Yes, horse is in a barn with fans and an auto waterer. Not trying to be confusing, but I can see how it could be. 
And the hay is in a slow feeder so yes I know it’s always available. About twenty pounds is put in slow feeder, and she’ll eat 15-20 pounds depending on the day. Interesting idea on the sweet tea in a water bucket. Just might try that!
And today it was nice and “cool” at only 80* and she definitely seemed perkier today! Fingers crossed for a cooler weekend.
Odd question, if you add anything to the water, have you tried unsweetened tea, or sweetened tea? I don’t actually have any refined sugar in the pantry, so wondering what you’ve had success with. I know I’ve heard some folks will add Gatorade, too. Of course, this would be in addition to clean, fresh water. Thanks!
Access to a mineral block (not just salt) and added electrolytes might be helpful in the heat, not only to maintain hydration, but also replace anything the horse is losing while sweating.
I had a horse that would always be harder to keep in good condition in summer - his situation wasn’t that he was eating or drinking less, but he was moving more in relation to flies/bug harassment. Even fly-protective clothing/measures didn’t help. Basically, he was burning more calories in the hot weather because not only did we maintain our standard work, but he was moving more independently. (And I’ve heard it said that you burn more calories in hot weather because your body works harder to cool down - not sure if this is true or not?)
We ended up adding a ration balancer to his diet year-round and the amount of it went up in summer. His original grain was pro force fuel (a Nutrena feed), and we actually reduced the grain (he was getting about 3lbs 2x a day) and added the ration balancer (also a pelleted feed) to it, and that helped him keep in good condition even in really hot, swampy summers that he’d always struggled in prior. (A side note: I didn’t need to feed the volume of ration balancer suggested by the label - I only fed about half a pound 1xdaily, though we did increase it some in the worst weather.)
And my horse enjoyed yellow gatorade being added to his water, although you can see which “flavor” they like by seeing if they’ll lick it off your hand (blue is the other flavor I’ve seen used pretty frequently).
Just FYI, regular Gatorade isn’t even considered a useful electrolyte or hydration supplement for humans, so it’s not going to do anything for your horse but add flavor to its water. So…if that’s all it is - you can use anything that will encourage your horse to drink more.
Or, consider a real electrolyte drink if you are trying to supplement hydration after a workout in intense heat.
No. Sweating will dehydrate you, but you don’t work harder to sweat like you would to shiver to keep warm in cold weather.
The vet hospital associated with the vet school here adds sweetened ice tea to all of their inpatients’ water to keep them drinking. I have tried regular tea, but it does not work as well.
Sorry, bad phrasing from me! I meant in relation to work. IE: the same amount of work done in hot weather vs cold, burns more calories - does the same thing hold?
(I just did a quick google - I’ve never had cause to really think about this before - and runner’s sites suggest that the same workout done in hotter weather is likely to burn more calories, but I’m not sure if that is A. true/reliable, or B. relevant to horses?)
I’m not sure. I found this article which talks about burning fat vs. carbs, but are carbs broken down into other stuff via digestion?
https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20787827/how-does-heat-affect-fat-burning/
Thank you for the great timing of this post, OP! Was just about to ask about this, my senior gelding is also dropping weight in this heat and the main difference from years past is his grain was replaced with alfalfa pellets this past winter per the recommendation of my vet. He’s been sweating more than usual too, never knew that alfalfa could increase internal temps.
IME, most horses don’t tend to have heating issues if you’re talking about a couple pounds of alfalfa pellets, especially since that’s not long-stem fiber and doesn’t take the same type of energy to digest that long-stem fiber does. But certainly any horse can be sensitive enough that even a few pounds of it might affect them in the heat.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
