Can i put a wet fly sheet on horse ??

[Muddywellies]

Dont mean to state the obvious but its a tad warm. My horse is black. He is wearing a full neck white cotton fly sheet and has a bit of shade in his fied which he does use (sometimes). If the stables were cooler and better ventilated I would have him in whilst its this hot (that has been normal routine when i had my own yard and better ventilated stables). To help him cool down a little, is is ok to wet his rug and put it on him to evaporate. I have heard this is bad and makes them hotter, but as physics/biology arent my strong point, i cant see why it would be bad.

Does anyone else wet their fly sheet and put it on horse wet to help them cool dow a little ??

 

[soulfull]

I would think the water in the rug would get hot before it dries so personally I wouldn't

 

[Zero00000]

Id have thought it would burn more?

But may be corrected

 

[circuit dancer]

Tbh I have and everyone on my yard does this Just soak horse and rug

 

[Muddywellies]

Hmmm, conflicting views here. I can see reason for both views. Are there any scientists out there who can comment (??) cheers

 

[Fjord]

If you put water on your hands then dry them off in the sunshine they don't get too hot as the water evaporates. Imagine if you go for a swim in the sea, you can come out and run around the beach to dry off with no ill effects, you could easily do it with a t shirt on and not burn as the t shirt dries. I can't see how it would hurt a horse.

 

[lannerch]

If you put in wet clothes or have a water fight does it burn?
A bit of common sense is called for here.
The science is Evaporating water has a cooling effect hope that helps

 

[lannerch]

Cooling effect iPhone changed sorry.... have now amended with computer

 

[Cheiro1]

It's fine when it's fairly hot and evaporates quickly.

Water has a very high "specific heat capacity" which means it holds temperature, so if you put water on a hot horse it holds the heat on the horse, which is why you should always sweat scrape. BUT evaporation in it's action is cooling so I cannot imagine in this weather the horse would get overheated

 

[angelish]

pleased to read the later posts as i have just soaked my horse and his rug and for a minuet there i though i might have BBQ'd him

 

[mandwhy]

I think it would evaporate personally, especially since the sun can't really get through the rug. I think the hot water thing is because the hairs hold the water against the skin, but even then it will still evaporate, I don't really believe it but I sweat scrape because the horses don't like dripping (although quite often they go and roll straight away and I think, yeah that'll do).

Have you ever been out with wet hair and it has heated up your head? Or go in the pool/sea in a vest top and be scolded when it starts to dry? I don't think so, but I'm open to scientific proof of this phenomenon

 

[Jinx94]

It won't be a problem, but personally I would avoid doing this on muggy/humid days as the water will take much longer to evaporate and so will heat up and keep your horse warmer.

 

[Love]

Evaporation requires energy to happen, and gets it from its surroundings hence the cooling effect on your skin as the energy is used

 

[Shadow the Reindeer]

http://www.equisearch.com/uncategorized/cooling-out-hot-horse/

 

[Cheiro1]

Have you ever been out with wet hair and it has heated up your head? Or go in the pool/sea in a vest top and be scolded when it starts to dry? I don't think so, but I'm open to scientific proof of this phenomenon

Have you ever felt how hot the water goes on a hot horse?

If that lingered on the horses skin all it is doing is holding all that heat against the horse!

As said above, on muggy/humid days it would not evaporate quick enough so the heat would be held on the horse.

No one is saying it would scold, more just it isn't exactly cooling!

 

[ribbons]

Never mind the science try common sense.
I have been unbearably hot today. Several times I have removed my shirt, run it under cold tap, squeezed it out and put it back on. It's pure heaven and I stay cooler for a while even after its dried out.
At no point did the wet shirt become warm on my skin.

 

[lannerch]

At last common sense prevails!

 

[Muddywellies]

Many thanks for all the answers.

I do tent to apply logic to most situations, but I am fair skinned and not hairy , unlike my horse who is black and obviously furry. Yes, I know that when you get out of a swimming pool you don't 'cook' as the water evaporates, but as I said , I have pale smooth skin which doesnt retain as much water as my dark haired horse. Therefore it was difficult for me to apply a theory that may work for me, to my horse. Also, i did read the link which someone forwarded to me which was interesting - thank you for that. It suggests not putting a cooler on a horse. My reason for putting one on him is that he is black and obviously would really get hot in the direct sun, and i hoped the white sheet may have reflected some of the sun's rays. So im a bit confused about that now too ?? He does have a little shade in his field put like most horses, will he use it - no. Daft horse !

So, to compomise, I have been putting the hosepipe on him between his front legs, under his belly and between his back legs. I didnt put it across his back. He actually seemed to quite like it - his face was a picture. Sort of - Ahhhhh thanks mum

 

[khalswitz]

Soaking a horse has the same action as sweating - to cool them down as it evaporates. All soaking the rug does is cool them down more as you have an insulation layer that maintains the temperature drop during evaporation. Having dealt with horses with heatstroke this week the advice was to bring them into shade, soak horse, then put thin cotton sheet on, then soak cotton sheet and keep soaked. Cools the horse right down.

Don't see how scientifically a horse could burn by soaking it in water... to cause any burns, the water has to reach a temperature of over 45 degrees, which if it starts off cool then the air temperature, in the sun, has to be over that to heat the water. And the water would evaporate quicker than it would take to equilibrate at that temperature.

Edit: from a personal perspective too, when white water rafting we are recommended not to wear thin cotton tshirts as they can cause heat loss when on the water - if they get continually wet, and dry, and wet again, they cool down the body enough to start shivering and eventually cause hypothermia. Even on cold days we are told to wear as few layers as possible and to wear quick drying types - if not just a wetsuit.

 

[Zero00000]

Oops yes I forgot, I dont have any common sense

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I've tended to take fly sheets off both my two and THEN either wash them down old-fashioned style with water & a bucket OR just turn the hose on them, which they've loved! BUT yesterday evening I thought I'd do what OP was wondering about and just left their rugs in place while I did it.

They were fine with it, and enjoyed the experience, BUT the one thing I did find was that in seconds, the horse-flies had gathered for a feast - and gathered in hordes over the wet rugs, and presumably were more able to bite through the wetness of the rug right onto the horses, and seemed to realise they could too.

So just be aware that this just might happen. Blimmin horseflies.

 

[khalswitz]

I've tended to take fly sheets off both my two and THEN either wash them down old-fashioned style with water & a bucket OR just turn the hose on them, which they've loved! BUT yesterday evening I thought I'd do what OP was wondering about and just left their rugs in place while I did it.

They were fine with it, and enjoyed the experience, BUT the one thing I did find was that in seconds, the horse-flies had gathered for a feast - and gathered in hordes over the wet rugs, and presumably were more able to bite through the wetness of the rug right onto the horses, and seemed to realise they could too.

So just be aware that this just might happen. Blimmin horseflies.

This is actually so true. I've found this when bathing my boy (we are on reclaimed marsh so midges are awful and cleggs even worse).