It's been hot as hell here in North Texas. The last 5 days have been over 100 and sitting around the 105 mark. Due to the heat, it's pretty safe to assume that not much is going on as far as working the horses goes.
In my riding club newsletter they posted a pretty good little blurb about horses and heat. I figured I'd include it here. It's an easy forumula and can help you know when you should be concerned with your horse.
Other than that neat idea below, I have nothing else going on. I've been staying indoors and making use of the modern conveniences of air conditioning. I tell you, I sure have a respect for those who lived 100 years ago, who had to work the land, even in head like this. And they even did it without gatoraide! :) Hopefully we get some rain or a cold front soon.
The Heat is On!
We are now into the hottest weeks of summer and need to be aware of the effect of heat and humidity on our horses. Endurance riders use a simple formula to determine when weather conditions become stressful to the equine athlete. It is called the Heat Index (H I), which means in this context, the sum of the temperature and humidity. Any time the H I reaches 150, we need to pay attention to our horse’s condition. When the number exceeds 180, a horse can quickly get into trouble. Always encourage water consumption. Electrolytes are essential for horses working in the heat. Commercial supplements are available, but here’s a simple, cheap, home-made formula: One 26 oz. box of table salt (plain, not iodized) Two 11 oz. boxes of Morton’s Lite Salt Two oz. (4 TBSP) dry Epsom salt
Mix well and feed ½ oz. to 1 oz. per day, depending on level of work. (1 to 2 TBSP)
One of the most important things you can do to encourage your horse to drink water is to provide a clean, cool source. If the water source looks too dirty for you to drink out of, then your horse probably isn’t too keen on it either. The exception to this is pond water; they love it!! Go figure!
Amazing that HI has to be 150 before we have to worry about them! And as to the cool water source, I can attest to that. We have an automatic waterer but its in the sun , and it gets hot. They MUCH prefer the small stock tank that we fill up every other day!
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget to watch your horses to make sure they are sweating; my Ben was sweating last Friday and early Saturday but by evening he was panting and breathing rather loud. I started him on gatorade and gave more trace minerals, kept hosing him down (have to be sure to scrape the water off their coats so it doesn't create a shield trapping in the heat). Sunday he was still panting but not breathing loudly, called the Vet Monday morning and she put him on 'ONE AC' to help make him sweat. Some horses can't regulate their internal temperatures. I also put a sprinkler out and kept it on for him to use, which he did/does. I caught it right away thank God or this could have been alot worse. He normally sweats but the heat got to him, it is nothing genetically speaking, just like any of us it was to blasted HOT & HUMID.
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