Box rest in this heat- in wooden stable. Any ideas for cooling please

[Spottyappy]

One of our horses has a broken Patella. We are into week 10 approx of 16 weeks box rest.
All has been going to plan, and the horse is doing well.
Until this heatwave,when the poor boy is sweating like mad and really struggling In the stable.
we have a very very tiny area (stable size) we can pop him in while we muck out, but we can not risk him being out there alone,as we don’t live on site. There is also no shelter on that area.
I can put a small electric tape fence up elsewhere, but the main criteria is to keep him still, to allow the healing to continue.so, even walking him to it is not idea, but is that compromise better than him over heating inside
we don’t have electric, so I can’t put fans in. He’s a welsh cob, though, so would probably eat them anyway.
Any other ideas for helping him stay cooler.
I am about part of the day to hose him, but I have also been Ill, and am not 100% well yet to input my usual efforts.
Any other ideas appreciated.TIA.

 

[tda]

Could you buy some little rechargeable fans and put them somewhere he can't reach, or of you have good drainage set up a water misting area

 

[Dave's Mam]

Soaked fly rug?

 

[Spottyappy]

Could you buy some little rechargeable fans and put them somewhere he can't reach, or of you have good drainage set up a water misting area

thanks, I do have a rechargeable fan, but not sure he woudlnt manage to eat it as he’s like a giraffe when he tries…. Not good drainage either, but in this weather, I Imagine the water woudl just bounce off anyway. I do actually have a misting system, but not sure how effective it would be, but could try it I guess. Thanks

 

[Melody Grey]

Freezing water in ice cream tubs/ buckets and putting them infront of fans (out of reach, especially for a welshie ) would help.

 

[Melody Grey]

thanks, I do have a rechargeable fan, but not sure he woudlnt manage to eat it as he’s like a giraffe when he tries…. Not good drainage either, but in this weather, I Imagine the water woudl just bounce off anyway. I do actually have a misting system, but not sure how effective it would be, but could try it I guess. Thanks

Re: misting, be careful that you don’t just increase the humidity- makes it much more difficult for animals/ people to sweat and can be a killer.

 

[Melody Grey]

Off the wall suggestion, but if your roofing material is dark in colour, a white tarp (secured!!) over the top might help to deflect some rays….though hopefully it’ll be cooling down in a few days!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Something like this? You could even put it in the freezer dry I would think too, I used to do that with coolers when travelling a hot horse
https://equinice.co.uk/products/rap...SedERkMKU8UfFzSabz97geaCmh3kd-tRoC1VkQAvD_BwE

 

[Puzzled]

I’d clip him out….it’s amazing how thick their coats are even now.

 

[Spottyappy]

Soaked fly rug?

The only problem with that is, with not living on site, would he over heat when it dries out?

 

[Dave's Mam]

The only problem with that is, with not living on site, would he over heat when it dries out?

Good point, we changed ours every couple of hours last year when it was 40 degrees. They did seem cooler, although the barn is open fronted and quite airy. Just a thought.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Dave doing his Wet T Shirt day.

 

[MereChristmas]

We cut a window hole in the high back wall and made a small ‘door’ to fit it. When open it created a through draught. A fan helped the air move through.

 

[Honey08]

I feel your pain. We have one on box rest in a wooden stable too. We’ve got fans running and on Wednesday, when there was absolutely no breeze at all, I wet them with sponges (soaked the mane and tail too, as it takes longer to dry). And absolutely soaked the haynets too. We have a misting system too, but it’s not mega. We have it on the overhang- so they can put their heads under if they want. Weirdly mares seem to use it more than geldings (highly scientific research - based on two mares and two geldings!!)