Hot Horse: Cool Him Down with Water

The best way to cool a hot horse is to hose or sponge cold water over him, scrape the water off with a sweat scraper, and repeat the process until the horse is cool. Old-school horse handlers worried that pouring very cold water on hot muscles would cause tying-up, but this worry is unrealistic for healthy horses.

Another fallacy from yesteryear is that allowing a hot horse to drink more than a tiny sip of water will bring on colic. Again, there’s no basis for this concern. Owners should allow the horse to drink a gallon or two if desired, wait a few minutes, and offer more water at intervals. If a horse has sweated profusely during exercise in hot, humid weather, he may benefit from electrolyte supplementation to replace substances lost through sweating.