Surviving The Summer Heat

SURVIVING THE SUMMER HEAT…Tips for Horse and Rider!

It has been a brutal summer for just about everyone, not only in the United States, but most of North American and across Europe, where the heat has been the highest recorded temperatures.

For many, that means curtailing riding activities, if not eliminating them completely until the heat lets up and finding ways to safely do barn chores as well as keeping our animals comfortable and healthy.

HORSE HEALTH

So much about keeping your horse comfortable involves water!!

• The most important thing you can do is to ensure that your horse has cool, clean and fresh water in front of them all the time! This may mean dumping and refilling buckets and tubs several times throughout the day. I prefer to use muck buckets for my troughs as they are easy to dump and fill and to clean. I check the water temperature of my buckets every hour during the day and usually dump and refill on average 2-3 times in the afternoon. TIP: Fill buckets half way so you are not wasting water.

• Water buckets and troughs should be clean with no algae, so it is important to keep the buckets clean,

• Horses drink on average 1 gallon of water per 100 lbs., so on average, 11 gallons of water per day. This will increase with exercise and heat and humidity.

• Horses prefer cooler water temperatures, 65-68 degrees.

I ask people if they don’t want to drink out of their horses buckets and troughs, then how can they expect their horses to do so?

Other ways to keep horses comfortable with water include:

• Hosing off hot and sweaty horses. Horses coming in from the pasture should be hosed off, not put away hot and sweaty.

• Installing sprinklers on the roof. This has been one of my favorite projects that we did to our barn. It drops the temperatures in the barn within minutes. TIP: Add gutters and downspouts and collect the run off with a rain barrel.

• Wet mashes. I give soaked mashes every day for lunch, so my horses are used to this. In the summer, I use cool water mashes. In the winter, I add warm water. In addition, consider adding water to regular meals as well.

In addition, adding fans to stalls will also drop temperatures and keep horses cool. Box fans should NEVER be used in a barn setting. They are not approved for outdoor settings and have been the cause of many a barn fire. Use approved outdoor rated fans with an enclosed motor and have them installed by a professional electrician.

Cooling sheets and neck covers will aid in cooling off a horse that is overheating, and may be worth the investment to have on hand, particularly if you live or compete in hot environments. One should follow the heat index when considering riding. Heat strokes can occur in horses and rarely do horses recover, so it is imperative to take all precautions when riding in extreme heat.

RIDER HEALTH

It is important that the rider stay cool as well. Drinking lots of water, taking breaks and eating healthy will help to ensure that you are able to perform your best and to be there for your horse. There are cooling pack inserts to put inside your helmet to keep your head cool when you ride, as well as cooling towels and vests. Don’t think twice about dunking your head under a hose to cool off!

And don’t worry….it will be just a matter of time before winter is here and many of you will be complaining about the cold and wishing for summer to arrive (not me, I love the cold!)

GABRIELS FAVORITE THINGS:

Hilton Herbs Herball Treats.

Gabes number one favorite treat, he will pretty much stop dead in his tracks and come to you if you tell him you have his cookies and they better be Herballs. All natural and healthy with no added sugars, they are the perfect treat if your horse has cushings or some other metabolic disorder. They are made from alfalfa, oregano, garlic, mint, rosemary and wheat flour. Your feed room will smell like an Italian restaurant! All the animals love them…the donkeys, the goats, the dogs. Their size makes them a better choice then using sugar cubes as a reward as they are easy to stuff several into your pockets when you are riding. www.hiltonherbs.com