HOT, HAPPY, HORSES!

Welcome back Everybody!

I'm sorry once again for not posting for a while! Mommy and I have been busy!

Just this month, I went for a ride in a slant load trailer, all by myself for the very first time!

First time in a slant load!

Mommy and Lola had there first competition together!

Mommy & Lola

Mommy and Lorraine held Summer Camp for the kids!

Camp Kids!

And now Lola is recovering from a nasty pasture injury!...NO I DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT I SWEARZIES!

Lola's Ouchie

But enough about us, let's get to down to busy! Today I want to talk about Summer care for us horses.

Or more specifically, tips on how to help your equine friends deal with the heat wave!

So let's get started! Here are 4 of My Mommy's (TigerLily approved) 

HEAT HACKS:

1) MAKE SURE WE STAY HYDRATED - Just like with you humans, Horses need to make sure they stay hydrated, especially in the hot Summer months! Most of the time, when we are in our houses we do a pretty good job of making sure we drink enough water on our own.  To be sure that we remember to hydrate, you can buy us a salt or mineral block at any local tack or feed store to help us get our electrolytes. These will range in price from $5-$60 depending on size and quality.  

FUN FACT: If your horsie is constantly trying to lick your arms or eat dirt or sand off the ground, this could be a good indicator that they may not be getting enough salt or electrolytes in there diet!

However, what I'm really getting at is making sure we stay hydrated during work! 

Keeping a bucket of water next to the arena or bringing along a collapsible bucket or container on a long trail ride not only helps us stay hydrated but also keeps us cool and from suffering any heat related colic or exhaustion.

Mommy gives me and Lola a bucket of water while we stand at our tie rail before and after extended periods of work, this keeps us from getting too over heating on demanding days.

2) MANE-TAIN TEMPERATURE -  Many people do not realize that having a long mane can sometimes cause a horse discomfort during hot weather, the heat trapped beneath our stunning locks causes us to sweat  on our necks which in turn makes it difficult for us to stay cool and comfortable. 

Recently, Mommy was struck by the idea to put some of our manes into braids during the Summer. This helps promote air flow and makes it easier for us to stay cool, However if you use these "SWEAT BRAIDS" make sure you keep in mind that you may end up having to redo them several times a week to keep our hair healthy and tangle free! Lola wears sweat braids, as well as several of the other horses in Mommy's care.

Dolce modeling a new set of Mommy's sweat braids

3) WATCH OUT THAT WE DON'T GET OVERHEATED WHILE STABLED OR TURNED OUT - Getting overheated is no fun, especially for horses, being too hot can cause us to get sick! Some good ways to keep us cool include: Keeping us out of direct sunlight as much as possible, whether that means keeping us in the stable and switching our turn out time to the evenings when it's not so sunny or simply moving us to a more shaded area for outside time, doesn't matter. As long as we have at least the shade of a near by tree or man made structure of some sort, we should be just fine in that department.If shade is not an option for you horse, it might be beneficial to hose us down a few times everyday to help off set the heat. If that is too much work, you could also just wet our legs, manes and bellies. Another fun way to keep us cool is to fill a bucket or bowl with water and sliced carrots, apples or watermelon and put it in the freezer! When its frozen, put it in our stalls or pastures and let us nibble our "HORSIE POPSICLE" YUMMY! 

4) LIMIT STRENUOUS EXERCISE - It is best to keep heavy conditioning or more demanding exercise to the early mornings or late evenings on extremely hot days, this keeps us fit but also keeps us from overheating or getting cranky. If working in the heat cannot be helped, make sure that you remove our leg wraps or boots (if we are wearing any) during warm ups and cool downs to help our legs cool down at the same time that our body does. It is also important that we get offered drinking water as often as possible and that we get hosed off thoroughly and our legs are dry  before we go home.

Those are  4 tips Mommy has for hot horses! Hope they help keep your four legged friends comfortable this Summer! In our next post we will give you 4 more hot weather hacks!

Lots Of Kisses!

-TigerLily