Did you know that there's a right way - and a wrong way - to hose your horse off after a ride? As summer temperatures soar, you'll want to be sure that you're cooling your horse off efficiently and effectively. Here's how.

Reduce Your Horse's Activity
Even during the summer heat, it's important to give your horse some time to recover from his workout. This means lessening his physical activity so that his heart and respiration rates have time to return to normal. Keep your horse moving, even though it's hot - walk him around the arena for a few minutes. During this time, encourage him to relax into a loose rein. If you dismount, then loosen his noseband and his girth to make him more comfortable and help him to breathe more easily.

Hose Off Your Horse
When you hose off your horse after a ride, you need to apply cool water to his body long enough so that it can reduce his body temperature. If you hose your horse off once and then scrape the water off, you may find that your horse's skin is cool and comfortable to the touch. If you wait a few minutes, though, your horse's skin will be hot to the touch. This is because the cool water has had time to sit against your horse's skin, and has been heated up. If you leave your horse like this, this heated water will only sit against your horse's skin, insulating it. This will slow your horse's cooling process, keeping him hot longer.

The best way to hose off a horse is to continuously apply cold water until his body has cooled down. Some riders prefer to hose the horse off, scrape off the water, hose the horse, scrape, repeat. Others prefer to continue hosing until the horse is cool - this can take upwards of ten minutes on particularly hot days when the horse has been heavily worked.

Encourage Your Horse To Drink
Rehydrating a horse is very important after a hot summer workout. Encourage your horse to drink as you cool him out. Provide him with fresh, clean, cool water. If you need to make the water more tempting, then add electrolytes, Gatorade, or apple juice to enhance its taste. Horse Quencher can also help encourage your horse to drink.

After a hard workout in the heat, make sure that you monitor your horse until he returns to his normal, comfortable self. Remember, sometimes it's just too hot to ride, especially when it's both hot and humid. You can always resume your training another - cooler - day.

They’re here! We hate to admit it, but the first flies of the summer have begun to land in stables and farms. Before you and your horse become covered in bites, here are some ways to keep flies at a minimum, both around the farm and while you’re riding.

Minimize Standing Water

Flies lay their eggs in standing water, and if given long enough, that will mean more flies. So, your goal should be to minimize the amount of standing water available on your farm. Activities like dumping and cleaning water buckets and troughs every few days (which should really be done anyway) can help cut down on the fly population. If you have wet areas on your property where water pools frequently, think about adding extra drainage to reduce the standing water.

Encourage Predators Who Eat the Flies

There’s a way to take care of those flies naturally. Consider bringing in animals who feast on flies. Guinea fowl can be great for this, and fly predators are another option. And those pesky barn swallows? Let them stay – they eat flies and can help keep your barn fly-free.

Zip-Lock Bags of Water and Pennies(?)

Take this one with a grain of salt: rumor has it that if you fill a Zip-Lock bag with water, toss in 5 or 6 pennies, and hang it in each doorway to your barn, the flies will not enter. We haven’t yet tried this ourselves, and while some people swear by it, others say it doesn’t work. That said, giving it a try can’t hurt – and if you try it, would you report back to us and let us know what you think?

Horse Clothing

Fly sheets, leg fly wraps, fly masks… the tools of the trade when it comes to fly season. They’re classic, and they work. It’s rumored that zebra print helps to deter flies – we don’t know if this is actually true, but if you happen upon a zebra print fly sheet, try it out! If you’re shopping for fly masks, check out our review of SmartPak’s Classic Fly Mask. Tip: Opt for fly sheets and masks that offer UV protection for added benefit.

Fly Spray

Dousing your horse in fly spray can help lessen the bites he receives during rides and while in his field. You may have to try a few different brands before you find one that works well for your horse and the flies in your area. If you’re looking to save money, then buy a large jug of concentrated fly spray. Mixing up your own bottles typically costs less than it would cost to buy them individually in the store.

So, have we given you a place to start in fighting the flies this summer? If you have any other favorite tips, please share them with us in the comments.

Image source: https://flic.kr/p/2ePzEW

Carrying medications safely with you when riding can be a challenge, especially when those medications are temperature-sensitive. Last year I learned that I am allergic to bees – somehow in all my years of riding I’ve managed to avoid ever being stung, but now that I know of the allergy, going without my Epi Pen is not a risk I want to take.

I’m not terribly fond of fanny packs, and slipping the Epi-Pen into my boot as I’ve heard other riders do didn’t seem like a great idea. Still, I wanted it attached to my body in case my mare and I should ever part ways and I should need to use it. But Epi-Pens need to be protected from heat, a feat that would prove a challenge during hot summer rides. Thanks to some hunting around the internet, I’ve come up with a solution.

FRIO makes a Duo Insulin Cooling Wallet which is large enough to carry one (or two) Epi-Pens. The wallet is soft, the Epi-Pen easily fits inside, and I’m reassured that my body heat and the summer temperatures won’t affect the viability of the Epi-Pen. According to FRIO, the cooling wallet will stay cold for up to 45 hours. It also protects against freezing. While the wallet requires about a half hour’s worth of preparation time, I do it while I’m tacking up my horse. By the time we’re ready to go, so is the cooling wallet.

The whole case, Epi-Pen included, fits inside the adult-sized SPIbelt. Designed for runners and athletes, the SPIbelt (Small Personal Item belt) features a soft, expandable zippered pocket. It fights tightly against the body and doesn’t move around, which I appreciate, and is nowhere near as bulky as a fanny pack. I wear it under my shirt, and while the look isn’t exactly flattering, it’s still pretty decent considering it’s an Epi-Pen that I’ve strapped to myself.

So, if you or another rider you know needs to carry an Epi-Pen, insulin, or other medication, the pairing of these two items might be a good solution for you. Happy riding!