Sweating

I think I read somewhere the significance of dried sweat being whiteish.  Once last summer, and yesterday, my gelding got into a heavy sweat, just standing in the corral.  It was very hot and humid the first time, but this time it was only in the 90's.  The first time, I saw him in the sweat and misted him with the hose.  This time, he was already dry when I saw him but the sweat had dried whiteish.  I believe he is getting adequate salt.  What might cause this?

That is interesting.  I stopped and thought about mine, and my welsh pony sweats and leaves white marks sometimes, he gets no salt supplementation. One mini sweats and dries with no marks, he gets no salt either.  

The other mini does not sweat enough and I give him One AC along with some salt to promote sweating and it helps. When he sweats it dries clear.   I had heard that if they are prone to endocrine disorders their thermo regulation can get discombobulated so had him tested last year and he was OK.  

So I have one that leaves sweat residue and two that don't.   

I wonder if it has something to do with how hydrated they are when they start to sweat.  Maybe white sweat is more concentrated or something?

Quote "Hot work: a special protein in horse sweat called latherin acts by wetting the hairs to facilitate water flow for evaporation. The side effect of this is lathering, which is often seen on the coats ofsweating horses, especially where rubbing occurs."

This is why you see lather under a neck sweat, around leathers in a bridle......saddle pad.......girth, etc.

Normal sweat is a combination of a few things including salt.

 Interesting about the protein.  I wonder if some breeds have more of it and tend to get more lathered up than others.  I am thinking of the Morgans I worked with when I was younger. It didn't take much to turn them into a frothy mess. I was always cleaning gunky tack.   I would much rather have that than a non sweater though.

if the weather is good I've always hosed the dried sweat off, remembering to always scrape the excess water as it attracts heat and will increase body temp quite quickly . I defiantly notice the sweat with my TBs more than my minis .