keep horse cool and hydrated, keep horse cool in summer, how to keep horse cool in summer, keep horse hydrated
HorseLink Magazine
Health Kit�
6
By
Cool-Down
Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD
Strategies
Keep your horse cool and
hydrated this summer with
these expert tips.
Summer’s heat and humidity can be much
more than just uncomfortable. They can
be deadly. Horses lose their lives every year
to heat stroke. Countless others struggle
through anything from weakness to colic as
a result of inadequate care in hot weather.
Don’t let this happen to your horse!
Cool Science
Your horse’s normal
body temperature
is 98.5 to 101
degrees Fahrenheit.
His body temperature
rises as he
exerts himself. To
avoid reaching temperatures
that can
damage his brain
and organs, he must
be able to get rid of
that heat.
Beating the heat
involves water —
both on the inside
of your horse via
drinking and on the
outside of your horse
via hosing down.
JANIS TREMPER PHOTO
17
July 2010
Your horse has several ways to stay cool.
Some of the heat is transferred to the air
exiting his lungs. The remainder is carried
to the skin surface by the bloodstream.
Blood vessels very close to the surface of
the skin dilate, and dissipate heat through
conduction, convection, and evaporation.
• Conduction is the
transfer of heat
from the body to
the cooler air.
• Convection is the
movement of hot
air away from the
body’s surface,
replacing it with
cooler air.
• Evaporation of
sweat is absolutely
necessary for efficient
heat removal.
Turn page
for six
expert tips
on keeping
your horse
cool this
summer
�
NEWS TRAINING HORSEMAN- ADVENTURES HEALTH KIT CLICK & SHOP TACK TIP
HAULING
PURSUITS
SHIP
HINTS
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.