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Given they are used to the conditions they can make it - if they take 
great care and go slow. We've had rides in the SE where the conditions 
have been very brutal and most come out okay. My first ride was in South 
FL where it was about 90 and light showers all day. Before the shower 
the humidity was in the 80 to 90 percent range. After a shower it felt 
like a steam bath. This was back in the old days and we only had 4 in 
the 50 and 11 in the 25, but all finished. That was the longest it has 
ever taken me to do a 25 (about 4 to 4:30).  Thank goodness I was doing 
25. The riders need to watch themselves since they can get into trouble 
also. My horse was in much better shape than I was. But after pizza and 
a couple gallons of beer I was fine ;-) .

I think in those conditions more checks is a good ideal so the horses 
can stop and cool more frequently. Such things as ice on the neck to get 
the body temp back down at a check is a good ideal. I don't know about 
Malaysia but normally in the tropics there is a breeze (water land 
interaction). Down in FL in the summer we normally don't go out till 
about 10 (AM) since that's when the breeze really kicks up and it's a 
lot more comfortable. In FL in the summer 90 degrees isn't too bad to 
ride in if you stay in a lightly wooded areas where you are mostly out 
of the sun and there is a breeze. I normally ride most days in the 
summer without any ill effect.

Truman

Maryanne Gabbani wrote:

> I'm curious about those temperatures. I recall a lot of discussion of 
> the heat index after the Barcelona Olympics and as I remember, those 
> figures should be seriously in the red zone for equine safety.  Am I 
> remembering wrong? If I'm not, I'll be really interested in hearing 
> how they handle the heat issue.
>
> We are just going into summer here, which is our time to slow things 
> down. Yesterday had a high of 96 F but humidity below 30%. With a nice 
> breeze blowing down the valley, I took a couple of my horses out for 
> some easy work.  But when it is above 96 F and above about 50% 
> humidity, which we do get at times unfortunately, no one here works.
>
> Then again, in a place where that is the norm.....  well, I'm glad I 
> don't have to deal with it on a daily basis.
>
> Maryanne
> Cairo


--

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm 
not sure about the former."  Albert Einstein





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