The Heat

The weather for the next 2 weeks is predicted to be extremely hot and humid. This kind of weather is MUCH, MUCH worse than extreme cold for a horse farm. For frigid weather horses can be brought inside, blanketed, given warm water, and fed more. The only thing we can do for the heat is keep spraying them down with cold water and encourage them to stay in the shade by placing the round bales in the shade.
Lesson learned from the death of Jenis' filly. The bale was in the far paddock, no trees, no shelter. The mares were coming up out of the woods and standing around the bale eating, not long enough for them to get overheated but the new black foals cannot regulate their temperature and very quickly became overheated.
We have the bale at the cabin field in the sun. Hopefully Mike can find a shady place to move it before they leave for Michigan. The horses out at the Middle Grove farm seem to do well enough, grazing in the cool of the morning, then standing in one of the lakes in the afternoon or under the many trees to get away from biting flies and to keep cool.
This morning before the walk, a window air conditioner needs to be put in mom's and hooked up. Her central air quit working, Mark temporarily fixed it but as soon as he pulled away it quit. It was 87 degrees inside her house. All of the new equipment is now at her house but with the extreme heat, the service men are all busy. We can't have MOM overheating!