I think pretty much all of the country is dealing with record breaking temperatures and drought, and seemingly will be doing so for the foreseeable future.

 How do you  adapt your horse's care, as well as your riding/show schedule in the heat?

Its a nightmare.  I have to hose my horse before I work him.  I give him a bucket of gatorade before and after I ride him, and only work him 3 or 4 times a week because I know he is suffering.  He is disgusting and drenched with sweat and caked with dirt every time I get to the barn. I wish the big goof would learn to hang in the shade, but it just isn't going to happen when there is so much tasty grass in the sunlight!

FocusCalmPatience:

the big goof would learn to hang in the shade, but it just isn't going to happen when there is so much tasty grass in the sunlight!

 

Hahaha.  My Mare is Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} surprisingly hanging out in the shade of the run-in, but its causing her to stand in poo a lot. So I'm having a slight foot issue on top of the heat.  I basically stopped riding  for a little while there, it was too hot.  We don't show, so we don't have to work daily - she's in good shape to be trail ridden 2-3 hours, so we take the day off on the really hot ones (by which I mean over 90) 

There is no shade to ride in at our barn unless you count the indoor, but there's no air movement in the indoor, so we do short rides outside.  I ride until either she seems so sweaty she's miserable or I feel like i will melt.  Then I hose us both down!  I saw a tip somewhere to soak your ball cap in water and wear it after a ride, so I've been doing that as well.

LOL if I only rode when it was under 90, my horse would get nearly 3 months off!  Last night it was over 90 at 7:30! Last few weeks it is over 100 almost every day. UGH, I am moving up north!

I think the horses are doing better than I am - lol lol

If I am still alive and I haven't had a heat-related vet bill when September gets here, I've done good this summer - lollol

Last Sunday the temps were only 98 but the Feels Like was 114.  I have never in my life experiencd anything like it.

No matter how crappy I feel, I put on the back brace and "Excedrin Up" to shower the horses every night (no shampoo).  They get put in their stalls with fans that are on timers, and a tub full of hay.  My water bill is bigger than the post card notice it comes on.  The electric bill -- well -- that is better not being talked about too.

I have been changing outside tub water at least once a day because it literally has been getting too hot to bath a baby in.

I have trail horses and that means if I can't stand this heat nobody is going out the drive so they are on hiatus and seem to understand all they have to do is survive the day "out in the wilds" of 22 acres.  This is the first summer they have ever made a mad dash for the barn at night when I holler their names and say "suppperrrrr!!"

In Phoenix, we're all going crazy and wishing we were anywhere else but here. As it is, though, the whole country seems to feel our misery and the best we can do is hope it will be a short summer.  A short summer for us is September temps in the high 90s. Usually, we're looking clear through to Halloween before we get some relief. 

Until then, it's nightime turnouts and afternoons in the stall for my horse. I have known of quite a few cases of colic this summer, more so than other summers it seems. When I see my horse sweating more than usual, I hose him off regularly and I give him a scoop of electrolite powder. I know that if he's sweating when he's in the stall in the afternoon we could be headed for a problem. Water. Water. Water. I keep it fresh and fill often. 

Mosquitoes are a problem where I live, because we're so close to the canals and we do regular irrigations that invite them. That raises the misery index a notch because the horse no longer wants to go out on the pasture at night. We have to be diligent about worming. I just had the vet out on Friday because my horse has summer sores brought on by worms. We fret about founder because, often, the summer months and rich pasture bring it on. At a time when you'd think we could take the shoes off our horses because it's the least appealing time to ride, we don't dare. All that heat increases the risk of laminitas. 

We try to take advantage of early morning rides when we can. We are on the trail by 5 am, which means feeding at 3:30 and on the road by 4:15. Quite a few of my friends have stopped riding altogether during the monsoon months, which is basically high temps with high humidity much like what the rest of the country is experiencing. I still ride, but it's only one or two days a week during these sweaty  months. 

When the calendar turns to October, it won't be soon enough for us. 

 

 

 

 

 I have HUGE fans in the barn and my boys have free access to their stalls.  They come in early afternoon (@ 1PM) and hang out for a couple of hours under the fans.  I hose them down every night @7:30PM.  I dump and refill their water troughs every night to ensure they have fresh, clean, cool water.  I will occassionaly add a huge chuck of ice to their water troughs.  (I freeze water in three oblong plastic flower container I bought at the Dollar Store for $1.50.)  My horses love to play with the huge chunk of ice!  I also add electrolites to ensure they drink an ample amount of water.  As for riding, well, it's just too hot for me... so my boys are on summer vacation.  BUT, when the days drop down to 80's, their vacation will be over!  

 I give my horse the summer mostly off instead of winter (since we can ride year-round).  Summer is his downtime to chillax and just enjoy trail riding and a minimum of drills to keep the fitness on.  When it cools work, we head back to the grindstone.  

Heat??!!  What heat?  Here in Portland Oregon, Summer 2011 is going down in the record books.  Not since 1954 has there been a summer without a day over 90*F.

I try to keep my horses in the barn, or the shade as much as possible- although I pamper them with a spray down every once in a while :) and have you seen the size of the flys these days? yikes! almost an inch big!

Liv_To_Ride:

have you seen the size of the flys these days? yikes! almost an inch big!

If you are talking about the black horse flies, they are bigger than that in my area.  They almost look like miniature Humming Birds flitting around.

More than one has circled my John Deere when I was mowing until they realized I didn't smell THAT much like a horse and continued on their way before I could kill them.

They are almost more daunting to look at than the big Black Widow that took up residence in our mailbox --- where mail is delivered daily.  Mr. WTW took care of her after I saw her huge dyslexic web when I opened the mailbox.   I announced mail could just stack up in there until someone else removed that big fat red hour glass from her perch

I expect to find them under the salt block holders, around the corner posts and stone piles, but this is the first I have ever seen one in the mailbox - I'm surprised the mailman left the mail.  I also saw one behind the fly spray bottle on the counter in the barn, which is also very uncommon.  I have hardly seen any at all this year but they've been places I would never expect --- NOT the house because we have a pest control that comes and sprays for them.

gypsy fly:

Heat??!!  What heat?  Here in Portland Oregon, Summer 2011 is going down in the record books.  Not since 1954 has there been a summer without a day over 90*F.

Yeah, just rub it in!! (just kidding!) I am jealous, though. I hate the heat, the horses hate the heat, so I'm waiting for cooler weather to get back into serious riding. It's a win-win situation. I'm with Solaris; summer is when our guys get a vacation. I'm taking off work Thanksgiving week to persue horsey pleasures. It will be (hopefully) before the rains start and won't be (hopefully again) too cold yet! I've turned into a wimp in my middle years!

mwf3460:

I will occassionaly add a huge chuck of ice to their water troughs.  (I freeze water in three oblong plastic flower container I bought at the Dollar Store for $1.50.)  My horses love to play with the huge chunk of ice!

 

 This is a fantastic idea and I had no idea that the horse might love the chunk of ice. I will definitely give it a try and I am already curiuos if my horse will love the ice too.  I have many plastic flower containers because I often serenatas luxury flowers by post so this is no problem.Hopefully my horse will like it too.

 and i toohave the same thing This is a fantastic idea and I had no idea that the horse might love the chunk of ice. I will definitely give it a try and I am already curiuos if my horse will love the ice too.

I live in an area where it can be 80+ degrees one week and then 43 degrees the next. We're VERY unpredictable where I live, (one week in April we had four inches of snow, the next week was eighty-two degrees and sunny) and the horses are pretty used to the unpredictability. I think the only time we actually slacked up a bit was this one day where it hit 95+ degrees. Then we resolved to only do walks and trots. Other than that we stick through it and keep on riding! The horses don't seem to mind, as long as they get a nice long drink of water afterwards. Though this week no one 'round here is getting much riding done-it's 40 degrees outside and windy with some rain. Don't think we're gonna get out riding until the wind/rain stops. :)