High temperatures, common in summer, can have a negative impact on the horse's well-being and performance. Knowing the risks that stress thermal causes and how these can be minimized thus becomes fundamental.
The horse generates heat during various metabolic processes, intestinal fermentation processes, and muscular activity. The dissipation of the heat generated and thermoregulation in the horse is done through vasodilation of the cutaneous vessels, sweating and the respiratory tract, through exhalation. High temperature conditions limit the dissipation of heat through vasodilation of the cutaneous vessels, while high relative humidity limits, in turn, the evaporation of sweat.
In circumstances where heat dissipation is not efficient, the increase in body temperature can become worrying and can even be fatal. Horses undergoing intense training or competition, dehydrated, with large electrolyte losses (through sweating) or unable to sweat (suffering from anhidrosis), are more susceptible to stress thermal.
What are the signs of stress thermal in the horse?
O stress Heatstroke may present as intense sweating or less sweating than expected, increased respiratory and heart rate, significant increase in rectal temperature, dry skin and signs of dehydration, weakness, depression, convulsions and/or death.
How to prevent the stress thermal?
We can minimize the horse's exposure to high temperatures by adequately ventilating the stables or, if the horses are kept in extensive conditions, by providing shade or returning them to the stable during the day and going to the pasture at night.
Work during periods of higher temperatures should be avoided. After physical exercise, the horse should be allowed to cool down.
Can nutrition be an ally?
Nutrition can and should be an ally. The horse should always have access to clean, fresh water.
The use of a food with good digestibility, which contains heat-treated cereals (through flocculation or extrusion), allows pre-cecal digestion of starch (digested in the small intestine), which results in less heat production, reserving the fermentation processes of the large intestine for the fibrous component of the food.
INTACOL FOODS
In turn, the inclusion of salt (sodium chloride) in the daily diet, or the provision of rock salt, allows the horse to meet its chloride and sodium needs and stimulates water intake, contributing to its hydration.
The use of a complementary food compounded with electrolytes that allows the replacement of salts lost in sweat (chloride, sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium) is particularly important in horses subject to intense activity and accentuated sweating. The replacement of electrolytes is essential for the hydroelectrolytic balance and for the most diverse physiological functions, among them muscle contraction, contributing to greater resistance to stress thermal and for better performances.
REHIDRAMAX
Providing zinc, prioritizing an organic source (a chelate) that guarantees its preferential absorption, has also proven beneficial. During the cooling process, vasodilation of the cutaneous vessels causes a decrease in intestinal irrigation. This decrease can compromise the integrity of the intestinal barrier, resulting in an increase in its permeability with the inherent risks (endotoxemia and associated problems, such as laminitis).
The supply of zinc is positive, due to the protective effect it promotes on the epithelium, contributing to maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier.