Personally, I prefer riding in the winter than the summer. I know there are many who would object, but besides having limited hours of daylight to ride and the horses' fluffy/constantly dirty coats, there really aren't any negative aspects. At least with being cold, you can always layer on more clothes to stay warm. I have no problem looking like a fat, hefty marshmallow on my horse. In the summer, you just sweat profusely until your clothes are soaked. I can't even go out and clean two stalls without being drenched when I come back inside after fifteen or twenty minutes. Can you say ridiculous? I'd rather blanket my horses every night then deal with all the flies/horse flies. But again, that's just me. I think most riders will agree that they would much rather not have to get up early every morning to ride their horse before the heat starts to dominate the day. Where I live, the only tolerable times to ride in the summer are before nine in the morning and after seven in the afternoon. It takes all my will to make myself get up consistently and ride that early when rather I could sleep in.
Backing off my little rant of how I basically despise summer (which can't be helped much when living in the south), these past few days I've seen the heat really start to affect my horse. About a week ago I could tell he was a bit more lethargic when jumping, but these past few days, which happen to be the hottest days this year, have been extremely difficult. I guess it makes just a bit of sense that these record breaking highs would have an effect.
After checking Stoney's TPRs yesterday (because he was hyperventilating in an attempt to cool himself), I was surprised that his temperature came out as low as it did, reading at 101.0. His pulse was his average at rest as well, being at 36. My main concern I've been having is his respiration, which is 76-80 and is around what his working respiration should be. He's constantly hyperventilating and huffing, and it just is not something a horse owner wants to see. And just a side note though, for all of those who have every faked their horse's average TPR at rest and at work, either for a health and maintenance book or for a rally in PC (I blatantly admit I was one of them), it will be situations like this when knowing your horse's normal TPRs and if your horse's norm is below or above the average rates that will actually pay off. These are the situations that I appreciate having been in Pony Club and being an HB in horse management.
However, I now have the pleasure of getting to go out and check on/sponge Stoney every two hours. This is mostly due to the fact that once his water buckets have become half empty, the genius has picked up the new habit of grabbing the bucket with his teeth and tossing the water everywhere in an attempt to cool himself off. Not only does he ruin his bedding as a result, but I'm having to constantly go out and refill his water buckets. I don't know why he tries to pull off his innocent and unknowing face when he's standing there looking at me, the evidence having drenched his face and still dripping off his nose. What I don't understand even more however is what fascinates him so much about picking things up with his mouth and flinging them all over the place. He tends to do this every chance he gets, and after a year of it, it seems his water buckets have become the next victim.
For the past three days now, the horse has been getting a tube of electrolytes shoved up his mouth once day, sponged every few hours, two fans blowing on him constantly (he had these before, so they don't necessarily count), and he is now drinking 5 gallons of red Gatorade a day, resulting in a constantly bright red tongue and mouth. Who would have thought that the picky horse, the one that will only eat apples on his good days, would end up loving Gatorade.
Seeing him discontent and hot to the point of misery breaks me a little inside, and I honestly can't wait for him to be north east of here. I was planning on having a jump school with him before I leave, but with the weather beating him up, that looks very unlikely. I'm excited to see his face once we unload him at Gavilan farm, full of curiousness as he lifts his head and takes in his new surroundings. I'm even more eager to see him adapt to his new home and become happy and content.
Hopefully my life will begin to become more interesting once I get to NC, and I'll have more intriguing things to type besides the unbearable weather that everyone already complains about. This won't be too long I suppose, since I will be leaving in four days. (: Can you believe the countdown has finally made it to single digits?! ...Because I can't lol
Such an uplifting picture, I think. 102? And that wasn't even the high. It was still working its way up to 103 today...
Four more days until I leave for the east coast? More like four more days of trying to endure and fight for survival.
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