a few questions in how to keep my pony cooler?

redfoxylady

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Jan 12, 2008
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Hants bordering Surrey
So feeling a bit fed up after going down to my pony to turn her out and she was looking a sorry state with the hot weather. I have changed her to turnout overnight and in during the day. she is seeming to be quite sensitive to the flies, gets huge lumps from fly bites and has developed conjunctivitis in last couple of days so really need her to have a break from the sun I feel. she is a chestnut.
so when I went to turn her out at 7pm she had been rubbing her mane and tail, had many flies sat on her back even though inside a dark stable and poor puffy eyes with discharge. I am bathing eyes with cold tea but will get vet to dispense some eye drops.

her stable is wooden with a straw bed.
she is a cob x welsh with medium feathers body unclipped and long mane.
I want to keep her feathers and mane but thinking should I clip her body? or will that be mean as more sensitive to the flies? she does wear a fly rug at night. (would probably have to sedate to clip)
should I change the straw bedding, would that create a hotter stable?
best to tie up her mane or leave to help with the flies?
anybody used a battery powered fan in stable? assume battery wouldn't last very long?
 
Sometimes clipping can expose the skin to bites more. I clipped one of mine a couple of weeks ago to go on a Funride so kept a fly sheet on 24/7 to minimise bites. His coats grown out in just a couple of weeks. Mine are out 24/7. At the moment I take the rugs off over night. Then put on in the morning.
Could you put a thin sheet on in the stable. That might keep the fly's off the back to stop irritation. Also turn out say about 9pm when flys have more or less gone dormant for the night. I would turn out then unrugged so it allows the skin to breath. Does your horse wear a fly mask. It might pay to also put that on in the stable and again take off when you turn out.
If the horse is a messy horse in the stable it might make it get churned up and smell more which could attract the flys, so maybe shaving might be a better option. Equally it could need a bit more ventilation.
 
Jess is sensitive to flies, the only way I found to prevent the bites is a good fly rug and a mask to prevent them bothering her eyes and ears (she is chestnut too but already has a very fine TB like coat), she wears those 24/7. When its really hot I will dunk her fly rug in water and put it on wet, it helps keep her cool for several hours. Bugs are worse during daylight but especially at dawn and dusk, so if I do un-rug Jess to give her a break, I make sure its back on for those two peak times.
You might be able to rig up a fan with a solar panel, I bet it wouldn't be hard, I wouldn't trust my little boys not to mess with something like that though :rolleyes:
 
Sometimes clipping can expose the skin to bites more. I clipped one of mine a couple of weeks ago to go on a Funride so kept a fly sheet on 24/7 to minimise bites. His coats grown out in just a couple of weeks. Mine are out 24/7. At the moment I take the rugs off over night. Then put on in the morning.
Could you put a thin sheet on in the stable. That might keep the fly's off the back to stop irritation. Also turn out say about 9pm when flys have more or less gone dormant for the night. I would turn out then unrugged so it allows the skin to breath. Does your horse wear a fly mask. It might pay to also put that on in the stable and again take off when you turn out.
If the horse is a messy horse in the stable it might make it get churned up and smell more which could attract the flys, so maybe shaving might be a better option. Equally it could need a bit more ventilation.
thank you so much for replying, she seemed to be coping much better now, think it was a bit of a shock with the heat wave :) I have plaited up the mane which seemed to help. I also wonder if she got a bit stressed coming in during the day as change in routine so maybe why she got so hot ?
 
I have my sensitive to everything including fresh air cob living out... Fly mask, other eise his eyes swell and get gunky mainly from pollen and dust but the flies like the gunk, so fly mask and bathe daily if gunky... And fly rug and weirdly hes the only one out of the 4 thats always relaxed when we turn up.. Hes always cool and just eating the rest are all stood together, looking miserable and throwing the heads, even with fly gear on... Wonder if hes cooler beecause hes white, the rest are dark horses... God knows... Cammomile lotion on any bites, works a treat! I also put a layer of cammolmile lotion on the sheath/inside of back legs to sooth bites and deter flies, works quite well
 
I would wash her down with a tea treat and mint wash (usually you can get a decent one from the pound shop) and leave her in the stable wet to keep her cool in the shade, I would plait up her mane into a French plait on top of her neck to keep her cool as well and when turned out pop a fly rug on.

Kia has a fly mask on just now as his eyes were getting sore with them
 
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I would wash her down with a tea treat and mint wash (usually you can get a decent one from the pound shop) and leave her in the stable wet to keep her cool in the shade, I would plait up her mane into a French plait on top of her neck to keep her cool as well and when turned out pop a fly rug on.

Kia has a fly mask on just now as his eyes were getting sore with them
U can actually buy a cooling shampoo, seeen it in our horse shop the other day, maybe same ingredients not sure as didnt look x
 
Other than bring them in out of the heat, I don't think that there is much else you can do. My horse is hairy and hot. He gets very lethargic in the heat. I bring him into his stable which is luckily inside and very cool, and he basically chills out and dozes all day until it is time to go out to the field and stuff himself again. I do wash him off in the middle of the day and obviously he always has access to water.

The heatwave will go soon anyway and we will all be complaining that we are freezing again.
 
Agree, other than bring them in for a while in the worst of the heat and flies not a lot less works. Ours love hiding out in the byre as it's stone and retains coolness inside, wonderful on a hot day. Like mp says we will all be grumbling soon enough about being cold:p
 
It depends how your stables are designed and placed.
Most are placed to be out of the wind and to be warm for winter, so bringing in to a wooden stables isn't always a better option. They can be stuffy, lack air and not have any ventilation. That attracts flies as does the urine and poop that they can't get away from.
 
It depends how your stables are designed and placed.
Most are placed to be out of the wind and to be warm for winter, so bringing in to a wooden stables isn't always a better option. They can be stuffy, lack air and not have any ventilation. That attracts flies as does the urine and poop that they can't get away from.

Yes our old stables were wood, and they were boiling in summer. Stone is more helpful.
 
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