The heat indexes have been over 110 the past few days, 125 yesterday per Rick, and it's still going. That means we have to go to the barn, trudge through the 15 acre field to the way back where the horses inevitably are, and bring them down for a hosing.
It's a miserable task, but the horses don't have a/c and have to live in it. Yesterday I found Peanut drenched in sweat, poor dear, and the green flies are feasting on them all thus adding to the misery. His left upper eyelid - which was swollen last weekend - is getting better. Thankfully we are not going to have a repeat of last year's swollen shut with conjunctivitis episode.
So, here's the conundrum: hosing will cool down a horse, but then leaves them with a layer of water that is hard to evaporate as well as insulating once it warms up. Scrape them and even towel them all you want and you can't get them dry. Our guys will inevitably take a glorious roll in the first dirt patch (leaving Gene a bay instead of an app), and thus add another layer but at least one that may protect slightly from flies.
What to do? At least the hosing does cool down their core temperature, and they do seem slightly sprightlier afterwards. If you started with a horse covered in a layer of sweat, is there really a difference?
It's so miserable out that the last thing that I want to do is take pics, but we have found that Gene loves an under-jaw spraying. He is also oh-so-adorable during it. Too bad the light was unfortunate. I was in no mood to set up a better shot.
After the hosing on that day, before Rick could remove his halter, Gene thundered off in his field back to the run-in which is, yep, across the 15 acres. Rick had to trudge across the field once more to retrieve said halter, and then trudge back. It was funny and heart-breaking at the same time.
3 comments:
"leaving Gene a bay instead of an app"--how very "101 Dalmatians" of him. "I'm a labrador!"
Poor hot horses. I'd probably take the dirt-roll option, too. I can't wait for this triple-digit heat to be over--and boooooo to flies!
You poor things, all of you.
I think there's gotta be something to rinsing off the salt from the sweat. If you never hose horses get so crusty and sticky from the salt.
Does Peanut do the flappy-lip thing when you spray his face? Dixie does; maybe I'll remember to video it this afternoon :)
Kate - It is like that! "I'm a thoroughbred!"
Boo indeed. Ugh.
Funder - Just send some of your weather our way, ok? Through Canada, please, since if it gets anywhere near the midwest it will just get all messed up.
I never saw them get crusty from salt. I didn't know that happened!
Ad for the lip flappy thing, nope. Peanut will sometimes drink from the hose, but otherwise acts like hosing is an unwelcome disturbance to his existence that must be suffered.
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