How hot is too hot for you all to ride?

MDB

MDB

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As title really. Currently I am trying to get my two horses fitter. When I ride I go out for about 2 hours hacking up and down quite steep hills. They aren't particularly fit, huffing and puffing uphill, so mostly we do just walking and a bit of trotting for now.
I plan my rides very much around temperatures, cloud cover and breeze. I feel it is too hot for them to be out working when it is over about 23 and sunny. The sun is so strong here (Spain) and within 5 mins in the sun you feel it. For the past couple of days it has been sizzling here which means I am not getting out at all, it's too hot, and temps aren't falling low enough at night to be cool enough to ride early morning or late evening with reasonable light. I would need to hack after dark or before dawn.. and with wild boar, deer and wolves I won't be doing that. Fortunately it's due to cool down in 3-4 days.. I am just impatient and eager to be out.
I just wondered how hot is too hot for you all. It would be interesting to see your replies. :)
 
About 30 degrees I try to do less fast work but still ride.

Tbh, as long as the horse is fit and working within their capability, I think they cope much better than us humans and actually the thing more likely to stop me riding in the heat, are the blasted horse flies!!
 
That's interesting. You obviously have very fit horses :D Wish mine were!
However I did read that horses can overheat up to 10 times faster than humans, so based on that I have been very cautious, maybe overcautious with my two. Definitely agree with the horse flies... and regular flies, and bots! grrr, hate them ;)
 
Yes, I'm more bothered by horseflies too! Plus since I'm only trundling my oldie out once a week at most, the chances of that coinciding with a hot day is minimal, especially this summer!

Seriously though, I personally wouldn't ride over 25 degrees now because I'd rather not, but in my youth I doubt if anything would have stopped me, summer or winter!
 
millitiger said:
About 30 degrees I try to do less fast work but still ride.

Tbh, as long as the horse is fit and working within their capability, I think they cope much better than us humans and actually the thing more likely to stop me riding in the heat, are the blasted horse flies!!
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^^ this :)
I'm personally not very good at hot weather (tend to get headaches and feel a bit generally foggy) so try to ride first or last thing, but the horses are absolutely fine in the middle of the day, even if we all sweat buckets on a hard session ;)

Nice long wash down afterwards, plenty of drinking water and electrolytes if they have worked hard enough, and they are right as rain afterwards.
 
It is rarely too hot to ride over here, what I would do is reduce the length of the rides to no more than 1 hour instead of 2 and go out every day to increase the fitness and condition them, on returning home a good hose down to get their temperatures down quickly will help, the fitter they are the better they will cope and the puffing up hills should get less obvious.
When you think about how well endurance horses cope in racing over extreme distances in the desert I would not be too concerned with walking yours out, if you can manage they should be fine.
 
I do think it depends on the horse as well, I have one who doesn't see to notice the heat and will be happy and forward in hot weather whereas my other horse gets hot very quickly and slows down noticeably so I try to ride her early. I don't like riding when the temp gets over 20 if I can avoid it, but I don't think it does them any harm especially steady hacking.
 
When my sis worked in the south of France with 3day eventers, they always worked their horses very early in the morning...ie from 6 am on board and working...all stopped from about 10 am until 4 pm for rest of jobs mucking out etc...so it's a case of getting up early in the hotter temps! Avoid the flies too!
 
One of mine positively hates the heat and it is difficult to push him into a trot, he's semi-retired now and just plods anyway! My others, in comparison don't seem to mind but I prefer to ride in cooler temperatures when the flies aren't out in force snacking on me constantly.
 
As others have said we don't really get much extreme weather here so it's seldom a consideration. Having said that, I hate the heat and sweat buckets. I tend to wimp out of serious schooling much above 25 degrees, especially if it's muggy, but we've never had weather so hot as to put me off a gentle hack.
 
Anything over 30 and I will likely hack instead of school.

Anything over 35 (when I used to ride in South Africa this was common) and I'll probably take it very easy, take them for short hack or a swim or not ride.

It does depend on the horse and how well-adjusted they are to heat. I rode my Arab in 35+ no problem. The thb and warmbloods would probably not go out.
 
It depends on the horse, if I'm sweating poo picking in a vest top then it's way too hot to ride, well for my cob anyway but bless her she will get sweaty just thinking about being ridden on a warm day, my Anglo though seems to deal with heat much better and has been ridden on very hot days (not by me) and never breaks a sweat
 
As a child, rode a dressage test in 36oC. Hasn't been that hot since moving to UK...was 26oC at Areas once, and also did Spooky Pony's second 60k in 26oC. He started drinking really early into the ride, at about 10k, and kept drinking well the whole day, had a very fast presentation at the vet gate, and generally did superbly. On his 80k last year, it was also unusually warm (not sure how warm), and he already had some of his winter coat in. Again, he drank well throughout, presented to the vet in under a minute, and was fine on metabolics. Seemed completely happy in the warmth.

In Canada, temperatures in the 30s are common in the summer. We still rode. Of course, the horses were used to it.
 
Hi D!! being that both of yours are Spanish and bred there you should be ok to ride them the same as me here, i tend to draw the line at 30 but that's more for me than them, to be honest it's the flies that bother them both and never the heat,( the PRE prefers it) i ride at about 8 for 2-3 hours mostly hill work but not too much fast at the moment, just a couple of canters, mostly fast walk and trot. I never ride in the afternoons.
hope all's well with you, hot here too now , over 32 most days! xxxxx
 
20* - 25* for me, depending on humidity. The horses are generally fine but due to a neurological condition I have no internal thermostat and overheat really easily to the point of blacking out!
 
Hello everyone. Thanks for your replies. Seems to be general consensus that it depends on the horse. But maybe I have been a little over cautious with my two. :)
 
Very dependent on the horse. If it's hot and they really do need riding, we go to the woods where it's cool and shaded. Otherwise we ride early morning or late evening in the school.
 
I've lived in Hong Kong and also spend a lot of time in Spain, and never seen any issues with horses and heat. In HK I would ride as early in the morning as possible, but TBH due to the humidity it made little difference! It was almost always over 30 and 70-90% humidity during the summer months. I'd always have plenty of walk breaks when schooling and do a good wash down afterwards.

Spain heat is different (direct sun, cooler mornings) - riding early and sticking to shady areas definitely helps. A friend of mine runs riding holidays in Andalucia and they ride from 8.30 - 12.30/1 during summer, either in the forest or on the beach, and her horses all cope fine, even the PREx heavy horses. They do quite a few canters and gallops with long walks in between.
 
If I feel too warm then I tend to put off riding until it's cooler. Agree with everyone else some horses are ok , others not so. My cob will ŵork and be happy my Clydesdale gets uncomfortable and unhappy in any thing over 20 degrees. The worst thing is the flies, even saturated in spray my Clyde is a magnet for horse flies. He was dripping blood and sweat during a lesson the other day from his sheath , had to finish it early as it was not fair .
 
I used to work riding horses in Tuscany, most of the summer would be 35 - 40 degrees and horses would do 3-6 hours a day, mostly walk, short bursts of trot/canter/gallop and of course those famous tuscan hills :) although we would avoid the heat of the day as much as poss so in reality we would be riding in temps up to about 35.

Horses were super fit, even the cobs and native types were fine in this heat. If horses are used to it and you give plenty of walk breaks and don't ride in middle of the day you should be fine.
 
My Welsh Sec D is adamant that sun means sleepy time so anything over around 20 degrees he does rather plod. I still happily ride him up to 26 degrees, any hotter than that and I would make sure to ride early to avoid the heat as he clearly doesn't like it.

OP - for your horses I would ride in up to 30 degrees as they should be well adjusted to the climate. If you can, ride in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat.
 
My very hairy fell pony begins melting and panting in the high teens. I hose him off and plait all his mane and tail, ride him morning or evening. Once it hit 20+ I wouldn't be able to ride :(
 
I try not to do to much once it gets above 25C -which means riding first thing (before 7am) and last thing (after 8pm).

I have poor a metabolic status, and tend to overheat rather quickly, and I've made myself very ill on several occasions by riding mid afternoon.

My ponies, being black, feel the heat more than the bays and chestnuts on the yard, and they also become more lethargic in the heat. No problems with sweating though as they both sweat buckets! I give them plenty of salt in their dinner to compensate, especially after exercise.
 
All very interesting and varied answers. It's 30 odd degrees today. Horses are refusing to move from their shelter. Except to get water. I cannot even be bothered to poo pick! No riding today. Did have a short ride around the property last night at 9pm. It was still 25deg and too hot for both of us. Stopped after 20 mins. Lol. Roll on autumn!
 
Probably mid 20s if schooling/fast hack, and late 20s if slow hacking (i.e. walk/trot), my horse is a TB and although he gets sweaty, he copes well with working on hot days. If I were based in a hot country (I'm in SE England!) then I would just get on with it, and plan the work to get my horse slowly aclimatised to working in a warmer climate.
Of course an unfit/unhealthy horse would struggle more than a fit and healthy one, so you may find that if you keep plugging away they will get fitter and cope better with heat.
 
Wow you lot still ride when i can't!!

I fail to function when it's over about 22, i can't abide warmth and it makes me so grumpy. My ideal all year temperature would be about 16!
 
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