Texas Horses Cooler Than Humans In Sweltering Heat At Racetracks

The United States is experiencing a record-setting summer, with temperatures in the Southwest topping the 100-degree mark day after day. The suspects among the causes of this heat streak range from global warming to La Niña,

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The United States is experiencing a record-setting summer, with temperatures in the Southwest topping the 100-degree mark day after day. The suspects among the causes of this heat streak range from global warming to La Niña, none of which is certain. What is certain, however, is the effect of summer heat on horses.


Horses are much like humans in their response to the increase in temperature during the summer months. They generally respond to warm weather by sweating, just as humans do. And like humans, horses can endure a lot of heat if they are in good physical condition, have plenty of water, access to shade and, even better, a bit of natural or machine-generated wind. In a review of several studies on the effect of heat on horses, which was done in anticipation of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga., researchers concluded that that there were clear physiological benefits produced from about 14 days of acclimatization to extreme heat. Racehorses that are based in the Southwest are, of course, already acclimatized to heat. And their trainers and grooms monitor their condition daily, provide plenty of water and keep their stalls cool with electric fans. The movement of air is important to horses because when they sweat, water rises to the surface of their skin. Once there, the process of evaporation provides some cooling. Evaporation alone is a relatively slow process. A bit of wind or a breeze from a fan increases the cooling effect dramatically.


On the days they race in hot weather, racehorses are usually given a cooling splash of water right after their tack is removed. Then they’re led back to their barn to be walked until their body temperature returns to pre-race levels and they can be bathed. This cool shower, either from a bucket or a water hose, reduces the horse’s body temperature quickly.


By taking care of one small but important detail, officials at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie in Texas report that the horses are faring as well or better this summer than they did during Lone Star’s inaugural meeting. According to Lone Star’s Director of Media Relations, John W. Naylor, the track has added sources of water along the path that horses take going to and from the barns. (Incidentally, this summer Lone Star had added misters in various locations to make humans at the track more comfortable as well.) “In addition to the water hoses and ice that we have in place near the winner’s circle to cool horses after each race,” Naylor said, “we’ve positioned water hoses at 40-yard intervals between the test barn at the beginning of the stable area and the tunnel leading to the paddock. That means cooling water is available at 40-yard intervals from the backstretch, along the outside of the clubhouse turn and along the outside of about a fourth of the stretch-all the way to the point where they step off the track and go to the paddock

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