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Your horse has had a few months of vacation during the winter season. He’s lazed around the snowy pasture with his buddies and has grown a heavy coat of thick hair. Now that the days are getting longer again, you decide it’s time for him to start legging up in preparation for the spring show circuit.

Even though you don’t work him very hard at first, you find that he gets sweaty patches under the saddle and along his neck and flanks as he exercises. Now you have a problem because you can’t turn him out until he’s cool and dry, but it looks as though that might take hours that you don’t have to spare. Short of clipping him, how can you deal with this sweaty winter coat?

First, consider backing off on length and level of these first workouts. If your horse is getting visibly sweaty, maybe you are asking him for more than he’s ready to do. If possible, substitute two shorter, easier workouts for one longer, harder exercise bout.

Next, spend at least 10 minutes walking at the end of any work so that the horse’s breathing and heart rate can return to normal after exertion. His body temperature will come down a bit during this time, though he may actually show more sweat at the end of this walk.

Finally, dismount and loosen your girth a bit, and then put a lightweight wool cooler over the horse while he’s still saddled. Walk him from the ground for a few minutes before you stall or tie him and take the saddle off. Fold the cooler toward his neck, remove the saddle, and replace the cooler. Then fold the cooler up one section at a time and use a towel to scrub off as much sweat as possible. Go around the horse several times, drying the sweat and replacing the cooler over each section. Leave the cooler on until the coat is dry, after which the horse can be taken to the pasture, with or without a turnout blanket depending on your normal routine and the weather.

Even though your horse should lose fewer electrolytes in sweat, some horses with longer coats can sweat profusely in winter, especially when worked if they are not clipped. A salt block in the paddock or loose salt in the feed is essential, and many working horses need an electrolyte year-round. KER recommends the use of Restore SR, a sugar-free, sustained-release formula. Learn more. 

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