Is there any way you can stall him during the
worst part of the day and have a fan blowing on him? I'd give him a couple
buckets of water with some hay to munch. Hay will usually kick in thirst where
grass may not. Maybe stall a buddy next to him so he doesn't panic about being
by himself?
I have a 23 yr. old QH I am fretting over too. It
is 90 degrees here with 60% humidity and a 100 degree heat index. The heat
index is expected to rise to 107 degrees this afternoon. Fortunately for me I
have a dirt paddock with a run-in shed and shade trees behind my house. It has a
box fan up in one of the corners and blows downward. I put my two out on pasture
(no shade or sun protection) from about 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and then
bring them back to the paddock. The old man parks himself in front of the fan
and pretty much doesn't move. Even then he is soaked through with sweat, as is
the 12 yr. old Haflinger mare. They usually go back out to pasture from late
afternoon until dark. My pastures are a distance from the house and can't be
seen by looking out a window so I like them out behind the house over
night.
I've been giving Apple-A-Day electrolyte in their
morning feed and this encourages them to tank up on water earlier in the day. In
their evening feed I've started giving about a Tablespoon of salt to encourage
another good drink. I do soak their feed, Nutrena Senior for the old man, and
SafeChoice for the mare. I add a 2 cup dry measure of beet pulp to the mare's
feed to add a little more bulk and water. She gets about 2 cups of SafeChoice a
day. They have both been working on the salt block and I also provide loose
salt. Pretty much they just drool in that but I like them having all the
options.
