riding a wet horse, what do you do?

[zigzag]

I would ride, and if they was muddy on his/her back would hose off first quick rub with towel then tack up, god when was teaching if I had to wait for a few hours for ponies to dry off, my clients wouldn't have had their lessons. Used to start teaching at 9am...

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Why would the horse have cold muscles if it isn't cold ? Riding a warm, but wet horse is different to riding a shivering, tucked up horse.
If the horse is very cold, common sense would tell you to put a fleece on and give it some hay until it warmed up, wouldn't it ?
Other wise if the horse is just wet, I stick a sheepskin saddle pad and girth cover on and ride. I always do 10 minutes or so warm up and warm down during every session anyway, so can't see a problem in riding.

There are so many modern wicking fabrics on the market nowadays, that rubs shouldn't be a problem as long as there's no wet mud on the tack areas.

 

[springtime1331]

I've always avoided putting a saddle on a wet horse but I do wonder what the difference is between water under the saddle and sweat? Obviously if the back was muddy or gritty it would be different

 

[Mince Pie]

Am I missing something here? If a horse is coming in from the field cold then it needs a rug on - rain or no rain. Also I see no difference between muscles that aren't warmed up as presumably you would warm up your horse when you get on?

In answer to the original question, I'll tack up and ride a wet horse, I've never had any problems resulting from this. If a horse is sweaty and it's raining but still warm then I'll wash off and put out naked, if it's cold then I wait for the horse to dry before rugging appropriately.

 

[el_Snowflakes]

If just towel off & put a cooler on for a bit beforehand to make sure horse was dry-ish & warm

 

[NZJenny]

Sorry, but finding this all a bit strange. Endurance horses get wet, really wet. We put a lot of water on them and if they are still wet when it is time to go out on the next loop then the gear goes on and they go out. No time to wait for them to dry - if they havn't. In 15 years have never had anything rub or anything horrible happen. And it never occured to me to not to ride, simply becuase the horse was wet and in getting them moving again, they actually dry off much quicker than if they were just standing around. Just saying.

 

[tallyho!]

As the weather is mild but wet I wonder what you guys do when it comes to riding

Do you stick a light weight on and accept that they will be warm?

Do you leave naked and tack up a wet horse? or try to dry it off before tacking it up?

I've just gone to ride got the horse in and by time I was ready to tack him up it was pretty heavy and he was pretty wet, I didn't have a clean towel to dry him off with, so I've bailed and haven't ridden! he will be 4 next week, is a very warm horse, so hasn't been rugged for over a month, and I don't want his saddle to rub him and make him sore!!

As you can see, the OP has said "as the weather is MILD".

I've tried looking but she hasn't stipulated that the horse is shivering or frozen to the spot. Only that he was wet.

Most answers have been sensible - towel dry, ensure no mud/gritty bits at girth/saddle area, stick on a numnah and kick on.

 

[montanna]

My horse wouldn't be getting wet in the first place? And certainly wouldn't be getting cold! She is thoroughly groomed every day so hasn't got a waterproof coat, if rain is forecast she would be wearing a no fill turnout. Simples?!

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

I would totally put tack on a wet horse. How else can Endurance riders cope after the vet gates, when the horse is likely to be soaked? As long as I'm using an appropriately absorbent numnah, I don't see an issue.

concur.

as long as theres some sort of pad between damp horse and saddle, all will be well.really it will!

 

[MerrySherryRider]

My horse wouldn't be getting wet in the first place? And certainly wouldn't be getting cold! She is thoroughly groomed every day so hasn't got a waterproof coat, if rain is forecast she would be wearing a no fill turnout. Simples?!

I must be the only idiot who puts a no fill rug on when it doesn't rain and leaves them naked when it does rain. I never get it right despite obsessively checking the hourly weather forecast.

 

[Merrymoles]

I'd always rather have a wet horse than a too hot wet horse so my lad is out naked whenever it is mild enough. I can bring him in so will scrape or towel dry worst off, tack up and go.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I'd always rather have a wet horse than a too hot wet horse so my lad is out naked whenever it is mild enough. I can bring him in so will scrape or towel dry worst off, tack up and go.

I'd agree with you but one of mine dislikes rain dripping down her belly and so does a very thorough job of caking herself in thick mud if she gets wet. Being muddy is fine, I don't mind, but jet washing it off before riding is a pain. Blooming mare.

 

[Lucyad]

I imagine that none of the 'don't ride a wet horse' live in the west coast of Scotland! I'm just thankful that the rain has been heavy enough to give them a wash if they aren't caked in mud, and plonk the saddle on (with absorbent pad). I don't even scrape tbh, the grease in their coats prevents the water being absorbed - it just runs off. I only find that they are saturated when bathed with detergent which I avoid, particularly on bits like backs that need protection from the rain.

 

[Annagain]

I'd never tack up a wet horse..... I'd stay at home with a load of chocolate and crisps and watch the Breaking Bad box set. This is what EVERYONE should do when it rains.

 

[OldNag]

This is where a Thermatex numnah comes into its own. I got one on ebay a while back and it's just brilliant for this sort of occasion. Can't find any more second hand so saving up for a new one!

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I'd never tack up a wet horse..... I'd stay at home with a load of chocolate and crisps and watch the Breaking Bad box set. This is what EVERYONE should do when it rains.

Away with you, Satan.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

I must be the only idiot who puts a no fill rug on when it doesn't rain and leaves them naked when it does rain. I never get it right despite obsessively checking the hourly weather forecast.

aint it the way lol! mine are rarely naked as hate the flies so generally if its too warm for LW they have a fly sheet one anyway so dont get properly soaked or muddy/gritty anyway but as long as its clean damp i dont see the problem in tacking up.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Sorry, but finding this all a bit strange. Endurance horses get wet, really wet. We put a lot of water on them and if they are still wet when it is time to go out on the next loop then the gear goes on and they go out. No time to wait for them to dry - if they havn't. In 15 years have never had anything rub or anything horrible happen. And it never occured to me to not to ride, simply becuase the horse was wet and in getting them moving again, they actually dry off much quicker than if they were just standing around. Just saying.

This, especially the last bit. If a horse comes in from the field shivering and wet the quickest way to warm it up and dry it off is to ride. I can only assume all those going on about warm muscles versus cold muscles as a reason not to ride a wet horse must be the kind of people who walk half a circuit of the arena then start cantering and jumping :rolleyes3: Surely any decent rider takes as long for the warm up as the horse needs? I have no problem walking my horse for 45min if thats what it takes to loosen his stiff muscles/arthritic joints.

 

[pip6]

Endurance horses get drenched (sloshed) on course (& before starting a race in the summer so they start wet), come into a vet gate, get drenched, in hot weather with icy water, vetted, then probably washed properly whilst resting in the vet hold having passed the vet (usually 20-30min), resaddled then start work again. Of course you can tack them up wet, though there is a reason why we don't use leather bridles as after 40km it would be stiff & rubbing. Also a reason why many of us use sheepskin, or pure wool numnahs! Natural fibres are brilliant next to the skin. There is a massive difference between a wet horse (which I would work) & a dirty wet horse (who I would clean first) where the dirt would rub. I wouldn't over rug, we have a tb who gets overheated in rugs so is naked all year. How would you feel being made to wear a raincoat when you needed to loose heat?

But then we have different ideas to most traditional horse sports. We feed our horses during a ride (metabolics such as good gut sounds checked every vet gate), allow them to drink whilst working, don't dehydrate them prior to racing infact use food to help create a water reservoir in the gut, cool them with ice water in hot conditions.