Re: Proper nourishment + heat

["Kathy Myers" <kathy@nvolve.com>]

Kathy wrote:
>When she arrived here, the temperature was about
>25 degrees higher than Iowa (about 40 degrees on the heat index), so
>we really did nothing for the first ten days or so - we were both
>pretty miserable with the heat.

An increase in temp can be just as difficult on your
horse as a move to a colder climate without any work
load.  You can see the same base increase in energy
consumption for maintenece as you do with a 25 degree
drop in temp.

If I remember right from my AnSci days at UC Davis,
there is an optimal temperature range for maintenence
feed.  Anything below OR ABOVE this range calls for
an increase in calories.  Which is why in the hotter
climates of the south Brahma crosses are popular for
range beef production animals.  The idea is to opimize
the efficency of metabolism to amount of feed needed.
You can imagine what a percentage point in calories
would cost if you ran 1000 cows.

The point is your horse most likely needs a small increase
in caloric intake just to deal with the hotter weather.
If I'm mistaken here, Susan, Heidi, et al, please jump in.

Oh, and *you* might also need an increase in caloric
intake to deal with the heat.  I'd suggest maintenence
pints of Ben and Jerry's.

:) - Kat Myers
in San Mateo, CA with Magnum the TB ex-racer
and Mr Maajistic... aka "Blue"