Heatwave?

Sweety doesn't like the summer heat like I do!

One obvious thing to help make your horse more comfortable, especially if they have a thick, luxurious mane, is to band it so air can get under it and help cool them off a little.

On days like this we don't really work. Maybe a couple of circles left and right to stretch but that's it. Then we just do a little 20 or 30 minute bareback pony ride. There was a little breeze today and it was actually kind of nice in the shaded woods but holy crap the deer flies were just awful! Maybe 50 feet or so from the woods we were descended upon!

So we went off to lap the fields. A good head shake to get rid of the last of those pesky bugs!

Much better. Off on the left there is a couple of acres of eggplant. Yum!

Take a left at the eggplant and oh my! Look at all that hay!

She was a little bit of a pill lapping the hay fields. All she wanted to do was eat! You'd think she'd been just starving to death I swear. So I had to get all mean and then she was really awesome.

Make no mistake. If anyone wants to know:


It's not the heat it's the humidity!

Really.

If we do any real work in this kind of heat I'll hose her down. But when it's both hot and humid the water doesn't evaporate and in a few minutes she'll just be all covered in hot water. Even after scraping the water she's still just covered in hot water.

So I sponged her down good with a linament solution when we were done. A linament solution will help her be more comfortable. I just kinda wing it. Maybe 6 or 8 ounces of Absorbine in a gallon of icy cold water. I use a big sponge, start at her feet, get her good and wet but not soaking, and by the time I get to the top of her legs she's making faces.

After I worked that around and scraped her down and let some air move around her, I put her away and I went and had one of these:

I like the seasonal brews.

I would surely like to have done a few miles in the woods. The woods are relatively cool and they smell so good this time of year but all things considered, ya, this was a nice day. Just like I thought it would be.