How to Cool Out a Horse

Cooling out a horse is very simple, but very important in keeping your horse healthy. Follow these steps when your horse has been worked and/or it is very hot outside to cool-out safely.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Electrolytes

1. Walk your horse for several minutes to allow respiration to return to a normal level. You will be able to watch the respirations as the horse's chest expands. You can lead it with a halter or ride it.

2. Remove tack and allow horse to walk uncovered. Using a sheet only traps heat next to the body unless, of course, it is very cold outside.

3. Find a cool, shady area away from sun and heat.

4. Place your horse on a high-fat diet to help keep him cool. Replace up to 10 percent of your horse's total daily ration with corn oil or rice bran. For the average adult horse, that's about 2 cups of corn oil daily. Check manufacturer's recommendations for rice bran. Start with 1/4 cup of oil per day, gradually increasing the amount. Consult your vet when changing the nutritional content for growing horses.

5. Let your horse drink as much water as he wants.

Tips & Warnings

• Condition your horse for hot weather with a light conditioning program over 10 days to help your horse adjust to hot weather conditions.
• If you know you will be working your horse in hot weather, hauling for long distances, or exposing your horse to extreme heat, increase the amount of electrolytes in the diet 1 - 2 days prior to the exposure.
• Ride and haul in the cool, early morning hours.
• Make sure your horse is well-hydrated and drinking during a ride.
• Keep training to short segments of 10 to 15 minutes with a 5-minute cool-out period in between.

[Hannajane]

on 1/4/2009 Horses do not have Gallbladders...how do you expect them to process 2 cups of OIL daily? Good grief

[lexycate83]

on 3/1/2008 Placing a horse on a high fat diet does not necessarily keep him "cool". Higher fat diets allow the horse to receive more energy from a lesser amount of feed (fat has 2.25 times more energy than the same amount of carbohydrates). Also, high fat diets tend to keep the horse's energy more consistent and level because the body metabolizes it slower. This is different than how horses metabolize diets high in starches or sugars, as the glucose causes energy spikes and falls in the bloodstream(similar to a kid getting a "candy high"). An overload of glucose from carbohydrates can cause a horse to get "hot" in the sense that it has too much energy to handle at one point and starts acting up; and in the sense that it might cause an overload of starch in the hindgut that could eventually lead to a laminitis case. How you feed a horse (carbs vs. fats for energy) does not have much of an effec

[lexycate83]

on 3/1/2008 Placing a horse on a high fat diet does not necessarily keep him "cool". Higher fat diets allow the horse to receive more energy from a lesser amount of feed (fat has 2.25 times more energy than the same amount of carbohydrates). Also, high fat diets tend to keep the horse's energy more consistent and level because the body metabolizes it slower. This is different than how horses metabolize diets high in starches or sugars, as the glucose causes energy spikes and falls in the bloodstream(similar to a kid getting a "candy high"). An overload of glucose from carbohydrates can cause a horse to get "hot" in the sense that it has too much energy to handle at one point and starts acting up; and in the sense that it might cause an overload of starch in the hindgut that could eventually lead to a laminitis case. How you feed a horse (carbs vs. fats for energy) does not have much of an effec

[lexycate83]

on 3/1/2008 Placing a horse on a high fat diet does not necessarily keep him "cool". Higher fat diets allow the horse to receive more energy from a lesser amount of feed (fat has 2.25 times more energy than the same amount of carbohydrates). Also, high fat diets tend to keep the horse's energy more consistent and level because the body metabolizes it slower. This is different than how horses metabolize diets high in starches or sugars, as the glucose causes energy spikes and falls in the bloodstream(similar to a kid getting a "candy high"). An overload of glucose from carbohydrates can cause a horse to get "hot" in the sense that it has too much energy to handle at one point and starts acting up; and in the sense that it might cause an overload of starch in the hindgut that could eventually lead to a laminitis case. How you feed a horse (carbs vs. fats for energy) does not have much of an effec

[lexycate83]

on 3/1/2008 Placing a horse on a high fat diet does not necessarily keep him "cool". Higher fat diets allow the horse to receive more energy from a lesser amount of feed (fat has 2.25 times more energy than the same amount of carbohydrates). Also, high fat diets tend to keep the horse's energy more consistent and level because the body metabolizes it slower. This is different than how horses metabolize diets high in starches or sugars, as the glucose causes energy spikes and falls in the bloodstream(similar to a kid getting a "candy high"). An overload of glucose from carbohydrates can cause a horse to get "hot" in the sense that it has too much energy to handle at one point and starts acting up; and in the sense that it might cause an overload of starch in the hindgut that could eventually lead to a laminitis case. How you feed a horse (carbs vs. fats for energy) does not have much of an effec