When temperatures rise it’s easy to feel flustered and uncertain about your riding plans. Our quick guide will help you to keep your cool in the arena and out and about. It’s worth planning your schedule to ride in the cooler parts of the day.
If you are travelling for any reason, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep your horse relaxed and healthy. Read on for our suggestions for hot weather riding exercises and some essential hints to cooling your horse after work or if they are struggling in the heat.
Before You Ride
Remember your horse needs you to be cool and calm when you handle or ride them. This starts with your self care. In warm weather you need to pay attention to your hydration levels as well as your horse. Choose a water bottle that keeps drinks cool and have it to hand so you can drink before, during and after you ride.
Plan your outfits so that you stay cool. Look out for lightweight, active riding wear that help you stay comfortable. Sunscreen is important too.
Whilst you are getting your horse ready it’s time to pay attention to their posture and behaviours. Are they relaxed, sleepy, cool? Are they hot and bothered and getting irritated with flies? Can you make them more comfortable by applying fly spray, tempting them to drink and letting them know that they are not under pressure from you. Are they hot on the stable? Perhaps you could take them for a walk in hand and find a shady spot where they could have a pick of grass. Taking a few minutes to help your horse relax can set you up for a calm ride. Offer water again, sponge their mouth if they are reluctant to drink as this can encourage interest in drinking.
When it’s time to tack up, make sure your bit and bridle buckles have not got hot in the sunshine. Cool the bit with cold water if needed.
Whether you are at home or at a competition, set yourself a cool down area for after the ridden work. You will need plenty of water, large sponges and buckets. It’s nice for the groom / rider to have a towel to hand as well because chances are you will get wet too! If you can park in a shady spot it will help in your cooling down routine.
Choose Your Riding Activity Carefully
Plan your day so that you can ride in the cooler parts of the day and if you are schooling make the most of the walk work. Hot weather might be the ideal time to introduce a new pattern such as 10m circles that continue around the school changing the rein as part of the flow. Pick a marker E for example now ride one and a half 10m circles in walk before changing the rein onto a new 10m circle and so on.
You can adapt this exercise to suit your horse’s current way of going by varying the size of the circles. You could for example start with a 20m circle and make an inwards turn to change the rein through the circle. Be intentional and concentrate on the walk rhythm as well as the shape of the circle. The gymnastic nature of this exercise helps to develop balance and suppleness.
Another exercise you might enjoy in hot weather is walk halt, count to 5 and walk on again. Whilst you are counting notice if your horse is relaxed and maybe even stay in halt a little longer so they are not anticipating moving off as you count 5! Practice halting in different places in the school and work on keeping your aids as soft and quiet as you can.
Lateral work can be included in your walk patterns. Start with simple leg yield patterns. Ride a few steps towards the track from the ¼ line. Don’t worry about reaching the track if this is a new exercise for your horse. It’s more important that you horse understands that you want him to step over as well as moving forward.
If you are hacking out plan your route carefully. Are there shady spots along the way? Can you ride a shorter route than usual so that your horse isn’t overwhelmed? Remember in hot weather that everything takes more energy for both horse and rider.
Tailor your ridden work to your horse’s level of fitness. If the hot weather arrives suddenly remember that your horse will not be acclimatised yet. Pay attention to your horse’s reactions. Are they sweating more than usual? Are they breathing normally?
Take how your horse is in the stable / on the yard before you ride as your baseline. If they are already hot and bothered do you really need to ride? Hot weather brings flies so have fly spray at the ready to help protect your horse from being mobbed! If your horse is uneasy about the spray, put some on a cloth or sponge to wipe over them.
After Your Ride Cool Your Horse Down.
If you are on your own, loosen your girth and put a headcollar on. Offer your horse a small drink of water, if they are not interested, gently sponge water around their mouth. Sometimes this encourages your horse to take a sip or play with the water. Untack and start sponging your horse with cold water. Work quickly without stopping to scrape the water off at this stage.
Sponge their saddle area and hindquarters both sides until they feel cooler. Sponge their neck and shoulders and between their hind legs. Walking them off will help them to cool down. Once you have them cooled down you might want to use a sweat scraper or towel to remove any drips on their stomach, some horses feel cross and think the droplets are flies so dry them off and they will feel more relaxed. Offer water regularly in addition to their water bucket in their stable sometimes horses like to be tempted.
You can encourage some horses to drink by letting them play with an apple in the bucket. Once recovered fully you can feed a small feed that has extra water so that they are rehydrating. After intense work your horse may need electrolytes. If you are using a kind designed to be taken in water you must also offer clean water alongside so that your horse can continue to hydrate.
Some horses do not like to take electrolytes and you can find different methods such as adding to a small feed or using a prepared electrolyte, given the same way as a wormer paste. Talk to your vet about the best way to support your horse. If your horse overheats at any time its vital that you call your vet immediately whilst you continue to cool and walk them. Remember it’s the continued application of the cold water combined with walking that helps a horse cool down. Do not use wet towels as these heat up and interfere with the natural cooling process.
Away from Home
If you are travelling to a competition, show, event or fun ride make sure you take plenty of water for the journey, the day itself and to cool your horse. If you compete in endurance events, eventing, polocrosse or other high intensity/ fast work you need to have a clear routine for cooling your horse during the events. You are going to need a helper because it’s hard work to cool and walk a horse on your own especially if you are starting to fatigue in the heat as well. Remember that you and your helper need to keep hydrated so do drink regularly.
Cool your horse before you travel home and once home, you need to observe your horse. If they have overheated on the journey you need to begin the cooling and walking again before you can settle them into their regular routine.
Innovation from Equilibrium Products
The Quick Chill rug caught my eye earlier this year and I spoke to Equilibrium to find out more about how this rug works to assist as you cool off a horse. I particularly like the idea that the rug is activated by soaking it in a bucket of cold water before you are ready to use it.
The Equilibrium Quick Chill rug is the perfect solution to cool the temperature of your horse. This advanced rug utilises water-activated conduction technology to draw heat away from your horses’ body, promoting optimal comfort and cooling during warm weather.
Ideal for:
- Cooling your horse down without the need to get them soaking wet (when used for up to 10 minutes).
- Provides cooling relief in the stable at rest for at least 2 hours*
- Provides instant cooling up to 5.9℃ in the stable* or after exercise**
- Warm competition days to gently cool your horse before, in between or after classes.
- Horses who get hot when/after travelling.
- Horses who don’t like the hose, or the feeling of running water.
- Yards or remote locations where running water may be limited.
- Training sessions, competitions, or arena hires where access to running water is limited.
*Based on horses in the stable in temperatures ranging between 28-30℃. ** Based on horses exercised for 20 minutes and cooled directly afterwards.
How the Quick Chill Rug works:
Designed with your horses’ wellbeing in mind, the Quick Chill rug provides a refreshing cooling effect without the need for traditional soaking.
Here’s a breakdown of how the Quick Chill rug works:
1. Specialised Material
The rug is made from a high tech, breathable open cell structure material, which is designed to effectively absorb and store water. This material has been chosen for its ability to retain water, but also to allow the water molecules to move through the fabric easily.
The rug should be fully submerged in a bucket of water, or thoroughly soaked. Once removed from the bucket, wring out the excess water and place onto the horse. The water stored within the fabric is essential for the cooling process, but due to it being held within the fabric, it will stop your horse from getting soaking wet when used for up to 10 minutes.
2. Heat transfer, evaporative cooling and breathability.
Your horse will be warmer than the rug, and so the thermal energy will move via conduction from the hottest place (the horse) to the cooler place (the rug) to equalise temperatures. The water from the rug also evaporates into the atmosphere to further aid cooling, similar to what happens when your horse sweats to naturally attempt to cool themselves down.
The cooling area of the rug is contoured and shaped so that it covers the large muscle groups across the back and hindquarters with direct contact, and the remainder of the rug is mesh to allow it to remain lightweight for use in the summer, but also to remain well-ventilated to facilitate breathability and evaporation to further aid the cooling process.
3. Reusability
This process helps regulate the horses body temperature while providing a cooling sensation without soaking the horse. The rug can be reactivated as many times as it is needed by re-soaking it in water, making it an environmentally friendly solution to keep horses cool in warm conditions.
Care should be taken in humid climates and the rug should be checked more often, as humidity can affect the process of evaporation in general, from the rug or even on an un-rugged horse.”
Alison Kenward BHS APC Stable Manger Senior Coach UKCC3
Alison runs Equestrian Heroes, an online equestrian centre with an online riding club open to everyone. Heroes offers riders free lifetime membership, a community Rider Lounge and Library of articles, challenges and resources.