Horses are 500+ kilo furry creatures designed to live outdoors year round, in all weathers. So why would anyone use a horse cover in summer?
We're the first to suggest that you think twice.
Heat is a serious issue for horses, and it's crucial to avoid over-rugging your horse. Most people can't be home all the time, so if you can't pop out and take off a rug as the day gets warmer, you may decide that no horse rug is the best option. And, you may have a medium built, medium age horse, with a medium thickness coat, and they may be perfectly happy spring to autumn with no horse covers in sight.
But there are quite a few times when a summer horse cover is a good idea. Here are some.
Times to use a summer sheet on your horse
Shooooww time!
You've spent the day before the show washing your horses and trimming their feather, braiding manes and brushing out their tails - and they look absolutely perfect. Do you turn them out for a satisfying roll?
No, you do not!
Pop on a summer combo and slip that lovely clean tail into a tailbag. NOW let that rascal roll, knowing that in the morning you'll unveil a pristine pony ready to wow the judges in the ring.
Summer storms
For horses who have shed every spare coat hair and fully acclimatised to mid summer heat, a sudden drop in temperature and heavy downpours with wind can be a shock to the system. Sudden bad weather can stress the immune system, and a soaked through coat can increase the risk of chilling, leaving horses vulnerable to respiratory issues like colds.
When the air temperature is not cold, it's best to use an unlined horse rug - even during storms in summer - as the ambient temperature may still be enough that your horse will sweat under a lined horse cover. The purpose of the horse rug is simply to keep rain off and block the wind - and if it isn't windy a mesh sided cross over rug will be plenty, as our Waterproof Mesh Crossover combos and standard neck turnout rugs are perfectly designed to keep your horse cool but dry!
Summer scorchers
If your horse has a dark coat - or white patches - on the hottest days of summer you may find they are actually cooler and more comfortable in a light coloured mesh or cotton turnout sheet.
Horses with pale skin on their backs and top of their neck may burn, while black or dark brown horses coats may get burning hot. One of our customers told us;
"My black horse gets so hot on her back that it burns my hand to touch her - and at the end of the day she has salt crystals all along her back from sweating constantly in the heat. She's cooler and more comfortable with a white NZ Tack summer sheet on, and doesn't have the salt on her coat so I don't worry about all that salt loss!"
Simply "changing the colour" of your dark horse with a lightweight white summer cover can make the surface of their coat far less heat absorbing, and this can more than outweigh the slight extra warmth of a layer of cotton or mesh.
Those darn flies
Horse owners in New Zealand are so lucky! We don't deal with the level of flies and insects that Europe and Australia do, but our horses don't know how lucky they are.
Bot flies can send some horses into galloping panic mode and even the calmest horses can get annoyed and kick out. And then there's the absolute harassment of having to pick all those teeny eggs off your horse or cut them out of manes to prevent your horses getting them in their mouth, and then - honestly its horrendous if you don't know, go google it; we don't want to make anyone sick while reading our blog!
Let's just agree you do not want bot eggs on your horses and it's a lot of work getting them off.
So, we love a light mesh rug to keep them off your horse in the first place - and a mesh rug and maybe fly boots will hopefully help your horse feel safe and less bothered too!
If you live in Auckland or Northland you may notice clouds of biting mosquitos hanging over your horse in the evening. Grab a cotton sheet at 5pm and slip it on your horse to prevent bumps and itchy bites. Again, prevention is better than dealing with sensitive spots or reactions.
Rain scald
In summer, sensitive skinned horses can have a whole host of skin issues, and rain scald is the most common.
Rain scald is caused by bacteria which get into the horses skin through tiny cuts or grazes and because the bacteria thrives in rain or high humidity, your horse's rain scald can flare up after light summer rain when temperatures are warm. For many horses with rain scald the best option is to prevent their coat and skin from getting wet in the first place, and horses may need a light waterproof rug while healing to prevent further spread.
Sweet itch
Sweet itch is becoming more widespread in New Zealand especially in the Northern areas. Normally sweet itch is triggered by an allergic reaction to bites from midges and bugs and leaving your horse unrugged - especially in the evening - is not an option as the horse will be vulnerable to the midge bites that cause the allergic reaction and itching. Very reactive horses will need a specialised Sweet Itch Rug like the Bucas BuzzOff Sweet-Itch Combo. There are loads of other good options for general bug and insect protection in our Fly Protection Collection.
Heat rashes
Heat rashes tend to flare up most after rainfall too and a good wash with Eco Horse Charcoal Shampoo and a clean cotton turnout sheet can often help your horse's skin calm faster.
After your horse exercises
Phewf, riding in summer is a hot sport! And even hotter for your horse. when they come in drenched in sweat, you've washed them down, scraped them off, and there is a breeze, they are at risk of a chill from cooling too fast.
Cooler rugs are an important part of any sporthorse's equipment as they allow ventilation and gradual cooling after exercise, by absorbing and evaporating moisture.
Black horses
As well as overheating, black horses can fade dramatically - and often patchily - in summer. If you're showing your horse you will need a super light summer turnout sheet just to save their colour.
You can also check their copper levels, and more - we wrote a whole list of tips.
