My pony suffers in the summer heat - any advice?

[icklejem]

There's nothing physically wrong with him - he just seems to get hotter than any other pony I've ever had. He gets lethargic sometimes at competitions when it's the hottest part of the day.

I clip him right out for the summer; he's fit and active. He's a really fizzy, fun ride and lives off thin air and a handful of Dengie, 16+ mix, Cortaflex and garlic. During the summer I keep him in during the day and out at night, plastered in fly repellant, with a mesh mask on. I compete pretty much every other weekend during the summer, which means I'm asking him to work his hardest during the hottest part of the day, when I've effectively turned him nocturnal during the week, so I'm asking him to work when he's normally asleep

/ I hose him down to keep him cool in between sessions but wondered if anyone has any advice on how to keep him comfy and cool??

 

[Tia]

We get searing temperatures over here in the Summer and I rig up a hose sprinkler contraption onto my field fences and a couple of times every day I turn the hosepipes on. My horses all love to come and stand underneath their cold showers. My horses do nothing in the heat of the day though, all our activities are first thing in the morning or later at night and so far all the shows we have been to have been reasonably cool days or there has been a nice breeze in the air.

I think the only thing you can do, if you are out competing, is to sponge him down lots of times during the day with cool water.

I shouldn't worry about the "sleeping time" - horses only sleep for a very short time each day, so it's just a different schedule he is on at weekends and I'm sure he's used to it as presumably you ride him during the days aswell.

 

[MagicMelon]

You can always throw a white mesh sheet over him when he's standing about to reflect the suns rays a bit. I do this with my hot horse as he's black so gets hotter than most.

Otherwise I would just make sure he's topped up with electrolytes and has access to cold water all the time.

 

[Worried1]

Electrolytes are really important for horses that compete regularly and/or sweat. There is a lot research going on at the moment to do with performance and electrolytes so it is worth speaking to your vet or a nutritionist.
Because we have restricted our horses access to food we have also restricted their access to minerals and salts. In the wild they would roam for their requirements and obviously they can't do that anymore.
It is important to replace salts and minerals lost through sweating and peeing and these are not always found in high enough quantities in Horse feed (even top quality feeds). The addition of electrolyets might be worth a try but make sure you first seek proper advice to ensure you get the right dosage and product suitable for your horse. NAF feeds do one and they have a nutritionist that you can speak to. Nettex products do one as well.
Let us know how you get on this summer

 

[AmyMay]

I assume as part of his daily ration you give him elctrolytes???