In a message dated 5/3/04 2:07:50 PM US Mountain Standard Time, JUDYK89@xxxxxxx writes:
Judy:
Since I live in the Yuma desert I felt I would be a good person to respond :).
/////Do you ride/condition in high temps? Do you have a temperature cut off?
I basically ride all year round. In the hot summer months, I ride in the morning or evening, out of the direct sun. I usually use my comfort level as the gauge. If it is too hot for me to be in the direct sun, it is probably too hot for my horses. I do lots of sponging during the summer and make sure they have access to water as much as possible. I am lucky in that my riding area is a network of main irrigation canals so I generally have water available wherever I go. I do slow down according to the temperature and how much conditioning my horse's have had in the summer. On the bright side, no where I go to compete is hotter then here :)
/////If you go to a ride, at what point do you say, it's too hot, not good for the horse?
I just slow down accordingly. Even my heavier QH has no problems with the heat as he acclimated to it. Use good judgment and slow down accordingly and you should have no problems.
I don't generally electrolyte on training rides unless I get upward in the mileage. However, I do provide electrolytes at home in their feed. They have free access to trace minerals and loose salt at all times and do consume more in the summer.
Lee ".......and God sought to bestow upon man a supreme mark of his blessing. God created the horse. The horse could run faster than the deer, jump higher than the goat, and endure longer than the wolf. Man, being encompassed by elements that sought to destroy him, would have been a slave, had the horse not made him king."
