How long horse need to be cooled down after strenous exercise?

Answer 1

the same reason people need to "cool down" after a long run... you wouldn't run 5 miles and then sit down to a big meal or something... if you're like me after running 5 miles first you'd stagger around trying to catch your breath, you'd walk around to help your muscles kind of loosen up, you'd probably go get a drink of water... by now your breathing's slowing down and your heart rate's getting back to normal... when you're finally breathing normally and your heart's stopped pounding, you're pretty well cooled out...

horses are the same way... after a long workout you ESPECIALLY don't want to feed a horse right away. the blood supply is all going to the muscles in hard work and is relatively shut down in the digestive organs. then if all of a sudden you throw a large amount of food into that stomach, its going to have a real hard time digesting it, leading to stomach pain called colic, which can be fatal. the fitter the horse is, the less cool-out time is needed, but just like people, you know the horse is "cooled out" when its TPR (temp, pulse, respiration) are back to normal.

in the winter its especially important to make sure a horse is well cooled out... you wouldn't want to take a hot sweaty horse and just leave them out in the 30 degree cold to dry... that's asking for a vet bill!!

Answer 2

It depends on the amount of time the horse was worked when finished with working the horse make sure to hose it down with cool water and let it graze for a while on a lead rope you can really tell if it's cool by feeling the horses chest the chest should be warm but not hot and when done with exercise only let your horse drink warm water if the water is cold the horse can get very ill

Answer 3

It is very important to cool out a horse after exercise to prevent the horse from getting sick. A horse that is put away warm can develop muscle cramps / soreness causing them pain. It can cause them to sweat profusely and lose condition and get chilled when the outside temperature cools down or the wind blows, when this happens they can develop inflammation in their lungs and airways. A warm horse can also develop colic, especially if fed grain or pelleted feeds right after work that leaves them hot and sweaty. It is very important to always cool out a horse after it has been working.

Answer 4

You can walk your horse around.