Trying not to get my hopes up yet!
1 Like
I hear that
I feed 1-2 tablespoons of regular salt most of the year, and save powder/paste electrolyte supplements for strenuous work or weird weather when water intake tends to drop off.
The OralX ElectroPlex is my go-to paste. My WB gelding had a couple of weeks mid-summer a few years ago where he just seemed really off. Not outright sick or lame, but lethargic with a poor appetite and pitiful demeanor. Our vet recommended 5 days of ElectroPlex at 1 tube a day while we waited for bloodwork results. Lo and behold, he was like a completely new horse after a few days on it. It earned a permanent spot in my med kit after that.
https://www.bigdweb.com/oralx-electro-plex-electrolyte-paste-34-gm
I just remembered this… a friend here in NC Florida has a poor sweater… she swears by watermelon! Plain old watermelon!
Might as well try it!
2 Likes
My question would be, is it okay to only supplement prior/after a strenuous workout? Like jump or show days? I will ask my vet when I see her again. Thank you! I was actually thinking that every day could be excessive.
2 Likes
Thank you! This is exactly how he’s been feeling. Not horrible, but just run down looking, not as energetic for exercise etc. I mean…pretty much the way I feel in this FL heat, so can totally relate to him lol
Thank you! Have all of these things going, except the electrolytes after workouts, which based on what I’m ready is probably a good supplement. At least for the summer living down here in this swamp we call home lol.
1 Like
I can’t imagine not working him. He would go crazy lol. But yes, we ride in the evenings for strenuous work 1xweek and take our other exercise pretty light. Like 15-20 minute hacks.
1 Like
No covered ( 
) but we have some shaded areas we take breaks in. Right now short hacks, jump in evenings once a week.
Yes, this is what I was concerned about. The diarrhea. I’ll try it half dose. Thank you!
1 Like
Florida heat is hard on everyone. Don’t forget to take electrolytes for yourself. I crave salt like crazy in the summer. It’s definitely an adjustment. And just wait til midsummer. It will be a sauna. I’m still desperately trying to finish all the property improvements before July gets here.
I don’t want to be fixing anything this summer. The jump standards are in the process of being painted, I went ahead and replaced some fence posts, and most of the fencing is about done. Still need to order some shade fabric and I want to buy a couple more trees. The sycamore trees seem to be doing well, despite my one horse using the one as a belly scratcher. He bends the tree in half and walks over it. I don’t know how he doesn’t break it, but it pops back up. It’s about 8 feet tall.
My horses get worked year round. Just have to ride early or late or after a rainstorm.
Very cool on the electrolyte cubes. Great idea! I bought the Apple A Day and not sure if it’s helping yet or not. Guess it can’t hurt. I’ve only been doing half a scoop to make sure he tolerates it. He’s had the runs, but again, pretty sure that’s the heat affecting him.
@Lacej81 - Have you clipped your horse? My fjord has been holding up decently well so far, granted our temps have been more in the mid 70’s for the better part of the last month, but we’ve had some mid 80’s here and there. I’ve been attributing that to the addition of the One AC I added this spring. We have had a couple FWS “leaks”, but very very minor.
My body worker was out last week and we were talking about his heat tolerance. She commented on how much thicker his summer coat is compared to most of the other horses she has her hands on, so I decided to full body clip him. A LOT of hair came off and it was very dense. I am hoping that this will give him more relief as we get further into summer. I am also thinking about getting him some Guinness for any really hot/humid days as recommended in a different, but similar thread.
1 Like
I have 6 horses- 4 in various stages of being endurance horses, 1 semi-retired and 1 Fjord lesson pony/ bulldozer. They all get loose salt added to their grain daily, 365 days a year. They don’t have a salt block in their field because the Fjord thinks it’s candy and will eat it/ drink a ton/ have horrible runny manure in a never ending loop (there’s nothing wrong with her she just loves her salt). As soon as it starts getting warm, they get Apple A Day in their feed too. On days they do a big workout, they’ll get dosed with Enduramax plus a buffer before and after the ride, sometimes during.
1 Like
Bulldozer 
I call mine the snow plow in the winter haha.
2 Likes
Hand raised…
Someone above mentioned “too much” salt causing excess peeing.
I have a horse who came over from Ireland last fall, initially I felt that he wasn’t sweating adequately. We started an Electrolyte and One AC, now just the Electrolyte (The Farnam brand) He’s now much more comfortable, sweating, managing the humid-southern days really well.
He’s a very large (17.3) guy, he gets one scoop of electrolyte 2x day. He does in both cold and hot days, drink a lot of water. He will drink 4 5-gallon buckets between the hours of 7am to 4/5pm in his stall. (This spring he put on a lot of weight in his heavy forage night-time paddock + free choice Orchard/alfalfa in stall, and now only receives 1.5 quarts (a half scoop) of his complete feed 2x day and his electrolyte)
He has a routine, within the first 5 minutes of our ride he has to pee. Every day. He does pee in his stall at home, (though competitions and hauling he’s funny about it. I have to literally take him to a grassy spot to pee. If it’s not the right fluffiness of stall and/or grass, he won’t. We’re almost trained on command now, but it did take a few months to realize what was happening. He will buck around if he hasn’t had his time. ) I was assuming it had to do with the amount of O/A he was consuming every day.
Maybe I should decrease the electrolytes to one scoop?
Pending, the 15 seconds I allow him to pee every ride, he’s going fantastically, looking great in his body, sweating, recovering well after conditioning. (He’s running preliminary level, so he’s in a lot of work) So, I don’t want to change the routine, but what I presumed as a quirk may be caused to what I’m feeding.
I literally just clipped him two days ago! So funny you ask. He wasn’t really shedding his coat (probably still adjusting from Netherlands). Fingers crossed this helps. Rain has been horrible here and we have muddy paddocks (oof 
) so we’re fighting feet issues too from the rain. Sometimes, I just wonder why I live in FL.
1 Like
We’ve got a miserable one today! I stepped out on the deck before 8AM and walked right back in the house.
With the Guinness…does alcohol content matter to help with heat? I cant drink alcohol but do have a couple cans of Guinness Zero in the fridge.
My understanding is that it’s more to do with the yeast, but not sure about that. My gelding is getting a break from the Guinness for ten days, as he’s undergoing a ten day cycle of the Equiwinner patches, and the stout is contra-indicated when using them (a fact which I found out from an email exchange from the company).
I know the whole idea behind them is a little out there but, judging by the re-appearance of latherin when I hose him off, the feel of his his coat, and his attitude, his sweating has improved. In addition, he’s drinking a lot more water (his intake had previously slowed down).
Don’t know whether it’s the addition of Platinum Refresh* – which he started a few days before the patches, in place of One AC – or the patches themselves, or a combination, plus the contributing factor that it’s “only” been in the high 90s for the last few days (with heat indices still over 100), but I’ll take any improvement at this point.
Normally, I try to change only one thing at a time, to determine what is actually working, but decided to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at this because I felt I didn’t have the extra time. The real test will be next week, when the temps are predicted to be several degrees over 100, which means it’ll feel even hotter.
*The Refresh daily serving is a whopping 2 ounces, which is a lot of powder (can be split into two meals) for a small horse who doesn’t get much concentrates. No problem getting him to polish it off when topped with Guinness, but he’s not so enthused about it sans the stout.
2 Likes
Thanks @Jarpur!
All things I’m going to keep in mind. We are sweating well enough, but his FWS is a seasonal summer thing due to the heat. I think the One AC is helping for now but thanks for detailing out the other products!
