Horses in hot weather

Welcome to this month's issue of UK-Vet Equine, my first as editor. As the summer months come around, many horse owners are able to turn their horses out 24 hours a day, allowing a much more natural way of life for their animals – and a welcome break for their bank accounts! Horses benefit hugely from longer periods of turnout – it allows more movement, better gut diversity from grass (as opposed to cereals) and more opportunities for social interactions when turned out with other horses.

While humans might enjoy the heat, it may not be ideal for our equine companions. Horses can self-regulate their body temperature up to around 30°C (Cymbaluk and Christison, 1990), so when provided with adequate shade and water supply they can often be left to enjoy the sun. However, light coloured horses with pink skin can be prone to sunburn (Young et al, 2013), so it might not just be owners who should be reaching for the sun cream! Additionally, heatstroke can be a potential problem; horses who are overheating should be treated initially with the application of cold water – this will help reduce the body temperature (Takahashi et al, 2020), and a vet should be called. To help prevent heatstroke, horses can be hosed with cold water and left wet, rather than scraping the excess water off.