Summer is the ideal time for your horses. The activeness and competition is in full swing. But if your horse enjoys this season, it doesn’t mean it can resist the season’s adversaries. Summer’s hot air and humidity can cause some serious problems to the health of your horses.
However, by taking extra care of them, you can keep your horse healthy and cool in scorching summer heat. Here are some of the tips to guide you through.
Sheltering Tips
To prevent your horse from various diseases caused in summers such as dehydration, respiratory issues and colic etc. you need to keep certain things in your mind to keep your horse healthy enough to beat the heat.
Water Intake
Provide fresh, clean and cool water in a clean water bucket. When the temperature exceeds 21⁰C, an average horse can drink up to 25 gallons of water in a day. So make sure you provide your horse with plenty of water.
Shade
Use run-in shade for your horses while they’re out in the Sun pasturing. Make sure to get your horse back to the stable before the heat increases. If you feel there are mosquitoes and flies in the field around your horse, use fly masks and repellents to keep them at bay.
Ventilation
Provide cool air to your horse in the stable by using stable fans. Also, keep the windows and doors of the barn open for the fresh air to enter.
Bathing
Take cold water and sponge it all over your horse, especially down its belly, neck, and inside of legs. When it’s extremely hot, take equal quantities of cold water and alcohol. Spray it on his body to help sweating.
Food Intake
In summers, there is less grass growth and pasture quality is also decreased. Therefore, it is best to feed them high quality hay.
Coat Care
Trim the tail of your horse while keeping his coat clipped. Apply a sun block of zinc oxide to its pink nostrils for prevention against sunburn. Also, apply shampoo on its coat along with sunscreen.
Check for Heat Strokes
Other than food, shelter and ventilation, you need to keep a strict check on its habits and health for any signs of heat stroke.
For this you need to see if your horse is doing well or not. If it seems inactive, it’s sick. When horses are sick, they lose the ability to naturally cool themselves. Another thing that can make your horse’s health susceptible to weakness and sickness is the existence of parasites.
The parasites feed on the body of your horse, making them weaker and weaker over time. This weakness can lead to quick heat stroke and exhaustion in horses.
Thus, it is very important to keep a close check on your horse’s health, even in summers. And as soon as you notice any unusual change, you must not wait but take an immediate action to stop it. With extensive care, you’ll be able to keep your horse happy and cool in the summers.