Working or riding horses in summer heat creates some significant health issues that can have severe consequences for horses. Research has provided some valuable information about caring for horses during hot weather.
Horse keeping cool by splashing water on a hot day
When working or being ridden, your horse gets hotter much faster than you do and is more susceptible to the negative effects of heat stress.
© 2008 by Louis New window.
It isn't only upper level performance/racing horses that are at risk on hot humid days; serious dehydration and overheating can happen to any horse especially when horse owners and handlers believe some of the common myths that many horse owners take to heart.
For example: It Is a hot humid day. One rider. One horse. Both are exercising at a moderate level. Who is more likely to overheat?
It might surprise you to know that your horse gets hotter much faster than you and is more susceptible to the negative effects of heat stress, according to Prof. Michael Lindinger, an animal and exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph.
Summer's heat and humidity can be much more than just uncomfortable. They can be deadly. Horses lose their lives every year to heat stroke. Countless others struggle through anything from weakness to colic as a result of inadequate care in hot weather. Don't let this happen to your horse!
Prof. Michael Lindinger, an animal and exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph, explains: "It takes only 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot, humid weather to raise a horse's temperature to dangerous levels. That's three to 10 times faster than in humans. Horses feel the heat much worse than we do."
And the effects of heat can be serious. If a horse's body temperature shoots up from the normal 37 to 38 C to 41 C, temperatures within working muscles may be as high as 43 C, a temperature at which proteins in muscle begin to denature (cook). Horses suffering excessive heat stress may experience a drop in blood pressure leading to hypotension, plus colic and renal failure.
First, horses are larger and have a higher percentage of active muscle than people do during exercise. When muscles are being used, they produce a lot of heat.
Your horse has several ways to stay cool. Some of the heat is transferred to the air exiting his lungs. The remainder is carried to the skin surface by the bloodstream. Blood vessels very close to the surface of the skin dilate, and dissipate heat through conduction, convection, and evaporation.
Beating the heat involves water - both on the inside of your horse via drinking and on the outside of your horse via hosing down.
Cooler weather will return, never fear! In the meantime, keep plenty of water and salt in front of the horses. Don't exercise them during the heat of the day, and feed them appropriately for their needs. Together with diligent horse care, you and your horse should be set to enjoy the endless fun of summer.
Press release by Equine Guelph