Here's my summer contribution to the forum.
HEAT WAVE=HEAT STROKE
A couple of weeks ago we had a horrible heat wave. Down in town in Dunlap the temperature hit 104 degrees and now I heard that the state of Oklahoma is having a very serious heat wave too. This is bad and oh so deadly dangerous to us and all animals and must be taken seriously.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be working your horse for him to have a heat stroke. I have had horses stroke out on me while they were not doing a dang thing but standing around. One summer morning while living in Florida I fed at the usual time of 7:30 am, turned the horses out directly afterward while I cleaned stalls and changed their water and by 9:00 am my first horse had hit the ground. She was doing nothing except standing under a tree in the shade and had a heat stroke. As I attended to her, the second one began to exhibit signs of heat stressing also, so I knew after that these things can happen without a horse working at all. I have had others exhibit heat stroke on me over the years as well, Quarter Horses, ponies, and yes even one of my minis had a heat stroke also years ago in June. I hadn’t gotten around to body clipping everyone that year as I felt they were shedding by themselves just fine and that would suffice as long as they were well hydrated and shaded. I was wrong. I contribute that heat stroke to this horse fighting high humidity with still too much hair remaining on her, even though she did appear nice and slick it wasn’t enough.
Some signs of heat stroke can be: his body will be hot to the touch, excessive sweating or no sweating at all, panting, lying down, head hanging down, staggering, loss of appetite, rapid heart rate and colic symptoms.
First Aid for Heat Stroke:
Bring your horse to a cool area, under ample shade or a cool barn. If he is down and not wanting to get up, hose him while he is down as you encourage him to stand. If you have a fan, stand him in front of it. Rinse your horse off with a hose paying special attention to his neck and legs. The water coming off your horse’s body will be warm from his body heat so use a sweat scraper to constantly keep that water running off of him until his body cools. Sponge his head (pole) with cool water. Put the hose in one hand while you scrape with the other. Do not apply a wet towel to his body. That will only trap the heat in and not allow it to escape. If you happen to have a cooler, using that would be a good idea to help his body heat escape slowly. Offer him water and offer him Gatorade. Do not dilute Gatorade with water or it will loose its power. Gatorade is useless if diluted. Offer Gatorade in a separate bucket. You can soak a small portion of beet pulp in Gatorade instead of water if he is refusing to drink or just soak it in water. Serving a sloppy soaked beet pulp is a good way of hydrating a horse.
If your horse doesn’t rally by the time you have done all of the above your vet should be on his way and will probably administer IV fluids.
The best way to avoid a heat stroke is to be very diligent in your daily care. Do not work your horse if the temperature and humidity is too high. Listen to your local weatherman and if he is warning that your area is under a serious heat alert you should not be working your horses at all. Use your noodle. Many people become over zealous and aggressive in their training during horse show season wanting that win and keep pushing their horses beyond their limit until it’s too late. Just the thought of that makes me ill but it does happen unfortunately.
If your barn is not well ventilated and is known to become a “hot box” your horse would be better off standing outside in the shade. You may be able to provide fans or misters in your barn to cool it off. If your barn roof is made of tin, you might be able to hose it off to reduce the temperature of your barn inside. Try it and see if it works for you.
If your horse is inside the barn, run fans diligently and be careful not to overload your electric outlets. I have box fans and also a large industrial fan which is known to become hot. I never leave home while that big monster fan plugged in.
You can encourage your horse to drink by keeping their water buckets and troughs clean and cool. Scrubbing them out with baking soda eliminates the “sour” smell instantly. I freeze empty 12 ounce soda bottles with water and put it in their stall water buckets inside the barn. I add frozen milk jugs of water to the water troughs outside and also in their kiddie pools. It encourages them to play in the water. Be sure he always has access to a salt block.
Keep in mind that if your horse has been properly conditioned, is being fed good quality hay, food and minerals, his chances of coming through a heat stroke quickly are much higher than a horse in poor, underweight, wormy condition.
Refreshermint by Absorbine is a product I have endorsed so much over the years they should have given me a case for free by now. This is a wonderful product to sponge on after your horse has had a work out. It will cut the sweat and leave him feeling wonderful and smell like mint. The minty aroma from it will help keep flies at bay. Bugs hate the smell of mint. On a hot nasty humid day I'll fill up a bucket of water and mix in Refreshermint and use that instead of giving a bath. It really perks them up.
If your horse is sporting a big long mane, braid it up along the top of his neck, or put it in a few pony tails to lift it from his neck to allow some air to get underneath it. Make sure his tail has been trimmed up a bit to be able to swat flies. Use fly masks and don’t forget to use sunscreen or zinc oxide for horses with white faces and noses.
Don’t forget to be good to yourselves as well and take as many precautions for you as you are for your horse. Drink plenty of water and Gatorade, stay in the shade as much as you can, and pray for an early autumn.
This has been a public service announcement from my barn to yours. Have a safe summer you guys!
By Marty Garrison
HEAT WAVE=HEAT STROKE
A couple of weeks ago we had a horrible heat wave. Down in town in Dunlap the temperature hit 104 degrees and now I heard that the state of Oklahoma is having a very serious heat wave too. This is bad and oh so deadly dangerous to us and all animals and must be taken seriously.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be working your horse for him to have a heat stroke. I have had horses stroke out on me while they were not doing a dang thing but standing around. One summer morning while living in Florida I fed at the usual time of 7:30 am, turned the horses out directly afterward while I cleaned stalls and changed their water and by 9:00 am my first horse had hit the ground. She was doing nothing except standing under a tree in the shade and had a heat stroke. As I attended to her, the second one began to exhibit signs of heat stressing also, so I knew after that these things can happen without a horse working at all. I have had others exhibit heat stroke on me over the years as well, Quarter Horses, ponies, and yes even one of my minis had a heat stroke also years ago in June. I hadn’t gotten around to body clipping everyone that year as I felt they were shedding by themselves just fine and that would suffice as long as they were well hydrated and shaded. I was wrong. I contribute that heat stroke to this horse fighting high humidity with still too much hair remaining on her, even though she did appear nice and slick it wasn’t enough.
Some signs of heat stroke can be: his body will be hot to the touch, excessive sweating or no sweating at all, panting, lying down, head hanging down, staggering, loss of appetite, rapid heart rate and colic symptoms.
First Aid for Heat Stroke:
Bring your horse to a cool area, under ample shade or a cool barn. If he is down and not wanting to get up, hose him while he is down as you encourage him to stand. If you have a fan, stand him in front of it. Rinse your horse off with a hose paying special attention to his neck and legs. The water coming off your horse’s body will be warm from his body heat so use a sweat scraper to constantly keep that water running off of him until his body cools. Sponge his head (pole) with cool water. Put the hose in one hand while you scrape with the other. Do not apply a wet towel to his body. That will only trap the heat in and not allow it to escape. If you happen to have a cooler, using that would be a good idea to help his body heat escape slowly. Offer him water and offer him Gatorade. Do not dilute Gatorade with water or it will loose its power. Gatorade is useless if diluted. Offer Gatorade in a separate bucket. You can soak a small portion of beet pulp in Gatorade instead of water if he is refusing to drink or just soak it in water. Serving a sloppy soaked beet pulp is a good way of hydrating a horse.
If your horse doesn’t rally by the time you have done all of the above your vet should be on his way and will probably administer IV fluids.
The best way to avoid a heat stroke is to be very diligent in your daily care. Do not work your horse if the temperature and humidity is too high. Listen to your local weatherman and if he is warning that your area is under a serious heat alert you should not be working your horses at all. Use your noodle. Many people become over zealous and aggressive in their training during horse show season wanting that win and keep pushing their horses beyond their limit until it’s too late. Just the thought of that makes me ill but it does happen unfortunately.
If your barn is not well ventilated and is known to become a “hot box” your horse would be better off standing outside in the shade. You may be able to provide fans or misters in your barn to cool it off. If your barn roof is made of tin, you might be able to hose it off to reduce the temperature of your barn inside. Try it and see if it works for you.
If your horse is inside the barn, run fans diligently and be careful not to overload your electric outlets. I have box fans and also a large industrial fan which is known to become hot. I never leave home while that big monster fan plugged in.
You can encourage your horse to drink by keeping their water buckets and troughs clean and cool. Scrubbing them out with baking soda eliminates the “sour” smell instantly. I freeze empty 12 ounce soda bottles with water and put it in their stall water buckets inside the barn. I add frozen milk jugs of water to the water troughs outside and also in their kiddie pools. It encourages them to play in the water. Be sure he always has access to a salt block.
Keep in mind that if your horse has been properly conditioned, is being fed good quality hay, food and minerals, his chances of coming through a heat stroke quickly are much higher than a horse in poor, underweight, wormy condition.
Refreshermint by Absorbine is a product I have endorsed so much over the years they should have given me a case for free by now. This is a wonderful product to sponge on after your horse has had a work out. It will cut the sweat and leave him feeling wonderful and smell like mint. The minty aroma from it will help keep flies at bay. Bugs hate the smell of mint. On a hot nasty humid day I'll fill up a bucket of water and mix in Refreshermint and use that instead of giving a bath. It really perks them up.
If your horse is sporting a big long mane, braid it up along the top of his neck, or put it in a few pony tails to lift it from his neck to allow some air to get underneath it. Make sure his tail has been trimmed up a bit to be able to swat flies. Use fly masks and don’t forget to use sunscreen or zinc oxide for horses with white faces and noses.
Don’t forget to be good to yourselves as well and take as many precautions for you as you are for your horse. Drink plenty of water and Gatorade, stay in the shade as much as you can, and pray for an early autumn.
This has been a public service announcement from my barn to yours. Have a safe summer you guys!
By Marty Garrison
