Shows and the heat

I don't think blanket bans are a good idea. We were at the Great Yorkshire Show yesterday and while it was hot, most of the animals were coping well. The key is to have really good cooling facilities and fans in the stock areas.

Did see one sheep in the pens that didn't look well but the sheep steward immediately rang for the vet who came within minutes and when we passed later the sheep was up and looked much better.
 
I agree with you - the heat has been pretty bad lately.

On a side note, my youngest daughter had her sports day today (secondary school). The temperature was 24° just after 9 am. They were outside until lunchtime. Despite factor 50 she still caught the sun. There was no shade, so she (along with a few hundred other kids) had to sit in the blazing sun for about 4 hours. 😡
 
The vast majority of fun rides & shows locally have been postponed/cancelled with the riding schools mostly postponing all lessons or going ahead if they have an indoor with less intense classes etc which I think is sensible. Its 31 today & predicted to be 33 tomorrow. One or two of the bigger shows still going ahead though. Me personally I couldn't do it, I worry enough mine are out all day in it as I have no stables at the moment, just the odd tree - never mind jumping!
 
25 is a bit low but once temps get over 30 I think riders do need to consider welfare - I hadn't realised until a David Marlin post that there are regulations over travelling animals over 30 degrees for starters

Most of the venues won't be able to get insurance for cancelling in hot weather so have to leave it up to competitors to withdraw. I do think some let their competitive nature rule over common sense though.
 
The 30 degree rule for travelling would have an effect in itself.

There's an international endurance event not too far from me this weekend - those take place in very hot places successfully and the horses will be trained to drink, will be kept wet etc. So I can understand how someone might go to that. Me and my ordinary ponies? Not a chance - we're staying home!!
 
Agree probably not blanket bans.
I was chatting about this with my farrier yesterday though. He said his daughters were due to attend a local show on Sunday, the forcast here is 31 i think. The ground is absolutely baked.
He said its a yearly dog/pony show and they had cancelled the dog classes but ponies were still running at that point.
I think that's silly, as he said most entries are likely kids like his on little unfit ponies ridden by children who wont want to stop and one or be seen doing tiny classes and he was praying they would cancel so he didnt have to be the bad guy and refuse to take them!

Theres a big difference in horses who are super fit and trained for their sport in all weathers by professionals who know how to cool them off at places that have the facilities to the slightly hairy little older 13.2 who's owners have some lukewarm water to sponge them off in the back of the car. Who's not fit, whos child wants a rosette.
 
I absolutely would not travel a horse in this 30° heatwave barring an emergency, and I certainly would not compete in it.

www.gov.uk

Keeping farm animals and horses in extreme weather

How to care for animals on farms and in transport in severe hot or cold weather, floods or drought.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk


The gov.uk advice is a ‘should’ not a ‘must’, so unfortunately is not mandatory.

Transporting animals in extreme hot weather​

You are responsible for the welfare of animals you transport.

If you do not have a temperature controlled vehicle, you should:

  • not transport animals in temperatures over 30°C
  • check the ‘feels like’ temperature for the intended route if humidity is high
Before making a journey you should:

  • plan to avoid transporting animals in the hotter parts of the day
  • travel early in the morning or overnight where possible
  • have a contingency plan in place
  • make sure all watering and ventilation systems on vehicles are fully functional and animals have access to fresh water
 
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We had 35 degrees last week and our riding lessons were cancelled even though the riding hall is quite cool. On Friday it had cooled down to 30 and we had a lesson. The horses were fine. We didn't overdo it and it's good for both rider and horse to concentrate on hands, heels, seat, etc in walk and trot. This week the day temperatures have dropped at low as 19!
 
3 local village fetes that were holding dog shows this weekend have cancelled them. 2 have said please do not bring dogs to the fete at all, the other not mentioned it.
4 localish equine events have cancelled, mostly due to hard ground.
1 very local RC show has cheerfully announced last night that they are still going ahead, bring plenty of water as none on site, riders may be allowed to remove jackets if judges agree. That show field has little shade and the ground is rock hard. Poor blighters who are getting dragged along to there.
Local forecast for weekend here is 32 on Saturday and 34 Sunday.
 
I agree with others, I think 25° is too low but I do think 30° plus is a concern.

For me, it's not even the travelling per se but what happens if there is a crash on the roads and you are stationary for hours? Or you are stuck on the show ground for hours because of an accident?

Broadly speaking, I have less concern - although still some - about higher level events taking place than I do the local events where it's likely more horses aren't as fit and conditioned for it, owners and team may not be as aware of the dangers, how to cool appropriately and there isn't an abundance of vet's and help on call.

We don't really compete these days but I'm riding as normal still - mine is a fit, not fat, fully clipped native - he's ridden first thing in the morning or in the evening (due to work), he's cooled appropriately, his HR quickly falls post exercise, has electrolytes and recovery mashes and he is generally grand. If he was less fit or struggling, I'd reduce workload or wait for the heat wave to pass.
 
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I was due to show tomorrow, I think I'd be happy to ride ( it's nothing strenuous) on the predicted 28 degrees.
It's the hour each way in a trailer & no shade at the venue that's made me cancel.
I don't blame the venue for not cancelling though, they'd loose alot of money 😪
 
25*?! The right types of animals easily acclimatise to that temperature. One of my best Dressages we went down the centre line at 43*c, my horse loves the heat! My cob less so, but that’s about being sensible and knowing your animals.
My lorry has fans that run independently of the lorry battery, a good traveller doesn’t get hot in there even if you were stuck for long periods.
 
rara007 said:
25*?! The right types of animals easily acclimatise to that temperature. One of my best Dressages we went down the centre line at 43*c, my horse loves the heat! My cob less so, but that’s about being sensible and knowing your animals.
My lorry has fans that run independently of the lorry battery, a good traveller doesn’t get hot in there even if you were stuck for long periods.
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Rara, you are competing at a more than decent level of competition and I agree that fit comp animals usually cope in high temps, their owners are aware of how to observe, prepare and mitigate if necessary.
25 is OK to me too. Over 30 then not so (my issues start then, these days)

It's the local joes at local events that are more likely to have unfit animals, unventilated transport and often no clue or awareness of heat issues, hanging animals out much of the day in full sun, when not cracking round jumps etc
 
rara007 said:
25*?! The right types of animals easily acclimatise to that temperature. One of my best Dressages we went down the centre line at 43*c, my horse loves the heat! My cob less so, but that’s about being sensible and knowing your animals.
My lorry has fans that run independently of the lorry battery, a good traveller doesn’t get hot in there even if you were stuck for long periods.
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43*c!! I rode in that across the Namib and got sun stroke - sick all night. Horse was a desert bred ex feral and absolutely fine.

My younger cob isn't too bad at sub 30 but his human is feeling her age
 
We opted not to go to GYS as spectators today! We went on Tues and Weds, had a rest/catchup at home day yesterday and intended to go again today but decided that it was too hot. We did go out to lunch and that was more than hot enough, tbh. I certainly wouldn't be taking animals to a local show this weekend and think that venues should have cancelled things like RC level shows.
 
Everything near us is being cancelled for tomorrow, very sensible!

Although Pony Club Area Eventing is going ahead 😫 the ground must be like concrete! Low entries unsurprisingly
 
SEL said:
43*c!! I rode in that across the Namib and got sun stroke - sick all night. Horse was a desert bred ex feral and absolutely fine.

My younger cob isn't too bad at sub 30 but his human is feeling her age
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I think he might like to live in the desert 🤣, he'd prob like rara to move to the south of france permanently at least 🤣. Definitely somewhat horses for courses and acclimatisation dependent - and we've had plenty of it to do the latter so far this summer if you're that way minded.

I'll agree my main worry would be getting stuck in traffic but again that's transport dependent, some lorries are arguably the best place to be in the heat.
 
You can’t do a blanket ban as where do you take the temperature? It can be very different in reality to what is forecast. Then there’s the whole feels like effect, in the warm weather the week before last we had strong winds so it felt fine. I think it’s fair to expect people to make their own decisions on this one.
 
Baywonder said:
I agree with you - the heat has been pretty bad lately.

On a side note, my youngest daughter had her sports day today (secondary school). The temperature was 24° just after 9 am. They were outside until lunchtime. Despite factor 50 she still caught the sun. There was no shade, so she (along with a few hundred other kids) had to sit in the blazing sun for about 4 hours. 😡
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Madness, I d be writing a letter of complaint to the education authority.
 
I have one that genuinely does not seem to give a monkeys about the heat. I lunged him today (cried off riding because it was too hot for ME), planned a gentle stretchy session but he decided to go on a mad hoolie and gallop around like an idiot. Was barely warm after, not sweated up, and this was in the hottest 32’c early afternoon sun 🤷‍♀️

I’m not competing because I don’t like to travel in the heat and the ground is terrible but I genuinely think he’d be fine if I did.
 
Nicnac said:
Really felt for the horses I saw in trucks and trailers stuck on M25 yesterday afternoon in 33 in the shade. Bloody idiots as there was no breeze and they defo didn't have fans or AC in most of them.
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That’s what I’d fear most. A breakdown or being held up in traffic with the vehicle standing in full sun. It happens.

Electronic cooling gizmos are great if you keep your electrics, but even a working fan wouldn’t cut it if you are stuck for hours. You’d need working air con.
 
Absolute madness to travel and compete horses over the weekend. Saw a working equitation competition that went ahead and i couldn't believe people were traveling to it and then putting horses in temporary stables! If i read one more time about what happens aboard i will scream! Those horses are well used to the heat, most travel in air con lorries and have air con stables. Not Bob the cob (no offence Bob i love a cob!), who has been hauled out the field to travel in midday heat and then compete. Absolute madness and downright ridiculous. I have seen horses with heat stroke and it is truly awful
 
well we went out on sun-an hour down the motorway and she had put all the classes on early so we were home by lunch.

we had a back up plan/alternative route if the motorway looked heavy on the way home and a fan running in horse area.

30 min warm up, 5 min test, 20 min warm up and another 5 min test and mine was still fresh and sharp.....only hot under tack and slightly on neck, i wore my jacket for tests and felt hot but wasn't damp except under my hat.

BUT then i have been careful to acclimatise- horses have been worked at 5-7pm in the heat(normal schooling) and i have been going out at 9pm to do fitness interval training to keep fitness up on hacking days.

tin hat on but so many people give up and do nothing when its hot/cold (which fine, personal choice) but then compare their unfit none acclimatised horse and self to someone who has put the effort in to be fit enough and ready and start making blanket statements.

i myself taught from 11-3.30 on sat, in none stop blazing sun but because i am fit, acclimatised and hydrated i was absolutely fine and its only the same for the horses.

30 deg is not a life threatening temp for a fit person or horse.
 
It is something I think about that racehorses exercise early and some yards start extra early when it’s hot so may not get full acclimatisation That said BHA have strict requirements in place re cooling facilities, lots of vet and welfare officer checks, and youngish fit thoroughbreds.
 
Owning a horse who spent too many summers not sweating & even now (post thyroid drugs which had the unexpected side effect of triggering her sweat mechanism) I'd always be cautious looking purely at sweating as an indicator of how the horse is coping. My littlest cob sweats heavily, my youngest cob "a bit" and the Appy probably enough to avoid heat stroke just being a horse. The summer she collapsed she was bone dry in 35 degrees.

Some horses cope, some humans cope but very many don't. I'm not sure we can fully acclimatise in the UK - i was certainly better able to cope 25 years ago in Western Australia than today because every day was mid 30s (also dry heat is nicer!)

Did I see David Marlin having a rant about a race winner not being cooled promptly? Something came up on FB. He had a good point about internal temps no matter how fit the horse.
 
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