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[RC] overheating - rides2farI have a large Spanish Arab that has thick, dark skin, and a relatively thick summer coat. He has done two 25's and two 50's. The problem I am seeing is that he is fine in cool weather, quite forward and happy, but when the heat of the day hits and we have lots of climbs left he wants to quit. Just back from Oconee 55 where in the heat of the day we used every trick in our bag to handle the heat. Here's my suggestions. First and foremost. Do not let the core temp get extremely high! It's a lot easier to keep it down than to *get* it down once it's up there. The most common mistake I see people make on a hot day is letting the horse trot up steep hills as far as they can before they drop down to the walk. Trotting up a hill requires a lot of energy. Calories burned produce *heat*...at the CORE not on the surface. Surface heat (from the sun) is a pain, but core heat is a lot harder to get back down. Using speed up a hill does not create a breeze, whereas cantering on the flat the extra heat at least gets the reward of a good breeze. So, yesterday we walked hills. We walked long gradual slopes, and when we got on the flat we probably went faster than usual (fast canter/hand gallop?) so we could allow ourselves plenty of time on every slope. (the trail had lots of *very* slow sections so you had to make time where you could) If you're riding Jayel Super maybe you can go on up the mountain fast, but if you're on one of mine this helps. :-) Shade. USE IT!!! A common mistake is slowing down when you're out in the sun. I know this is different out west, but down here in the rain forest you get 100 yards of sun, then 100 yards of patchy shade. In this scenario, if your horse is having trouble with the heat get across that sun as quickly as possible, then when you get to the shade walk and let your horse get benefit of the shade longer. If one side of the road has shade for goodness sakes get in it! SPONGE! Don't snap it back on your saddle, keep it on your hand. Watch out for the puddles in the sun, some of them are literally hot this time of year but if you'll practice you can sponge from *every* shaded puddle on the fly. Yes, I squirt some of my water bottle on too (usually on a hill or going across a sunny patch) but I'll bet I put a *minimum* of 5 gallons per loop on my horse yesterday sponging on the fly. 20-oz. of water doesn't compare. If your horse is building up heat and you get to a cool stream STAY A WHILE. And keep putting that cool water on until the skin quits feeling hot a few seconds later. When the core temp is way up you put water back on and the skin is almost immediately hot again, but when you get that core down the skin will stay cool. If you get the core down that horse will stay cooler for awhile. (that's what we do at the check when we sponge till the pulse comes down). If your horse is still panting, there's another sign you're dealing with a hot core. When you're in camp and trying to cool the horse down by putting on water, put him in the shade anyway. If you get wet and stand in the sun, then get wet and stand in the shade you can still feel that it's warmer in the sun even though you're wet. Use that shade. This should be a no-brainer, but if your horse has a long heavy mane for goodness sakes braid it. If you're just heading out for a training ride a quick French braid will do. I'm amazed at people who will start a 50 on a hot humid day with a long heavy mane hanging down. If you don't like to braid cut it off. Go ahead and put water over their back if you're on the trail and going to keep moving. Heck, when that water isn't chilled I don't think you can put too much water over them even in camp. With all the water at Oconee brought in in tanks it had all had the chance to warm up to bathwater status. Don't use a saddle pad that covers more surface area than necessary. These tips are more for riding than crewing. If you're crewing you can get into the icewater on chest & legs stuff. CT people are big on fanning and though it looked funny to me at the time I'll guarantee that if my horse wasn't coming down and I could grab a piece of poster board I'd get somebody to be fanning while I was sponging. :-) P.S. I hit 4000 career miles yesterday and thanks to loaner from Claude Brewer got my *first* completion ever on a mare. Daughter Josie hit the 1000 mile mark so I'm sore & happy. :-)) Angie ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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