The Heat, never in my life.......

[muffntuf]

It's been really hot up here too. I did water tanks several times a day - the ponies all came up and drank every time. I also watered the ponies down by holding the hose up for them and they all sat under the 'shower'. I had more fans in the barn than I can ever remember, including 3 new tilt drum fans, making a total of 4 drum fans in the barn blowing air around. The mommas and foals and stallions as well as show ponies all have their personal fans. Its been a long week this week keeping animals cool. All dogs came in the worst afternoons so they could get a break from the heat.

We are cooled down now and I hope it continues east to you folks that have this heat cycle now.

 

[Hosscrazy]

It's gorgeous here in the high desert in Southern California! Mid 80's, light breeze - love it! Can't wait to ride later this afternoon - no complaints here!

Liz N.

 

[donnalee]

I feel for all of you and your horses. At 65 years old I sit here and wonder how in the world I did it - I can remember being at the State 4-H Championships with my 4-Hers and it would be 100+ degrees. Somehow we and the horses survived.

It's all I can do to go out and water my tomatoes now, I hate to think how I'd manage a barn full of horses. Fans, hosing, keeping their water fresh, providing shade - its about all you can do. But they will be all right, they're a lot tougher than we think. I watch the neighbors cows all bunched up in any little spot of shade and they don't move until the shade moves but they all seem to be surviving. I am relly feeling for the folks who still do not have power - horse owners having to haul water, etc. Very tough, indeed.

 

[targetsmom]

Well, it hasn't been in the 100's here, but 90's with high humidity is enough for me. And at over 65 years old I sure second what Donna said about "how in the world we did it". I was in a show with our mostly black mini yesterday, entered in 15 classes, and ended up scratching a whole bunch. I was really afraid that I was going to need an ambulance and was clutching a frozen Gatorade bottle to my forehead through and between classes. It was pretty unsettling to come to the realization that age has caught up with me and I can't do this any more. I do think the horses do much better in this heat than people, as Princess had plenty of energy (for a change) and did well despite her handler. She drank well all day and even stayed on the trailer, as we never felt she needed the stall (and fan) we reserved just in case.

I like the tip about taking the covers off the frozen Powerade bottles in the water tubs. We put the frozen bolttes in and just refreeze them but adding the water to the tub as the ices melts is a great idea. From my own observation, the critical thing to provide is shade, whether natural or man made. We even work our horses in the afternoon as the sand ring has plenty of natural shade and is noticeably cooler than elsewhere.

 

[HGFarm]

I really feel bad for you all.. Here in AZ summer temps normally run from 107 to 115 and that is normal- with overnight lows sometimes in the low 90's, BUT, we have little to no humidity. Until early July it's at about 8%. Then the monsoon season hits and the humidity starts to rise but it is NOTHING like what you guys have at all. I dont know how you all are taking it and hope you all get a break soon!!

One thing that wasnt mentioned- make SURE your horses all have access to free choice salt blocks! It's vital, especially in the heat of summer.

Commenting on the above post- nope, all my horses have shade roofs and trees, and I will find them out laying in the sun, or even better, racing and playing in the middle of the afternoon like it was 60 degrees! Doesnt seem to phase them much.

 

[Marty]

Just a note: Do not dilute Gatorade. It will be useless

 

[Performancemini]

I have a question on the free choice salt-can they get too much of it? I haven't put any out and really should. Was thinking of putting it in the shelters in those ground tubs made for it (the big square blocks of salt)? In the past we put out the little single blocks in the holders attached to the shelter walls and they seemed to lick and eat it down in one day.

 

[HGFarm]

We leave salt blocks out year round - so it's free choice. We also leave more than one kind- the regular white and the dark red mineral salt so they choose what they want and they will only over lick them if they are lacking in them. I recently tried the red sea salt ones that look like big rocks. It has dozens of minerals in them compared to only 4 or 5 of the red man made salt and the horses love them. I know someone who almost lost their herd of horses one time because they didnt have any salt blocks available to them for months. They got skinny and looked horrible. It was the first thing the vet noticed when he showed up at their farm- Where's your salt blocks?!

 

[rubyviewminis]

They can't really get enough of what they need with only a salt block partly because their tongue is not rough like cattle, and they can get a sore tongue although it is a very good idea to have them available. A large horse needs an average of 10 to 20 grams/2 to 4 tablespoons/1 to 2 oz daily and that amount can increase to 4 to 6 oz in hot weather or heavy exercise. Include in that intake, any salt in a commercial feed which typically contain 0.5 to 1.0% salt. And electrolytes in addition to that amount of salt in heat or heavy exercise is also a good idea even tho sodium and chloride are the main ingredients.

I usually divide what is recommended for large horses into 4 for minis, or use weight as a guide when it comes to anything ingested.

 

[barnbum]

In NY it's been hot--but not over 100...just 90s. The humidity has been lower than I ever remember. We've had no rain at all and the corn field are curling. So sad. For horses, I haven't been doing anything special except checking their water several times a day and offering the sprinkler on the high 80s/90s days. But only one really will go in it. I have a nice cool barn and keep a fan on at all times--one that points to the run-in area. They can stand in there all day long in the cooler barn under a fan, but they don't! I end up feeding them more hay just to keep them in the barn. They do have run-ins in two other pastures and they spend a lot of time in those. The fan we use to blow over stalls feels too hot to me (motor) so I won't run it, but the other is only near dirt and stone, so I leave it on almost always. Chloe has her own fan because the other doesn't reach her.

Today, our second day in the 90s, three of their respiratory rates seemed high, so I sponged them off with cold water and washed the mares' udders--man they love that. When they see me coming with a bucket of water, both mares spread their back legs waiting for me to clean them off. lol I figure it's got to cool them.

I read somewhere that hosing horses then having them go back into the sun make them hotter? Does anyone know about this? That's why I sponged. I did it again when I tucked them in tonight

 

[whitney]

Not sure if this would help anybody but when I had my 36 year old Q.H. mare and it got in the 90's I put the hole barn on a mister. Cheaply. You buy drip irrigation tube and a timer 30.00. I misted them in their stalls every hour for 15 minutes. The whole system was less than 50 bucks.

 

[Charlotte]

My favorite trick to cool down horses in the heat is to feed them something in a bucket...I like to use chopped hay of some kind since it takes a while to eat....put a few icecubes in there. The horse inhales the cooled air while eating and it actually can lower their body temeperature.

But I think the best solution is to MOVE NORTH!

 

[rubyviewminis]

I have a question on the free choice salt-can they get too much of it? I haven't put any out and really should. Was thinking of putting it in the shelters in those ground tubs made for it (the big square blocks of salt)? In the past we put out the little single blocks in the holders attached to the shelter walls and they seemed to lick and eat it down in one day.

It just dawned on me that in AZ I did have a big stout Quarter Horse that in the summer months developed the bad habit of licking his salt block, drinking a lot of water, licking, drinking. It got to be quite a bit of tinkling in the corral so I asked my vet the same question. He said since we didn't hardly ride or do much else in the summer months he got bored and lots of horses there would start that habit with the salt blocks out of boredom since it was too hot to do much else. So he told us to take it away from him a couple of days, then let him have acces a day or two and so on. It is a health concern for a lot of the same reasons it is for us, and the constant urinating depletes things like potassium. It's been so long I don't remember the details.

Charlotte, that is an interesting idea! Do you just throw the ice cubes in with the feed in the bucket?