Neck sweating: What am I doing wrong here

[mydaddysjag]

I've been putting sweats on Domingo while I work him to try to sweat his neck down a bit for show season. So far I have tried a 4" neoprene sweat while working and also a 4" fleece lined neoprene sweat while working. He is wearing them the entire workout, and I have not seen any sweat under them at all. I have them tight enough so my hand just fits under them.

He is working 20 minutes at a working trot (10 minutes each direction) in a sand arena. We then leave the sweat on for about 30 minutes, then switch over to a 6" wide fleece and neoprene neck wrap that we leave on in the stall.

Im in the process of getting a neck and shoulder sweat for him to work in.

When I've sweated horses before they actually had sweat under the neck sweat, domingo hasn't actually sweated once.

His neck is clipped where the sweat goes. What am I doing wrong here, and how do i fix it?

 

[targetsmom]

How cold is it there? If it is as cold as it has been here, he needs the neck sweats just to keep his neck warm!! I only just started putting sweats on ours and don't expect to see any sweat yet. In the summer, you should be able to see sweat /moisture on the neoprene. You might also consider using sweating gel when you work him, but you do have to be careful to rinse it off completely.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Today it was in the mid 50's. But, the other day it was around 70 (unusually warm) and there was no sweat then either.

 

[Leeana]

Put the sweat on 20-30 minutes before and leave it on 20-30 minutes after the work out - usually by the end of that process they have sweated. Although really i think even without seeing actual sweat you are still making progress with the sweat being on. Then there is the jell which i will only use during spring and summer when i can wash their necks afterwards to get the jell off.

 

[maestoso]

Have you considered using a fleece neck wrap? I use a fleece throat sweat and a fleece neck wrap over that. He was been wearing it since January at least every night but usually most of the time with a few hours break from it each day. Even on the coldest nights/days I can see moisture on the neoprene part of it when I take it off.

You probably won't see any sweat on the neoprene working sweats until it's much warmer unless you are working them really long and really hard. I usually don't start with those until the end of April, or beginning of May. Also, you can wrap there neck in bubble wrap and then put the neoprene sweats over it. Not only does this hold heat better, so more sweat, but it acts as a barrier between sweat and neoprene so you can get away with not washing it after every use.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I have a 6" fleece ane neoprene wrap on him when he is in his stall. I have a 4" fleece lined sweat as well, but figured he would sweat more with the all neoprene. I had been just using the fleece lined wrap and sweat in the stall, and neoprene while working.

 

[Keri]

Have you tried some sweat gel???

Some horses just don't sweat well either. I had a mare that neck sweats were vituously useless on her. She wouldn't sweat with them on in 100 degree weather and working out with sweat gel on. And my others would be dripping, but she was only warm with a bit of sweat under the throatlatch. But her neck looked pretty good on its own.

 

[minimomNC]

You can use a mixture of glycerine and listerine or a neck sweat product but unless you have the time/patience/weather to give your horse a bath every day i dont suggest it. I use a trash bag under the sweats when i work....this will DEFINATELY give you some sweat! Some horses just dont sweat alot...i have a mare who is very hard to make sweat and this works every single time....and its inexpensive! I just cut the end off the bag then cut it up the side once then wrap it around the neck and add the neck sweats. hope this works out for you! Also, my show horses wear their neck sweats 6 days a week 24 hours a day...you will be suprised how much they sweat while just standing in the stall...even in the colder months.

Samantha

 

[mydaddysjag]

Haven't tried a sweat gel just yet, I don't like to bath until the weather is really warm. Hadn't thought about trying bubble wrap, and I do have a roll of it around here somewhere.

I also have some thick black garbage bags. I'll try that until it gets warm enough to wash the sweat gel off of him. Honestly, the stuff scares me a little, I haven't ever had to use it, and Ive heard horror stories of horses getting burned from it and so forth. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

 

[mydaddysjag]

If you use listerine mixed with glycerine, how much of each do you use?

 

[minimomNC]

its about half listering and half glycerine....but you dont have to use alot and it lasts forever! there is nothing wrong or scary about using stuff like this...as long as you wash it off after you are done...

 

[EquestraDreams]

Perhaps you could try a change in his workout. One of my Shetland mares can trot for a half hour without breaking a sweat, so I alternate between trotting and cantering and lots of change in direction. The frequent transitions make her work a lot harder and voila - sweat! To put it in perspective, I can jog a mile at the same pace without breaking a sweat, but adding sprints every 30 seconds really gets me huffing and puffing!

 

[susanne]

How is he holding his neck when you adjust the sweat?

If he is not stretching, chances are it will be too loose when he stretches to graze, drink, eat eat from a bucket, etc.

With the fleece sweat that stays on him, I put it on, then tighten it a few minutes later when he stretches his neck to the ground. When he lifts his head, the sweat is not too tight, but snug -- like a new turtleneck sweater.

If I just put it on when he is standing relaxed, when he stretches to the ground the sweat is so loose that it turns on his neck.

Also...Mingus never gets especially sweaty under the sweat (contradiction in terms?), yet it is still very effective as long as I am consistent in keeping it on him.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I lift his head up and out when I put the sweats on, then a few minutes later I make sure I can just slide my fingers under it.

Today I started adding a little cantering to his routine, no sweat yet, but I'm increasing his time working tomorrow.