Handling the transition to high temperatures with a horse.

Jac hot hereAbout three weeks ago I wrote a blog titled, ‘How cold is too cold to ride a horse?’ but due to moving to Texas (at least for awhile) Jac is wondering about the heat.

We knew in November that people were seriously interested in buying our house and because of it we made sure we started blanketing all of the horses. We did this because we hoped to be headed to Texas to stay with some friends for awhile and Texas is generally warmer than Ohio:)

When we left Ohio the temperatures had been dipping to the lowest I had seen while living there with many day time highs in the single digits and nighttime lows in the negative numbers.

We have been here three days and all of them have been in the 70’s!Bowie 75degrees

It has been beautiful weather to ride in….at least for me. The horses, on the other hand, have mixed opinions. They start out frisky (we didn’t ride the last few days in Ohio due to packing) but they quickly run out of steam.

If we hadn’t blanketed them we would have needed to body clip them to help them cope with the sudden change in temperature. For the most part we just need to take it easy with them for awhile while they adjust.

This involves shorter training cycles as well as easier training cycles. I might still ride for an hour but I am actually doing less than I was when I was riding for an hour in 20 degree weather. Once we both get accustom to the heat I am sure that will change some..plus Jac is shedding like crazy…but still…..

I never thought I would hear myself say this…but it is actually easier to get a lot of hard riding done in the cold!

15 Comments

  1. Tavia Turner on February 19, 2014 at 8:05 am

    Welcome to Bowie Stacy.

  2. Janette on February 19, 2014 at 7:41 am

    We have the some problem in Darwin Australia in the summer, 90 degree heat with 80 or 90% humidity. It is very difficult to train with repetitions. The horses fatigue quickly. It’s almost impossible to put the miles on them in the canter, even if they are fit, because they just get too hot. The horses core temp can quickly get too high and irreversible damage as a result. They can loose the ability to sweat in this tropical climate, if they over heat. The only way I have found to get anything done, is at night under lights. So the time we can work the horses is very limited. We see that white foam sweat as a sine of them not being fit to this environment. As they get fit/accclimatize the sweat becomes clear and drips profusely. There is only one advantage to the heat. When you go back to the cold you and your horses will feel amazingly good.

  3. Catherine Woods on February 19, 2014 at 5:02 am

    And here in the uk it has rained continuously for months…very envious of dry whatever the temperature

  4. Lindsay B. on February 18, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    I guess the secret will be to ride at sunup and ride at sundown like most do here in TN until it gets too hot to even do that.

  5. Natasha Snyder on February 18, 2014 at 11:39 pm

    I too am from Ohio and moved south here to Texas as well! (South of Houston) I LOVE the winters here and adjusted to the heat! Brought my mare and stud down last may (from Ohio). Took them a little bit to get adjusted to the heat 🙂 But the thought of no investments in heavy winter blankets….AMAZING 😉 Welcome to Texas! Hope you enjoy the move and state as much as I do!

  6. Jasmine John on February 18, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    You guys have it much easier weather wise then us here in Australia! We are winding up a summer of 100-113 degree fahrenheit weather!

  7. Diana M. DeWitt-vorwaldt on February 18, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    It is so awesome what you guys have done what a great way to start a new life. Best of luck to you-all

  8. Cyndi on February 18, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    Oh honey wait till its 99 with 100% humidity. Oh and be careful of fire ant piles!

  9. Connie on February 18, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    Welcome to Texas! And don’t get too comfortable with the warm temps that can change in 24 hours down to the 30’s all the way through April. The saying goes, ‘if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a minute it will change’, that is true. Then when we do get to the warm weather it’s mild only briefly then straight to HOT and humid! I’m from the west (dry) side of Texas and summers here in north texas kick my butt. So the 70’s over the last three days have been awesome!!

  10. Kathleen on February 18, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Give it a week it will change again here in south east texas

  11. Gwen on February 18, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    Welcome to Texas…. enjoy the sunny and 75 while you can. 90s will be here soon. 🙂

  12. nyanklavon@gmail.com on February 18, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    Wait till summer in Texas. Now that’s a new kind of HOT!

  13. Taylor on February 18, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    I live in Long Island but in July I’m taking my Thoroughbread down to Georgia To compete in Nbha youth world campionship he’s very hotheaded very hyper and Sweats alot I don’t want to shave him because after a week and a couple days he’s coming back home what would you do to help bet The Georgia heat

    • Stacy on February 19, 2014 at 2:49 pm

      Hopefully he is fully shed out by July. If you can go a few days early that helps, also practicing at night or when cooler, electrolytes, etc.

  14. Frank Johnson on February 18, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    Welcome to Texas, Stacy!! Enjoy!

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