RC: Tevis Weather

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

Angie wrote:
<He was REALLY blowing then, and REALLY hot to the touch  I ended up
alternately hosing (cold water spraying on back, HOT water dripping off
his belly) and walking and he blew, then panted for awhile.  However, it
seemed that only the sprints made him hot.>
_______

You've hit upon the mechanism: standing and blowing will drive up the
core temperature *and* keep the heart rate high. He stays "cooler" at
speed because of the passive pumping motion of venous blood returning to
the heart with the assistance of the large working muscles. That's why
Ti always taught us that a better "warm down" was a jog, not a walk.
Standing was worst of all. If your horse won't recover at a hot,
shadeless vet check, and you can't get enough cold water on him to make
a difference, either walk him slowly and/or work the large muscles with
sweeping flat-hand lifts.
Bobbie