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Discussion on Horse sweats excessively
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Member:
Prakashb
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 - 8:14 am:
My horse is in a pasture with a good amount of shade, but the heat's been so bad that she is lathered in sweat each afternoon all over her body. I wasn't worried until I read a magazine article stating if they are sweating all over their body, they are stressed. Is this only if they are being ridden in this heat? Or is this if they are just out in the pasture in the heat. She is currently pregnant, so I am trying to minimize as much of her stress as possible. I have a stall to put her in during the day if anyone thinks this would be better until it cools down here in Florida. She also has a tendancy to colic a lot, and I wonder if the heat would cause it, reading earlier posts. She has access to plenty of water, and she doesn't use a mineral block, but she has a little bit of minerals in her food. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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Member:
Banthony
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 - 3:49 pm:
I'm here in Florida too. We hose off and bring in the dark colored horses at noon and leave in under fans until it starts to cool off. Or any like you are describing that are having a hard time in the heat.
The ones we can't bring in, I hose off in the pastures at noon and in the evening. Not just a quick squirt, but hose them off until they cool down. Then I feed a little hay in the shade so they don't go out to graze in the sun.
The worst days are when there is high humidity and no breeze. Then I scrape the excess water off because they have trouble evaporating it in the high humidity.
We do add a little electrolytes (1 TBL) to the pm feed if we've had a day where all the horses are covered in sweat. I also drain and refill all water tanks at night so they have cool water for the night. You'd be surprised at how hot they get.
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Member:
Image
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 - 6:57 pm:
Hi Prakash!
I live in Florida too and like Linda, we hose our 3 off everyday. And believe me, they LOVE it! lol They see the hose coming out and they line up for it...we don't even need halters. We make sure they have plenty of water and everyone has their own salt lick. Again, like Linda, electrolytes on the really brutal days. One of my girls sweats from her ears to her tail, but when you put a hand on her, she usually doesn't feel excessively hot and if she has been in the shade, she actually feels cool.
Has your mare been in Florida long? If so, she should be used to it and is probably taking the change of temps better than you!  Take care and let us know how she is doing!
Charlayne
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - 8:00 am:
I don't think the magazines comment about sweating all over has much meaning. After all stress is a normal part of life. If they mean that swearing all over MIGHT mean the horse is not dealing effectively with the heat, well perhaps, and a review of vital signs and a thermometer will answer the question.
If my horses where soaked in sweat from head to tail and I had a relatively cool stall with a fan, I would probably bring her in for comfort but if when you take the temp it is not above 101.0 the horse is dealing fine with the heat. See the article for more on signs of heat stress.
LindaS's comment about dark horses is important. They absorb heat much more efficiently than light colored horses do which is the reason for the extra concern. When I briefly worked in FL we did not see overheated horses we saw a lot of heat prostrated cattle: all where Black Angus.
DrO
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Member:
Banthony
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - 9:37 am:
Charlayne, boy I wish it were 3! I hose off between 12 and 14 a day. Like yours, ours love it and no halter or coaxing is necessary. They fight over who will get hosed off first and most. Even the suckling loves water.
Yesterday was particularly hot and humid. One of our old guys had a respiration of over 100. He was breathing so fast and shallowly that his whole body was moving with his breathing. His head was hanging down and he was sweating profusely. I had to bring him up hose him off and put him under a fan for the rest of the day.
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