Too hot to ride?

Prince33Sp4rkle said:
lol! NMT would be in trouble as fig would totally be mugging the ice cream man!!!!!!!!!!!
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Frank loves a Mr Whippy from the beach but finds his van very scary. He is totally 100% motorway bridge main road traffic proof - but you see that van isn't there in the middle of the beach all winter!

He's also distinctly less sociable with the holidaymakers than my Mum's blonde bird!
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Prince33Sp4rkle said:
for a fit, well hydrated horse AND rider, it is never too hot in the uk to ride(from a safety POV). you may not want to because you personally dont enjoy it but you could if you had to.

similarly it is never too wet, windy or cold either-we have it easy!
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Lol! Partly agree. I ride in most weathers. Rain never hurt anyone.

I agree properly fit horses, hydrated horses, that have sufficient salt in their diet should be fine to work in the heat of English summers. Me personally I struggle in the heat, always have done, being fitter doesn’t seem to help much. I just get lethargic. I fit in riding around my life, mainly early mornings, but necessity means riding at a range of times.

I do now draw the line in Winter at much below minus 5 especially if there is wind chill. I struggle with tight neck / shoulder / lower back muscles, and I find there is a risk of them going into spasm, and it becomes counter-productive. It depends though, sometimes with the right clothes I can stay warm, and it is fine.

There were winds last October (or was it the one before last year) that I could barely stand up in, wouldn’t be my first choice for riding in, getting to the yard to check horses was hazardous enough with fallen trees! Parts of the yard moved over night as well.

Agree if going to potentially compete in all weathers, need to ride in all weathers.
 
Anyone have any good tips for riding and competing in the heat of the day. Any useful human electrolytes that arent sugar based? I get a heat related miagrane all to easily, especially when competing.
 
Moomin1 said:
I'm suffering one as we speak. :(
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Miagrelieve (the pink tablets) help me once affected. And help make sure as a solo competitor, that I can drive lorry home safely. But I'd like to find a way of not needing them.

Going to play with electrolyte drinks and see if helps.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
its different if you dont compete but if you do, you owe it to your horse to have them fit and acclimatised to the conditions.

riding before 7am and after 7pm only all week then going to a show at the weekend is unfair-you need to work in it to build up tolerance over a period of time.

generally horses at low-mid level competition level in the UK are not fit enough, i see fat and i mean obese horses puffing round prelim/nov/elem classes every time we go out.

my vet says the best way most people could cut down on injuries and increase success is to trim a few KG off the horse and a few more off themselves!

but thats a tangent :)
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Spot on :)

I got laughed at over 30 years ago for working mine in the hot sun. They were WHP's, hunters and others for show ring.
They were thoroughly acclimatised when they went out :)
 
There's a thread on here every day about not riding because of some ridiculous reason or other!

Ride if you want to if not, don't! It's never going to be too hot, too cold or too most things to stop you if you really want to. Get up early or ride late!
 
I'm hacking out tomorrow at around 9.30am. It's tempting to stick to woodland or shady tracks as they are cooler but then of course you have to fight the hordes of evil horseflies and my girls gets really upset by them.

Will chuck lots of cool water over her when we get back and park her in a shady bit of the field. Sure she'll be fine as long as I remember sun cream (she has a very, very pink muzzle bless her!).
 
FfionWinnie said:
There's a thread on here every day about not riding because of some ridiculous reason or other!

Ride if you want to if not, don't! It's never going to be too hot, too cold or too most things to stop you if you really want to. Get up early or ride late!
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I'm not moaning; just merely wanted others' opinions
 
It'll never be too hot to ride in Scotland ;) But what drives me nuts is the midgies! They were horrific last night, driving the horses and me nuts. I only rode for about 20 mins before I gave up! I've just ordered 2 bottles of Skin so Soft...
 
40 celcius plus is too hot for me, unless it's a halter, bareback and straight into the water. But humidity is a factor too. Sometimes a lower but more humid heat is more suffocating than a higher, dry heat.
 
If you are struggling to keep going with the heat then don't expect your horse can. However, in high heats don't push your horse too hard :)
 
Well, I didn't ride today but mostly because of the flies. We have the most horrific horsefly problem where I keep my horse and I just couldn't do that to him :(
 
I'm British, lived in the south east of England all my life until 2 years ago. Now live in the US. We have 3-4 months of temps in the high 30s, early 40s. Nights only getting down to mid 20s. Humidity around 80% most of the time.
You just have to get on with it. My horses are out at night, in during the day with fans. Ride early as possible but as others have mentioned that isn't always possible plus when at shows you cant always have a 7am dressage test. Horses have access to cool water all the time, salt licks, electrolytes in feed. Washed with lavender wash after work. Best thing I have found is keep the horses fit, don't let them get overweight and just pace yourselves.
Try not to panic! Being in the England you will all soon be chilly and wet again
 
Since I moved to the UK, there've been only a small handful of days when I've not been cold. Love hot weather, and ponies don't seem to mind either. Mare is a bit more laid-back in the sunshine, but that's no bad thing. More concentration, fewer moments of rubbernecking at faraway boats etc.
 
I think that we need to just remember that our horses here in the UK aren't used to the hot temps we are currently experiencing. They haven't had the time needed to climatise to them and get used to them. Other countries where it's hot most of the time the horses are used to it. So I personally am being sensible and very careful when choosing times to ride my connemaras either early morning or after 6/7pm at night. I doubt this hot weather will last very long anyway lol. 😎
 
I had a jumping lesson on my extra fit wb mare last night at about 6. It was nice, we are quite near the sea so ALWAYS have a breeze, which I usually complain about but am very grateful for in this gorgeous weather. We did some pole and grid work and finished on a little course and she was barely blowing :)
 
yes it is too hot and the flies are awful. I am getting up at 4am to ride at the moment. Watching the dawn is marvellous and its quite cool in the early mornings, peaceful and less flies. Highly recommended.
 
I am riding at 6 am every morning at the moment and it is just GORGEOUS!! Flies were just coming out about seven ish on the way home and horses just getting jittery with them, plus the sound of distant rumbling thunder today. Its a fantastic time of day with no cars, no noise and warm enough for a T shirt. It can be a bit eery though riding through the woods on your own and a couple of times I have been concious that no one knows where I am.
 
I hacked out this morning. Left just before 9.30am and did the shady woodland ride. We were only out for an hour which was perfect. The heat was really beginning to build then and I wouldn't have wanted to be out any longer.

Gave my lovely mare a good sloshing with cool water and she was fine. I've arranged the fencing in the field so that they have shade at one end in the morning and shade at the other end in the afternoon although of course they are choosing to stand in the middle in the full glare of the sun!
 
it's never too hot - I lived in the Middle East for years and we rode in 40 degrees plus.

over here, if it's really bad I'll only do 25-30 minutes or go for a hack. It was 24 degrees at 10am this morning and we schooled outside for just under an hour - the horses coped fine and weren't exceptionally sweaty. Me, on the other hand... My breeches were stuck to me after about ten minutes. ;)
 
FairyLights said:
yes it is too hot and the flies are awful. I am getting up at 4am to ride at the moment. Watching the dawn is marvellous and its quite cool in the early mornings, peaceful and less flies. Highly recommended.
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I wish i had your energy, im up at 5.30am anyway for work and usually in bed by 10.30pm, i dread to think what a state i would be in if i got up at 4am and then went off to work for a full day, i think they would be propping me up later in the afternoon.
 
I hate the heat, so do my ponies, so we head out on our hacks out before 8am when it's breezy and there aren't too many flies out. It's much nicer in the morning.
 
Joyous70 said:
I wish i had your energy, im up at 5.30am anyway for work and usually in bed by 10.30pm, i dread to think what a state i would be in if i got up at 4am and then went off to work for a full day, i think they would be propping me up later in the afternoon.
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OH gets up at this time to leave fort work so I get up with him. We go to bed about 8pm.
 
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