Trailering Anxiety or Heat?

My 24-year-old Arab gelding recently came off the trailer very sweaty and with tremors in his shoulder muscle and hindquarters. It was only a 15-minute trailer ride, and it was sunny, but not hot. Is he suffering from heat issues because of his age?
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Q:My 24-year-old Arab gelding recently came off the trailer very sweaty and with tremors in his shoulder muscle and hindquarters. It was only a 15-minute trailer ride, and it was sunny, but not hot. He walked normally and seemed bright and alert. We had trail ridden two days in a row, and I thought, perhaps, it was muscle fatigue. The previous day, when he had no problem, had been cooler and overcast, but it was a much longer trailer ride. The other three horses in the trailer on both days seemed okay, although one was somewhat sweaty.

Yesterday he was trailered 50 minutes with road delays, and it was sunny and 75-80°F. He had not been ridden for four days, so he was not fatigued. He arrived very sweaty again and with the same kind of tremors. He drank before we left. I gave him half a tube of electrolytes, and when he seemed okay we went on our trail ride. He appeared fine and energetic. He drank before boarding the trailer for home, and I gave him the other half of the electrolyte paste. He was in the same condition as on the previous occasions when we got home. I checked on him later and he was dry and eating well, perfectly content.

I can't figure out what is happening to him

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Nancy S. Loving, DVM, owns Loving Equine Clinic in Boulder, Colorado, and has a special interest in managing the care of sport horses. Her book, All Horse Systems Go, is a comprehensive veterinary care and conditioning resource in full color that covers all facets of horse care. She has also authored the books Go the Distance as a resource for endurance horse owners, Conformation and Performance, and First Aid for Horse and Rider in addition to many veterinary articles for both horse owner and professional audiences.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
303 votes · 303 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!