With hotter summers and record-breaking temperatures becoming the new normal in the Northern Hemisphere, it is increasingly important to keep our horses comfortable in warm weather.

Horses have an average thermoneutral zone of around 5 °C to 25 °C, meaning they can maintain their internal body temperature relatively easily when their environment is within this range. However, this may vary depending on the breed of horse and the climate in which it normally lives: A horse in Australia is more accustomed to heat than a horse in Sweden. Nevertheless, it's a good rule of thumb to know when to take action against the heat!

Want to know how to keep your horses safe in the summer heat? Read these tips:

1. Provide shade and ventilation

“Horses should be outside as much as possible.” Yes, but this includes providing an appropriate environment. Being outside on a nice summer day? Sure. Being outside with the full concentrated power of the sun on you? No. 
If your outdoor areas don't already have shade from trees or shelters, make sure you provide some! Examples include shade sails, livestock umbrellas and tents. For small ponies, however, vehicles such as horse trucks and trailers can also provide shade. It might not be ideal, but it's better than nothing. 
Remember that the sun moves throughout the day, so shaded areas will move too. Ideally, your horse should have access to shade all day. If that is not possible, make sure your horse has access to shade during the hottest hours of the day at least.

Do you have stables? Make sure they are well ventilated. These buildings tend to trap heat and become like saunas. Once they are well ventilated and sufficiently cooled down, they can provide a good alternative to the outside world, depending on how accustomed your horse is to indoor living. Indoor arenas are a great alternative too, offering both space and shelter from the sun.
It might be a good idea to switch it up with horses that only go outdoors during the day and are stabled at night: Keep them indoors during the day when it's hot and let them run outside at night when it cools down.

2. Limit Exercise

Most of us don’t like working out in the summer heat, and neither does your horse! Exercise can cause body temperature to rise quickly, and cooling down is much harder in hot weather, especially humid heat. Since most of us don't have the luxury of air-conditioned indoor arenas and stables, high-intensity jumping exercises in the afternoon are a no-go. 

- Adjust your training schedule depending on how severe the heat is.
- Train only early in the morning, or late in the evening.
- Limit the amount of time spent on training. 
- Choose less strenuous activities like walk-trot exercises, light groundwork or, if available, a short trailride through a forest or other shaded areas. You can even go to the beach or lake when it's not yet too hot, and take them in to cool down. 
- Even better: Do nothing at all! Horses don’t need daily exercise. They might need mental enrichment, but this can be offered in different ways.


Source: Robin Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3. Hose them down.

And don’t be afraid to use cold water. Luke-warm is fine, but so is cold. The notion of horses hosed down with cold water having their muscles tied up and getting into shock due to vasoconstriction are myths. Cold water from the hose is generally around 10-15°C.  Should you use water with ice cubes floating in there? Also no. It would be quite unpleasant and it's not necessary to go through that for just a simple bath. 

To cool the horse down faster, you can use a sweat scraper to remove the old water while applying new cold water. However, this is not necessary. Nor is it necessary to use a sweat scraper at the end of the bath. Tap water conducts; it does not insulate. Any water left on the horse may become hot, but this is because the horse's heat is transferring through the water, not because the water is heating up the horse.

As stated in tip number 2, another option is to go to a large body of water and see if the horse wants to go in. However, don't push too hard if they seem stressed! Stress can quickly heat up the body, so what should be a relaxing, cooling swim can turn into a distressing, heated situation if you don’t make sure your horse is comfortable.

4. Offer enough water

Make sure plenty of water is available. Again: Don’t be afraid of cold water, and don’t wait until the horse is already cooled down. They can drink while still sweating. There’s no reliable proof of it causing colic. 

Using larger troughs may encourage horses to drink more than they would from smaller buckets. Use fresh water and clean the troughs/buckets regularly to prevent bacterial growth. Providing multiple options, perhaps including one with additional flavouring such as apple juice, can also encourage horses to drink more.

Another way to increase water intake is to feed soaked or steamed hay. 

Fun fact: your horse won’t actually cool down from eating frozen treats. However, it's still a fun way to treat your horse in hot weather and provide some enrichment. But don't give them too much. That actually might cause upset tummies.

5. Sunscreen

Horses with pink skin can get sunburnt, so make sure you apply some horse-safe sun cream to areas with no hair or just a thin layer of hair.

How do you adjust your horse-activities during the heatwaves? Did your horse manage, or did you have to take additional measures to keep them comfortable?


Source: Heather Moreton, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons