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6 Essential Summer Horse Care Tips |
Summer is typically a time for leisure and relaxation, but if you’re a horse person, you know that it can also bring with it a few dangers for your equine pals. If you live in a climate where summers are hot and humid, you’ll want to keep these hot-weather horse care tips in mind to make sure your horses (or the one’s you’re sitting) are cool, comfortable, and healthy.
1. Choose Early Morning or Overnight Turnout
If your horses get regular turnout, you may need to adjust their schedule to avoid long-term exposure to high temperatures and the hot sun. Ideally, overnight turnout is a great way to give your horses plenty of time outdoors to graze and stretch their legs without worrying about heat stroke or sunburn. If you can’t pasture your horses overnight, it’s best to turn them out in the early morning and bring them back inside during the midday hours when the sun’s rays are at their strongest.
2. Provide Plenty of Fresh Water
When the weather is hot and humid, your horses need to drink plenty of water to help keep them cool and hydrated. But if your water buckets are sitting in the sun or hot barn all day, they’re going to become warm and probably pretty unattractive to your horse. To encourage your horse to drink enough water, try to dump and refill water buckets more frequently throughout the day than you would in cooler weather. You can even try placing a salt block next to water sources to help entice picky horses to drink more.
3. Keep Ticks in Check
In many parts of the world, ticks become a serious health threat to horses (and people) in the summer months. If you live in an area where ticks are particularly abundant, using a tick-repellent spray or other product recommended by your vet is a good idea. You should also try to check your horses for ticks as they come in from the field, and carefully remove any that you find and thoroughly clean the bite and surrounding skin. If you suspect that your horse may have contracted Lyme disease, promptly contact your vet.
4. Watch Out for Sunburn
White horses and even those with white blazes, pink noses, or scars can be susceptible to sunburns. You can use sunscreen on these areas or a fly sheet to help keep your horse protected. Of course, the best way to avoid a sunburn is to limit the amount of time your horse spends in direct sunlight during the day.
5. Mind Your Round Bales
While it might be tempting to toss out a round bale or two and put your horses in the pasture to enjoy the warm summer weather, you need to be careful of hay that becomes wet and mouldy. This can lead to a variety of health concerns for your horses, including the possibility of botulism poisoning. If you do supply your pasture horses with hay, offer only a small amount each day, and discard any leftovers that have become wet.
6. Adjust Your Riding Schedule
Even though your horse might be used to regular midday exercise, that doesn’t mean that he or she is conditioned to perform at the same level in the summer heat. Help your horse out by adjusting your riding schedule to coincide with the cooler parts of the day, rather than the hotter midday hours.
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