Sweaty Pony!!! Cool Out Tips

[LastCall9]

One of my horses is a really sweaty girl, whether it’s just a hack or a jumping lesson she gets quite warm regardless of the time of year. In the summertime it’s fine as I can give her a hose off afterwards. However, having a full time job requires riding in the evenings (and after dark this time of year) in an area where it is too cold to bath after riding.

I try to keep my horses clipped, but unless I give full body clips every 4 weeks she gets pretty sticky after a ride. And YES I walk my horses out for a good long time after every ride!! I never leave the arena with a horse that is breathing heavily or steaming.

Anyone have any suggestions for getting a horse to dry quickly after a ride??

[IPEsq]

If it’s not too cold for a sponge bath of liniment and warm water in the lathered places, I like to do that to cut the sweat. Follow with sweat scraper. Then vigorous toweling, leaving the hair roughed up (to dry faster). Then use anti-sweat or coolmax type material sheet and/or a wool cooler if necessary. Then clean up your stuff. Then come back and towel further (not with your soaking wet towel) and brush.

If it’s too cold for the liniment, you can try hot toweling instead, which will get the horse less wet.

[yellowbritches]

Clip her every 4 weeks. That’s what you have to do with some. Then liberal use of curry and rub rags to clean off the sweat marks. I know some who keep alcohol in an spray bottle to help. But your very best bet is to have as little hair as possible.

[Appsolute]

tell us what part of the country you are in. What your weather is like, and what type of facilities you have.

For instance here? Very temperate CA - and a barn with an indoor wash rack + warm water. I just clip often. Hose down like I would in the summer (but with warm water), and towel dry under the blanket area before putting them away.

Cooler temps - I still try to keep them clipped close - and then use a cotton scrim like THIS under a wool cooler.

Once the cotton has absorbed some of the moisture I pull it off - leave the cooler for a bit longer - then blanket like usual and put them away.

[LastCall9]

I live in the PNW. It’s usually rainy throughout the winter and snows very little.

Temperatures are usually in the 40s (fahrenheit) throughout the winter. I only have outdoor riding facilities and no heat in the barn. I do have access to warm water.

I think clipping is likely to be my only option. I have wool/fleece coolers. I’ve heard that a little bit of glycerin in warm water might speed up dry time but I haven’t noticed any big difference.

[M_O_Connor]

You haven’t said whether your pony lives in or out. That would make a difference in deciding what the best approach is. Obviously, any plan that involves clipping also leads to a blanketing discussion.

If you want to keep a horse in work in winter months, clipping and blanketing is the answer; decide what type of clip (full body vs. trace clip, for instance) and what blankets are needed based on your pony’s living and turnout arrangements (stabled vs. field) and the climate you live in.

[M_O_Connor]

Glycerine is put on tack to ensure it never dries. It will not speed up drying time, but will have the opposite effect.

Alcohol or liniment in the water will speed drying time. But if you clip, you shouldn’t need spend much time bathing if it’s cold out.

[Kestrel]

Get a hair dryer. It really cuts down the time. Just make sure not to leave it pointed at any one place for too long. My horses seem to like it, after they get use to it.

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

I blow dry my sweaty pony in the winter. She has a trace clip but still sweats like crazy and can’t be clipped more due to our wearher. I get off, throw a cooler over her and walk her until breathing is good. Then i keep the cooler on her and blow dry her replacing the cooler over the wet spots in our zero degree weather. She LOVES the blow dryer and falls asleep while i do it

[Kestrel]

Here in the PNW it’s so damp that it takes forever to get anything dry, including horses and tack. The blow dryer works on both.

[hoopoe]

are you in your own barn or are you in a boarding barn

you might look in to getting a radiant heat lamp in the cross ties. They are hung above the cross-ties We used that at my last barn ( dressage barn in Redmond)

sweaty horses that were walked out then put in cross ties and given towel down. Usually by the time you untack, wipe the tack and brush out the horse any sweaty moistness is gone.

moving air also improves drying time, so even if it is counter-intuitive, a fan might help

[busylady]

[QUOTE=Kestrel;7787772]
Here in the PNW it’s so damp that it takes forever to get anything dry, including horses and tack. The blow dryer works on both.[/QUOTE]

This is brilliant! Thanks for the tip!!!

[norcalammie]

Alcohol helps. I keep some with a splash of liniment in a spray bottle for winter rides. Helps speed up the drying time and keeps any “grungies” away. My horse is not super hairy and I try to have him clipped only once each winter.

[KateKat]

[QUOTE=Kestrel;7787772]
Here in the PNW it’s so damp that it takes forever to get anything dry, including horses and tack. The blow dryer works on both.[/QUOTE]

I’ve done this too and actually keep a blow dryer in my tack trunk, much to the amusement of my barn mates :lol:. The horses don’t seem to mind the noise at all, surprisingly enough.

[ElementFarm]

blow dryers also double as the Best Ever bit warming tool for cold climates

[SmartAlex]

I too have a blow dryer in my tack trunk.

Horse is bib clipped. Sponge sweaty areas with hot water and Vetrolin. Rub vigorously with towel(s). Blow dry problem areas. Remember, washing towels with fabric softener decreases their absorbency. The best towel for drying a horse is a scratchy line dried one.

[LastCall9]

A blow dryer!!! That’s a great idea. I figured that my horse would be terrified of it, but she’s not scared of clippers and loves the stall fan at horse shows so I guess the noise wouldn’t bother her too much.

Horse is boarded at a private barn. Has a stall with walkout paddock and is never locked in. She has every weight of blanket from rain sheet to heavy weight winter blanket and various fill weight blankets in between.

It sounds like a new bottle of liniment and a cheap blowdryer will be my next go-to.

Thanks everyone!

[Hippolyta]

I am in MN. In the winter I ride in a heated arena. I hate it. It is humid, and if horse has a full coat, I actually worry about them over-heating, as they can’t shed the heat as they can in the summer with sleek coat. Of course, I am not the trainer with arthritis who has had to work in the MN cold for 25+ years, so I understand why it was put in.

I put on a cooler in the arena, walk back to the (unheated) barn, take off tack. Put cooler back on, then rub like crazy as I peel away parts of the cooler. Cooler gets put back over parts after towel rubbing, then I blow dry one piece at a time.

Even with dryer, it can take forever. I use a tail brush to move the coat as I am drying (feel like a hair stylist), I think that helps with convection & speeds it up a teeny bit.