand why you are so worked up about the whole thing and I can’t even understand what you mean^^ .

All I am saying is combine your new found learning through technology with good old -fashioned, time honored , know how by those who came before us and did things right.

[lorilu]

@enterata

The only thing I have ever gone by is the heat index above. I don’t know where I’ve been but until I started this thread, had never heard of the WBGT, would have no idea where to purchase this wet bulb thermometer, and find the calculations confounding. So, again, for me the heat index is what I have always used ( plus good ole common sense - I do not need a thermometer to determine when it is just plain too hot and muggy to ride for long).

Lately, here in my neck of the woods, temps are running in mid to upper nineties with a humidity of anywhere from 88 - 90%. So, when it is 95 degrees with 88% humidity equals a heat index of 183. Well above the 150 threshold for “too hot to ride”, which is what it was the day I was referring to in my OP. 😣

You don’t calculate it. You get the data from one of the links posted. It is more complicated than just a wet bulb thermometer,(which is used to measure relative humidity).
COmmon sense is good… I am sure you recognize the difference between a heat index on a sunny day and the same heat index on a cloudy day - THAT is the difference the WBGT measures.

[lorilu]

And just a note for you FEI “haters” (I use that loosely, dont be offended). The link to the FEI page is concerned with acclimating your horse to working in the heat - think about eventers, endurance riders… they need this kind of data to fit up before a competition in a less-hospitable area like, say, Atlanta or Orlando (or some parts of Europe this year!!). IF we are all riding our horses regularly, AND paying attention to their conditioning and how they respond to the day’s weather conditions, our horses are probably pretty well acclimated to local conditions.

My fear is that some animal activist will get on the “Oh my God look at the Heat Index and they are RIDING their horse!” rant and result in the cancellation of events or - possibly charges against riders - no matter if the horse is stressed, or how fit he is, just on the basis of incomplete data (that being the Heat index), when there are better measures of environmental conditions to use (that being WBGT).

Just look to the efforts to ban carriage rides in St.Augustine last month for example.

[Dunkhead]

Oh, honey, I so feel for you. In certain parts of FL, we have limited choices for trainers so we are careful about making them angry. With that said, ALWAYS go with your instincts and choose the horse ( like you did/do). The guidelines I have read and use are: Temp + Humidity - Wind speed. If that is above 140, I don’t ride above a walk at all. Remember, trainers are NOT vets and are not imbued with all knowledge about horses no matter how good a rider or horse trainer they may be.