Guide to Cooling a Horse Down after Physical Activity in Winter Weather

Articles on Horses | Topics: horses, horse, equestrian

by Julianna Travis

Guide to Cooling a Horse Down after Physical Activity in Winter Weather

When working or exercising your horse, it is crucial to engage in warm-up activities before exercise, as well as cool-down techniques. This will help prevent heated stretched muscles from cramping after the end of the horse's exercise routine.

The best thing to do after you and your horse have engaged in vigorous exercise is to walk your horse for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help slow down your horse's heartbeat. This is similar to the cool-down technique in which a human partakes in after a swift 30 to 60 minute aerobic workout. Another technique is to put the cooler on if you have one.

After you are finished walking your horse, then you should use warm water and a sponge to wipe of the areas in which your horse would most sweat. The areas that are most prone to producing sweat on a horse are the saddle area, chest, and under the tail. Then you should be sure to scrape off any excess water using a sweat scraper and make your horse as dry as possible.

Sometimes your horse may be still breathing heavy after this and should be again taken for a walk. This should be done until the horse's breathing is back to normal. When you do this as well as take the above steps your horse will be less likely to contract a cold or to get sick.

If you want to put a blanket on your horse, be sure that the horse is completely dry before doing so. If you blanket a horse before he or she is completely dry, you could actually trap that moisture inside the horse and the horse will actually be colder instead of warmer. Again, make sure that your horse is completely dry before covering it with a blanket.

Another technique to use during the cool down of a horse is to put a wool cooler on your horse. This is the same cooler that is used to keep your horse at the right temperature during warm-up, and can be used again during cool-down. The purpose of a wool cooler is that it acts like a blanket that keeps the heat close to the horse's body while allowing moisture created from movement to escape the horse's body.

аBit of History

I have just read your dispatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietem that fatigue anything?

—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

Cooling your horse to the right temperature after exercise is very crucial. You would not want your horse to pull a muscle or get a muscle cramp, or end up with a severe injury. Furthermore, muscles can become just as stiff after exercise as they can before exercise. The way to notice if a horse's muscles are getting stiff is to notice how the horse walks either before or after exercise.

If a horse's muscles are not operating at the right temperature for the level of activity, then the horse's will appear to be hunched up and taking small steps. This usually means that the horse had not been properly warmed up before exercise, and now the horse may have difficulty moving either during or after exercise. The best thing to do in this case is to walk the horse for a few minutes leading it around.

Then, you can get on the horse and slowly increase the speed of the horse's activity. When you notice your horse's strides become longer and that your horse is less hunched up this means that the horse is now warmed up properly. If you have already worked your horse for a length of time before noticing the horse's muscles tightening, you may not be able to exert the horse for much longer.

It may be wise to then begin the cool down techniques described earlier. The horse's muscles should properly cool down provided you have put the horse through a proper warm up before exercise. There is more information out there about cooling down a horse properly and how to generally care for a horse before, during and after a ride. There is also more information out there regarding how to help keep an older horse's immune system strong even if that horse can no longer move around much.

In order to find this type of information you can easily search for it by way of the Internet or by calling your veterinarian.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Guide to Cooling a Horse Down after Physical Activity in Winter Weather" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by DogsPetsCats.com.

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