Covers on horses

• When cattle get hot they sweat and pant, when dogs get hot they pant, when sheep get hot they pant.
• Have you ever seen a horse pant? You won’t have, because it’s a peculiarity of horses that they are physically unable to pant (or to vomit through their mouths for that matter).
• How do horses lose heat? Their only means of losing heat is by sweating and evaporation of sweat from the body.
• This means that horses can become very hot with a risk of heat stress when they have covers on in hot weather.
• The risk is greater if they don’t have access to shade.
• Horse owners who like their horses to look clean and shiny often keep covers on their horses during summer, even in hot weather.
• If horses are to be covered, only light covers should be used, and the horses should have access to cool shady areas for relief from the heat.