With the British heat wave continuing to bake us and our horses, it’s important to take some time to check that you are well equipped when travelling and exercising your horses to keep dehydration and heat stroke at bay.
On average horses need 5-10 gallons of water per day. Make sure you take plenty of water with you when travelling. Enough for the journey, and for while you are actually away at your destination. Keeping your horse hydrated is a key aspect to ensuring your horse stays in optimum health and performs at his best.
Though it is not always a simple task to spot the early signs of dehydration and heat stress, it is important to make sure you are able to recognise the warning signs, as the consequences can be drastic. Keeping your horse in tip top condition in the heat is relevant whether you are a three day eventer, or a weekend leisure rider, horses allowed to become dehydrated and distressed can become seriously unwell with severe cases even leading to death of the animal.
Top Tips for coping with Heat
Prepare for the worst and plan your journey. If you can, plan your journey around the weather and avoid travelling at the hottest parts of the day. Make sure the horses are well hydrated before you set off and allow plenty of time to travel. It isn’t nice thinking of worst case scenarios, but traffic jams can cause lengthy delays. Make sure that you have plenty of hay and water on board to keep your horse happy should you be held up. Horses should stop and rest for journeys over 4 and a half hours, or more frequently during hot weather.
If it is 25° degrees or above and you do not have air conditioning installed in your horse area then you should be concerned about heat stress. Remember it is not ok to drive down the hard shoulder, and could hold up emergency services attending an accident. If you believe the horses are becoming distressed then you must call 101 to alert emergency services of your situation. The emergency services will advise what steps to take. If you decide to use the hard shoulder without alerting the emergency services you could be prosecuted.
Teach your horses to eat and drink normally whilst away from home to prevent them withholding. Apple juice or flavoured electrolytes can prove helpful in tempting them, buckets from home and water from home can also help. Horses can be picky when it comes to drinking from unusual containers with water that’s different to normal. Allowing time to rest once you arrive at your destination is also a key factor in minimising stress and increasing the time a horse has to have a bit to eat and drink before starting exercise..
Make sure you know the signs of dehydration; it can be hard to spot. Dehydration in horses can lead to poor performance, loss of co-ordination and slow reactions, lethargy, dullness in eyes, and decreased appetite
Heat stroke is a serious condition and a veterinary emergency which requires a vet to attend. Symptoms include:
Twitching skin
Increased respiration rate
Staggering
Sweating profusely
Not sweating at all
Whether it is an emergency or not the quickest and most effective way of cooling a horse is by applying copious amounts of water to the whole body. If the horse is in a good condition post exercise or competition then keeps the horse walking whilst continuing to apply water to the whole body. Water needs to be between 5° and 15° degrees for effective cooling to happen. Warm water is no good for cooling except via evaporation, which is a slower less effective method. If the horse does not recover from exercise or shows signs of distress such as panting, flaring the nostrils or ataxia then continue to cool aggressively and call a vet.
If you have a horse which has developed heat stroke it could take 10-15minutes of aggressive cooling before you begin to see an affect. If a hose and ice are available to you, use them. Some cooling is better than none, and the effects of doing nothing will be far worse.
Hot weather can present challenges to horses particularly if they are competing, or have an existing health problem. Sensible management in hot weather can help to reduce the risk of heat related problems. Horses can acclimatise to the heat, but they must be exercised in it. Exercise capacity will be reduced but the health risks will be much reduced.
