Heat stress strategies for horses....

Looks like both Alee and Stormy - and maybe Mac - have been suffering from at least a little heat stress. I really had no idea how much humidity played a part in it - I had seen horses deal with heat at about 20 degrees higher in Phoenix with no problems. Although I'm sure a foal and a nursing mare are much more susceptible, too.

So, I found a recipe for electrolytes in my Storey's guide to Horse Nutrition, if you care for a DIY model.

40 grams table salt (Sodium Chloride)
30 grams "Lite" salt (Potassium Chloride)
20 grams Epsom salts (Magnesium Sulphate or Oxide)
Approx. 2 gallons of water

Although you can do a quick search on the web for a metric to English converter, I just made the solution up at a 4:3:2 ratio by using a household measuring cup with mls / oz on the opposite side. And used about 20 gallons of water. They say that you can use the same mix as a top dressing at 3oz per serving, but I soaked pellets (see below) because I wanted fast fluid intake for Alee.

More strategies for getting ponies hydrated ('cause you can lead a horse to water, but......) or to get electrolytes in them if they've been sweating gallons:

Soak feed as much as s/he'll tolerate Yesterday I had made up the electrolyte mix in water and flavored it with apple juice. Of course, Alee is the only one who wouldn't touch it, so I took some Alfalfa pellets and soaked them in it (1:1 mix) for about 6-8 minutes. It makes a non-mushy mix at that point. If s/he's eating hay, you can do the same thing, although I've never tried it. You might wanna try adding some flavor to the water itself to encourage drinking - as a separate bucket, not replacing what s/he already has in case they reject it - apple juice, kool-aid, the instant fruit-flavor stuff or even plain sugar...you can put them on their food straight or mix them with fluids, whichever your horse will take.
Ask your vet about the use of an electrolyte mix if your horse has any health problems, of course.

One of the things that Gaia mentioned is that if you're hosing down, you need to scrape the water off when you're finished or it adds another layer of warm material (if s/he's still warm). Alee was getting all wacked about the hose so I used a towel soaked in water and squeezed it over her. Now is not training time, now is cooling time. We'll work on hose later.

I'm having real problems keeping my guys in the shade - even if it's available, they are really dumb about it. I tend to think a stall is best if you can get a cross breeze going through the barn - that way you never have to worry about the sun angle changing and then night turn-out. Another Phoenix trick is to pick up a couple of bags of ice and place them right in front of the fan so the air is cooled as it blows. It doesn't last forever, but it does a really good job for quite a while. And for the heat from about 1:30 to 4:00 or so, you might need extra measures.

Any additional ideas are welcomed!!!!