Lots of fans going all the time. One kitty likes to sleep near a water bowl. The dogs have an outdoor wading pool they can cool off in. The horses have shelter- 10x12 covers- & plenty of water, & we wear loose light clothing.

 

I never go out until at least 6 30 hahahaha that gives me 2 hrs of light to get some work in! I went out mid day once at 110 degrees to clean out stalls.....boy was that stupid!!!!

 

Mine are out on pasture, no barn. I hose them down with cool water, dump, clean and fill the trough with cool water. Where I dump the trough gets muddy and its in the shade, so they like rolling in the mud and stand in it.

 

We have fans and misters. They are also in shaded stalls.

 

How do the misters work Country Boy? I have always been curious about that. It doesn't keep things to damp does it?

 

We have them running on the roofs of the barn

 

Fans and if I have to ride, I do so early in the morning.

 

"Only" 102 right now, and that's in the shade! Humidity is low so that's good.
We do have a breeze that's keeping us all alive but the dust is sooooo bad. Going to be 107 tomorrow...
Horses are ok standing under the trees with the breeze, tomorrow I'll hose them down with what precious water I can spare. Their hay is in the shade too.

Dogs are in the house, waayyyy too hot for them. Especially my Aussie.

Hope you guys get some rain and cooler temps asap, then send it on over!

 

It's just as hot today!

Our horses are kept up in our lot - mostly because we've been afraid to let them out after losing one to random violence. However, this summer we've had to bite the bullet and let them out into the pasture. Although there is shade in the lot, there isn't nearly enough, and it's so dusty with the dirt road right there. The pasture is actually much cooler - especially where there is still heavy tree cover...and the pond. Our horses wander back up into the lot in the evenings, covered in mud.

 

Horses have trees, and shelter to get in the shade, when they want, 180gal water trough, i make sure is full every day. Dog has 30x60 shop he can get into for shade, and plenty water, and a place to "swim" if he wants. He usually chooses to lay on the porch, in the shade.

 

My big question is: How do you get your horses to EAT in this heat? Mine just nibble on the hay during the day. (Pasture is pretty will burned up due to no rain.) Guess they do most of their eating at night, because the hay still disappears...

 

It's relatively cool here today, only 102 right now, but there is absolutely zero wind (which is a very rare thing here). I make sure all the horses have access to clean, cool water. I usually fill the tanks in the early/mid afternoon. I don't worry about dumping them every day because they are not often that dirty and there usually isn't enough water in the bottom to keep the rest from staying cool. Other than that, I'll usually spray them down while I fill the tanks and they all have access to shade. The only one I've noticed really struggling much is my black Percheron. He doesn't like the heat much at all.

 

111 degrees Monday and, today doesn't look any better for you according to the Weather Channel:-(

I need to stop whining about our high 90's with a Feels Like of over 100.

Even though we have only mowed twice this month, at least we have had enough rain in July to turn everything back from brown to green and that blasted humidity is keeping moisture in the grass and pastures.

111 degrees, I don't know how you tolerate that on an on-going basis:-(

I try to shower everyone down at night, they all have big tub fans and there's a couple overhead fans that are on timers. I let them stay in the barn until the fans start pushing hot air, then they're better off outside.

I've upped their hay and cut back what goes in their feed pans and that was slim to begin with:-(

My 25 yr old has had minor colic three times (the latest this morning) because of this weather. He has Equine Metabolic Syndrome, hind gut ulcers and the vet is suspicious of lipomas in the digestive tract.

He's the alpha horse so I have taken to shutting everyone on the front three acres, close to the water, because he doesn't have enough sense to bring everyone up for water when he's supposed to. That's how he colicked two of the times.

All I did last night was try to give him some of his ration balancer and darned if he was down, deer style, when I got to the barn early this AM.

So no I'm on the hunt for a liquid vitamin/mineral supplement that I can pour over his rice bran, crushed apples & carrots. He did fine on that these last 2 - 3 weeks; I try giving him half cup of his RB and here comes the tummy aches again.

He's bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, coat slicker'n a whistle, and still very much the herd leader but, things are not yippy-skippy inside of him in spite of how he looks on the outside:?

 

I have always remembered it getting really hot here in July and August, but the last 2 years the temps are over 110 quite a bit......that's HOT!

We shave our dog and put fans outside with her little pool. She loves it. She can't be in too long because my husband is allergic to her, which is sad, because he really loves her. He's really allergic to horses too. My horse licked his arm this spring and he broke out in hives..lol

FlyGap, Dee and you guys that are dealing with 100's plus, please be careful out there. Sometimes that heat can hit you before you know it. Remember if you have stopped sweating, it's too late you are already overheated.

Heck...everyone please be careful, it's just way too hot!

 

Walkinthewalk,sorry about your horse's colic this morning. Hope she is doing better!

 

I'm in Oklahoma, too, and you aren't kidding about the heat. Of course, it seems to be coming with little to no wind (so rare here in OK), which just makes it worse!

My horse always has fresh, clean water and shelter if she wants it. The stalled horses at my barn get fans turned on, too.
If I ride, it's early morning or in the evening once it's cooled off a bit (though right now, even that's not much!) and wear light, breathable clothing.

 

Ok I might complain about our rather long winters, but I am so glad I don't have that kind of heat!! 102F is cool? Cool where? In hell? That kind of heat, you need to be near water! Wow, very fortunate here, average temp is around 75, get overnight showers a couple times a week to keep the pastures green & growing. Our hot days are anything close to 80. I suppose you acclimatize though?

 

Kelli, thanks, he is back to his old self of bossing everyone around - lol

I kept them up front until around 5:00 PM then let them in the big pasture to do some roaming around -- after I was sure everyone had drank plenty of water.

They will come in around 7:30 or 8:00. Tonight I am switching Mr. Colic Face to the run-in stall and see if it helps for him to be able to move around more. The stall attaches to a 20' x 100' paddock.

For anyone that's interested, I bought a very light weight cooling vest and that has been a life saver. It came with five re-freezble ice packs and last around three hours, in this heat, if I'm in the barn. I would probably be sucking up oxygen at the hospital if it weren't for that vest.

It's cheap, washes up really nice and is "Made in America" . They do take awhile to receive but well worth the wait.

Ice Pack Cooling Safety Vest With 5 Cooling Packs - ANSI Class 1

I don't like the colors but on the "bright" side, at least if I fall off the tractor out in the pasture, Mr. WTW can find me really quick - no excuses for him:lol::lol:

 

This is the worst I can remember. When we bought our place it was in September and the grass was waist high, the yard was green and luscious... It looks like a bomb dropped right now. And no relief in sight, it's just getting to the hot dry months. There is no acclimating to this, I'll just stay inside. Plus, there isn't any water to get in. The river dried up for the first time EVER in June.

You guys in Oklahoma hang in there!

 

Ware, in my part of the world, temps averaging around 100 are pretty much par for every day from the middle of May until the middle of September. You just kind of get used to it. Nowadays, the only temps that really eat my lunch is when it's over 110. Pretty much anything else, I can combat the heat with a combination of proper clothing and plenty of ice water (I freeze those big gallon gatorade bottles at night and then spend much of the following day drinking them as they melt and re-filling them from the hose at the barn).

I know with the heat index and all that, a humid heat actually feels hotter, but I often wonder if a dry heat isn't more dangerous. Because we're so dry here, with relative humidities maybe reaching 25% on a humid day, you just can't get any cooling from what you do sweat because it all evaporates the instant that it seeps out through your pores. Even breathing in weather like that is agony because your nasal cavities dry out to the point of nosebleeds and it makes your lungs feel like little shriveled up raisins. It only takes about 15-20 minutes here to be pretty severely dehydrated.

 

I know with the heat index and all that, a humid heat actually feels hotter, but I often wonder if a dry heat isn't more dangerous. Because we're so dry here, with relative humidities maybe reaching 25% on a humid day, you just can't get any cooling from what you do sweat because it all evaporates the instant that it seeps out through your pores. Even breathing in weather like that is agony because your nasal cavities dry out to the point of nosebleeds and it makes your lungs feel like little shriveled up raisins. It only takes about 15-20 minutes here to be pretty severely dehydrated.

The reason a humid heat feels hotter is because your body still sweats, and it doesn't evaporate. Dry heat allows this evaporation, hence keeping your body cooler. Both are equally dangerous in terms of dehydration - you don't stop sweating in a humid heat just because it's not evaporating, you just get wetter lol.

 

Mmph. Our summer HIGHS are 65. As much as I like how it doesnt get hot and you dont have to wait to ride and such... Couldn't we at least get something in the high 70s a couple times a week?! Coastal living *sigh*

 

Good gosh, if we had a day that only got up to 65, everyone would be running around in coats :lol:. We're lucky if our nightly lows get down to 65.

Casey, I would seriously trade you weather patterns for the next few weeks if I could. Here's our 10 day forecast .
79046 Weather Forecast and Conditions - weather.com

 

^^^Those temps are beach weather or poolside weather. Yes once in awhile it does get that hot here but we have a plethora (expanding my vocab, lol) of lakes here to choose from.

 

We don't avoid the heat and just get used to it. It doesn't bother the horses. We still all do the work that needs to be done and polo practices or games are still held 6 days a week.

I had to laugh last week when I got chilly and it was 81*. I remembered last winter going outside without a coat when it was 14* because it had been below zero for a few weeks and 14 felt warm.

I amazed at our abilities to adapt.

 

Since we're talking about the heat anyway, I might as well share what I've learned working outside in it every single day all day long. The best way to stay cool isn't actually to wear less clothing. Tank tops and shorts don't = cooler body. Actually, the very best way to stay cool when it's so horribly hot out there is to wear light weight, light colored clothing. I still wear my same jeans as I do in the winter, but they are a light denim color. For my shirt, I wear a tight fitting white cotton tee underneath a long sleeved, light colored, lightweight cotton button up shirt.

The way that works is, the t-shirt absorbs your sweat as soon as it exits the body and holds onto it. The light colored outer clothing reflects much of the sunlight so you don't absorb as much heat.

Then, as the wind blows, it blows through the outer shirt and over the moisture in the undershirt, which cools the wind before it actually hits your body. It works much the same way as those old fashioned swamp coolers that folks used to use as air conditioners for their homes. Pulling air over moisture cools it down so you feel a cool breeze on your body instead of a hot one.

 

I was working out in the field last week with a construction crew. Sure made me glad that I work in a nice comfy, air conditioned office. I guess I was luckier than some of the people here at work that have to do their mandatory "ride alongs" with field crews. I work outside at home, so the heat wasnt so bad.

Smrobs: We have a COLD front coming in this weekend. Temps are supposed to get down to nearly 100!