Horse who doesn’t sweat ?

[FreshandMinty]

Are there any reasons that a horse wouldn’t really sweat much?

The horse in question was out of work all winter, so unfit coming back into work a couple of months ago. Workload has been being gradually increased but this horse never breaks a sweat! She is drinking plenty, on a vit&min balancer and has a salt lick. Should add that the horse is fairly new to me so Ive no idea if this is a new thing or not, just never come across it before and any of my others would have been sweating for sure, especially with the warm weather recently.

 

[Shay]

There is a recognized medical condition which causes horses not to sweat and which can be quite serious - anhidrosis. But I know from experience that horses with advanced cushings cannot sweat either. Bets to get your vet out to check. If she really cannot sweat she cannot cool appropriately and she will be in distress.

 

[Crazydancer]

Some horses sweat more than others though, we had 2 geldings at one time, and could ride both in the school and out on a hack, one would be need sponging off afterwards, but mine never sweated. Only time he would sweat is under the saddle a little if it was very warm, or if something really freaked him out - that didn't happen often but would get in a right lather if it did. I can even ride him out in full winter coat without a problem.
Worth checking, but it does vary.

 

[Goldenstar]

Anhidrosis , One of Fattys issues is not he suffers almost complete anhidrosis .
Your vet can diagnose this be injecting the skin with different strengths of adrenaline and watching how long it takes the horse to start sweating on the patches .
It's a serious condition , if fatty was an event horse he would be stuffed we get away with it because he's a hunter and works hard when it's cold even so we have to be very aware of it and manage round it .
If your horse is not sweating get the adrenaline test then if it shows Anhidrosis you have to manage it the best you can.
Don't listen to the vet if he or she says horses in the uk don't get anhidrosis if you're sure your horse is not sweating demand the test .
It took Fatty to run himself to a standstill out hunting I looked at the other horses running with sweat and thought the vet is wrong this horse is not normal .

 

[Brightbay]

My vet was quite understanding if a little surprised What they found most convincing was that the horse has coliced a couple of times, and despite being really unhappy and in pain, he didn't sweat - vet was saying "hmm, I would expect to see a lot of sweat here" and we were saying "he doesn't".

I don't think mine is as bad as Goldenstar's, but it takes a lot to see any sweat on him at all. He is happiest in winter, and quite lethargic as it gets warmer. On days with direct sunlight (i.e. not cloudy), he prefers not to move, and if we ask him, he will start to pant like a dog with his mouth open. After a three hour ride in (for Scotland) very warm temperatures, he had a sweat patch under part of his girth, nothing under the saddle or anywhere else.
Management wise, we now do very little - he lives out, can choose to stand in the shade in heat, and we sponge down and scrape off if he seems to be overheating (standing panting). He is at his worst if we get an unseasonably hot day in either early spring or early autumn... it's when the herd are on longer grass, and if he has a very full belly and it gets hot, he just can't cool himself down.

OP, best thing is to just watch how the horse reacts. If they get very lethargic, and you notice an increased respiration rate at rest but no sweat, just take steps to cool them down. You may find the horse is fine - I think there probably are a fair few horses with anhidrosis around the UK but the cooler temperatures means it just goes unnoticed where in Florida or Australia, it would be very obvious!

 

[Dizzle]

My mare sweats very rarely. She does sweat, for instance in an Ifor 505 she can be dripping with it, but she very rarely sweats during exercise, even when not particularly fit on a hot day, she will sometimes get a sweaty girth or maybe even the saddle patch but a large amount of sweat is very rare.

 

[mandwhy]

My mare doesn't sweat much, she has done recently as it has been humid and she gets it under the saddle patch etc, and she sweated a lot after an unexpectedly lunatic lunging session, but other than that not much if we lived in Scotland or somewhere cooler I think it would be very rare to see her sweat.

 

[Montyforever]

I don't think my little mare has ever sweated during exercise! The only times I've seen her sweat were when she was in severe pain, she gets the tiniest patch under her roller pad if it was a hard lunging session. Normal for her i guess!