Taking Care of Your Horse in Summer
We all love the Aussie Summer, but there are a few things we need to be aware of in regards to our horses and their well being. Whilst you mostly likely know all of the items we have listed, why not have a quick read to ensure that you have all these points covered of for the coming summer months, remember our Horses need us to protect them from the harsh Aussie environment.
Horses and The Heat
Water
Water is top of the list for a very good reason, namely that a horse's body is made up of 70% water. One of the first things you probably learned as a horse owner is that horses need access to fresh, clean water at all times and this is especially important during summer.
Water is vital for fluid balance, tolerance for exercise and also helps digestion. Did you know studies have shown that restricting a horse's water intake for as little as two hours greatly increases the chance of colic? Horses drink around 45 litres of water a day and this can increase by up to 40% during warm weather.
Excessive sweating or diarrhoea can cause your horse to become dehydrated, you can check for this by doing a pinch test.
Pinch Test For Dehydrated Horse
Pinch the skin in the middle of the horse's neck and pull it gently outwards, then release. If your horse isn't dehydrated, the skin will snap back into place straight away. Skin that takes 2-5 seconds to return to normal indicates mild dehydration, while skin that takes 10-15 seconds shows severe dehydration. Other signs of dehydration or heat stress include sunken eyes, a tucked up appearance, heavy breathing and a rapid pulse.
A horse's diet will also influence his water intake, hay requires more water to chew and swallow than grain, while grass (which has some water content) requires less. When travelling, consider taking along some water from home incase your horse doesn't like to drink water that tastes different.
Shade
This is very close second to water when it comes to summer horse care. A lot of times you'll see horses grazing out in the blazing sun but they do have access to shade when they start getting too hot, or feel like a snooze. If there's no trees then you must provide some kind of shelter, the higher the roof the better air circulation will be. It can even have just a roof and no walls for optimum air flow. If you know a handyman, even a shadecloth with 80% sun blockout would do, but it must be sturdy enough not to flap in the wind, otherwise your horse won't go near it.
Trees with overhanging branches and thick foliage are ideal. Not so good are more upright growing trees like conifers, which may offer shade for only part of the day, depending on where the sun is. Your horse needs access to shade from dawn to dusk during summer.
Place some hay in the shade for him to eat if he wants as this helps his digestion moving along. It's also a good place to locate a salt and mineral lick.
Horse Care Tip
Regularly pick up manure from beneath trees or around your horse's shelter to reduce annoying flies.
Flies
Flies and other pesky summer insects are a never ending battle. All you can do is try to minimize their irritating attack on your horse.
Flies are attracted to moisture, which they need to complete their life cycle, this means your horse's eyes, nose, mouth and rear. Bot flies are a particular hassle as they buzz around laying yellow eggs on your horse's legs in late summer. They look a lot like bees and drive some sensitive horses crazy.
They're most active in bright light, so try to keep your horse in a shady paddock if you have one. Remove the eggs as soon as you spot them, don't be slack and leave them to be licked by your horse to hatch in his stomach, where they can do untold damage.
Many fly species carry the stomach worm, whose larvae travels from the fly's proboscis to the horse as the fly is obtaining moisture from the horse's eyes or lips. From there the larvae migrate through the horse doing internal damage along the way and is passed via manure to start the cycle over.
To help control flies, pick up manure on a regular basis as many flies depend on it for survival. Protect your horse’s face with a fly veil, either string or mesh, but these will need to be checked daily in case they slip. Make sure you have a couple of spares on hand in case your horse loses one.
Horse Care Tip
When picking up manure, pile it in a heap to generate heat, which will destroy any fly larvae. Make sure it's kept away from your horse though
Sweat
When horses (and people) sweat, the moisture produced by sweat glands in the skin evaporates, this helps cooling although this effect is reduced in humid conditions. Sweat contains water and salts (electrolytes) but a horse's sweat is 10 times more potassium, chloride, magnesium and calcium and excessive loss of electrolytes can affect your horse's health and performance.
A horse's endurance time can decrease by 25% during hot weather and 50% in humid weather, so stick to cooler morning or evening hours to ride during summer. Learn to recognise signs of heat stroke on horses which can not only happen in horses being worked, but also ones kept in hot, poorly ventilated stables or floats.
Signs include weakness, not eating, rapid breathing and pulse and even collapse. Do the pinch test to check for dehydration.
To rapidly cool an over heated horse, move him into shade and continually sponge all over with cold water, which will evaporate, cool him down and lower his body temperature. To help this, you can also use fans. Give your horse small, regular drinks of water until he's cooled down and showing signs or recovery. If in doubt, call a vet to give intravenous fluid and generally monitor things.
Horse Care Tip
If you have access to ice, place ice packs over the legs, head and neck. It was once thought only warm water should be used to cool hot horses however research during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (where it was very hot and humid) showed that cold water and ice was safe and effective.
Feeding
Pasture varies greatly between seasons and during Winter and late Summer, your horse might not be getting enough nutrition from grass alone and could need supplementary feeding to maintain his condition although this depends on how much he's being ridden.
You might need to give your horse good quality hay roughage and a balanced pre-mix feed concentrates. Your horse could also benefit from a vitamin and mineral supplement added to his feed to help meet his nutritional needs.
Always feed your horse according to his regular routine, also never make sudden changes to your horse's diet, introduce new feed gradually over a period of weeks. If your horse gets fizzy on grain, you can try feeding him a rice based supplement or adding vegetable oil to his feed, which provides the same amount of energy as 2.5kg of oats.
Fizzy Horse
Don't give your horse more than 500ml of vegetable oil per day and introduce it gradually to give him time to get used to the taste.
Make sure your horse has access to salt during summer. You can provide a salt lick in a sheltered area of his paddock, or place rock salt in his feed bin.
Hoof Care
To oil or not to oil, that is the question.
When it comes to hoof care, it seems everyone has a different opinion. One things for sure, for healthy hooves, a horse needs good nutrition and expert, regular trimming. A horse on a poor diet will have scaly skin, a patchy coat and dry brittle hooves.
Some horses seem to have naturally brittle hooves just as some people suffer from brittle fingernails and may benefit from the addition of a hoof supplement containing biotin in their feed. Biotin is water soluble B vitamin that is made in the horse's gut and to a certain extent should also be present in a horse's daily diet as it can't be stored in the horse's body. Don't expect overnight results though, hooves grow around 7-9mm a month so it could take up to six months before you start seeing results.
Hoof moisture comes from within the outside wall is essentially dead tissue, like our fingernails. Some argue that it's pointless to apply oil while others advocate it helps nourish the hoof and keep moisture in. Others say that a good sealer (as opposed to greasy oil) is the best way to keep a horse's feet moist during dry seasons. Hoof cracks have always been a problem in horses. Many horse owners swear that regularly soaking their horse's hooves in water helps keep them hydrated during dry period
Swimming
How much fun is it to go swimming with your horse?. Some horses love it; others can take it or leave it.
Horse Swimming
The first rule is to never swim in unknown water you don't know what's on the bottom. There could be rocks, car bodies and general trash that your horse could cut his leg on or get stuck in. When swimming at the beach, be aware of any strong currents or rips and when swimming in rivers, creeks or dams, check it's not polluted in any way. If in doubt DONT!
Swimming With Your Horse
Always go swimming with a friend, or have an adult supervise you, just in case something happens and you need help. Swimming and wading in water is hard work for horses so don't overdo it. Keep your sessions short and let him have regular breaks, even a roll in the sand if you're at the beach.
Sunburn
Sunburn can be a big problem for horses, especially light coloured horses and anywhere the skin is pink underneath white markings.
Horse With Sunburn
Common sunburn areas are the muzzle, eyes, ears, dock and sheath. You can use human sunscreen but it should be SPF 30+50 and applied regularly throughout the day for maximum protection.
Even zinc cream is okay to use, florescent zinc is good because you can tell at a glance how much has been rubbed off. Any cream can be tricky to keep on a horse's muzzle as it tends to get brushed off on grass. To overcome this problem you can use a muzzle protector which is a piece of material that attaches to the headstall and falls over the horse's nose.
The best way to prevent sunburn around the eyes is to use a fitted fly veil which will block out a lot of UV rays. Also make sure your horse has access to shade.
Riding
Most horse riders are thoughtful horse lovers, but there are a few tips to keep in mind.
For those scorching hot days, stick to riding early morning or late evening when it's a bit cooler. Don't gallop your horse unnecessarily, if he's hot, dismount in the shade, loosen his girth and let him have some time out. If you have a headstall handy, remove his bridle so he can rub his sweaty, itchy head and pick at some grass. Let him have sips of water until his cooled down again.
Be aware of any metal that's been sitting in the sun, bits, buckles and stirrups can really heat up so make sure they're cool enough for you to touch before using them on your horse.
Spray him and you with fly repellent so you can both enjoy your ride without being tormented.
Your horse will appreciate a wash down with cool water after a ride and a sponge will cool him down as the water evaporates from his skin.
Article from horserides.org website 2009
