How to keep your horse cool in summer!

When summer comes around, all the different opinions of horse people come out. Whether fly masks help or not, whether to hose your horse or not, whether to use ice and then there's the people who believe horses do just fine on their own in the heat without any additional care. Well, I'm not here to tell you exactly what's right or wrong, I'm here to share MY personal opinion.

Horses carry a lot of weight even without a rider on them, so its important in the summer months to make sure your horse is hydrated and full of electrolytes. Some people ice their horses water, which is awesome, but they tend to do just fine without it too. Electrolytes are great to add to your horses feeding in the summer months as well. They are easily affordable and super great if your horse sweats a lot. Most people use Farnam Elite Electrolytes Horse Supplement, 5.38 lb. at Tractor Supply Co., But my two favorites are Celtic Sea Salt Selina Natural Horse Electrolytes, 1 lb. at Tractor Supply Co. and DuMOR Electrolast Electrolyte Supplement for Horses, 5 lb. at Tractor Supply Co. There are soooo many different types of electrolytes, some are to add to water, but my favorites are feed supplements due to the fact that my horse has many different pens with different water troughs. Though the water supplements tend to be a bit cheaper. Now, lets get into how to cool your horse off after a workout or a day in the sun.

My favorite way to cool my horse down is a nice cold hose on the legs. Some horses don't enjoy water, but sometimes its just what they need to cool down. If your hosing your horses entire body down, you should always end with scraping the excess water off with a Horze 1-Hand Horse Sweat Scraper at Tractor Supply Co. making sure there is no water dripping off the horse. In high temperature circumstances, the water can heat up on the horse resulting in a heat stroke. This is not something to skip out on as it can be severe.

Ice pops are a great way to cool down your horse. By adding water & apple juice to a plastic cup with a string then freeze until solid and tie it with the string to your horses pen. The horses will lick the block throughout the day to cool them off. Or you can simply freeze an apple and let them munch on it for while.

A quick tip to check your horses temperature is my feeling the heat on their chest. If it is warmer than your hand, they have a pretty high temperature and should not eat until they are cooled down. If its the same as your hand, perfect.

Water logging is something a lot of people don't believe happen in horses, but like I said, I'm sharing my personal opinions. If your horse has a high temperature, I recommend offering water in little amounts. Try a gallon every 10 minutes. Some horses will chug an entire bucket because they think they are thirsty, but really, they just need a little at a time. Mashes are a great way to hydrate your horse. Some people use dried alfalfa, some use beet pulp, or grain. I use regular hay. What you do is fill a bucket with hay (or your preferred forage), then simply fill it with water. The horse will eat the hay drinking the water slowly as they eat.

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