Yup after having a fairly mild Summer, after a fairly mild Winter, we were hoping there would be no extreme temperatures this year! But today the temperature hit 31c. Dare I say it? ITS TOO HOT! If I was off to lay on a beach somewhere 30c would be good, nay, expected. But I,m not. I,m out bloody working in it!
Lesson learned last year....Stand under hose every 15 minutes. And wear very little clothing. BHS peeps look away now. We are full on flip-flops and shorts, and in my case a bikini top, which means Jo has to watch my belly fat wobble away as I poo-pick. But at least its tanned belly fat! One good thing is that we are still in the Hill Field, which is....on a hill. Yes, the only hill in Suffolk, but at least we have a breeze. Daisy and the little ponies have a decent shade from the trees. But Lu and Charlie don't as their tree-line is so sheltered its like a sauna. But at least they can get to the top of the hill for some air. Never the less, for the past few days we have brought them into the Barn during the hottest part of the day.
And so on to the Hosing Debate! Every year when it gets hot, horsey people debate hosing their horses. I don't understand what there is to debate.
But there is an old fashioned myth that hosing a hot horse, will cause it to get hotter! I had even been told that a wet horse in sunlight will burn!!!!
Of course none of this is scientific....or even logical!!! The other myth is that the water must be scraped off. Again Not Logical! The only time we use scrapers is if we have bathed (the ponies) in Spring and its a bit cold.
So think about it. Its a hot day (like today). You jump into a pool or under a hose to cool off. For a while you feel cooler. Then the sun dries you off. And thats bare skin. Can you feel that water boiling up? Do you burn? Of course not. In the wild, horses get hot, cold, wet, muddy. They survive.
In Horse-racing, Polo and Endurance, horses get hosed down and walked around, then hosed some more! Buckets of icy water are liberally poured over the horse. Ok that water may feel warm after a few minutes. Thats because the heat is passing from the horse to the water, and is doing its job cooling the horse. The longer the water stays on the horse the cooler it stays.
Ours are not worked in this heat. They are not competition horses, so theres no need. But they still love a good hose down. As soon as we start filling the water bins with the hose, they will appear and ask for a shower. Particularly Lu, Charlie and Lil. Sometimes it takes ages to fill the bins....They just won't go away.
Today I decided to bring Lu and Charlie into the round pen before turning them out for a good hose down. Even in the Barn, Charlie was starting to sweat,as was I. We all had a thorough soaking. I always put my finger over the hose end so the water comes out in a spray, like rain. Dripping wet I went to get my phone for a video, and the Clicker and some treats because Charlie is still wary of coming too close. Up until last Summer, if I picked up the hose near him, he would rear up and leg it. Since last Summers heatwave he has realized its nice, but still stood at a distance.
Within minutes of clicker training, he was standing next to me and the hose while we both got drenched. Cue Big Wet Hug. Sadly my phone had fell off its perch and switched itself off, having died of heatstroke. The only video is this...
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