[southern_horse]

i live in S. Fla and it gets mighty hot and humid :-/

[SecretAgent]

ALWAYS sweat scrape a horse--the thin layer of water you'll leave on his body otherwise traps heat close to the body and makes him hotter and more uncomfortable

[HawaiianPaint]

Originally Posted by SecretAgent

ALWAYS sweat scrape a horse--the thin layer of water you'll leave on his body otherwise traps heat close to the body and makes him hotter and more uncomfortable

*ahem* just adding to that statement "...unless you're in a dry climate where the evaporation of the horse drying actually has a cooling effect."

[passagepro]

I just read an article in the July/August issue of The English Equestrian (my favorite magazine ) about keeping your horse cool in the summertime, and one of the things they recommended was scraping your horse AS YOU ARE HOSING HIM. This will keep removing the water that has been heated by his body, allowing the cool water from the hose to get right to the skin. Also, scrape him when you are finished, because it will get the heated water off and allow him to dry faster, which will make him cooler.

[BornToRide]

Originally Posted by LuckyAshley

I don't think thats a sweat scraper Teaka, it's a shedding blade... but if you were to use it, use the flat side.

These are sweat scrapers:
(this is the one I use)



***Yes, I scrape every time I give a bath. Actually, I squidgie... I have a rubber one. lol
-Ashley

the flat side on the shedder can be used for a sweat scraper i do it all the time and it works just as well.

[Lindsayanne]

Originally Posted by passagepro

one of the things they recommended was scraping your horse AS YOU ARE HOSING HIM. This will keep removing the water that has been heated by his body, allowing the cool water from the hose to get right to the skin.

That's what I do on really hot days. It works SO well- It's also REALLY good for cleaning up a filthy, filthy horse in a hurry.



You definitely want to scrape and remove the water off the horse. Hosing a hot horse down is like running cool water over a hot skillet. Put a half inch of cold water in that hot skillet and 30 seconds later it hasn't really cooled the pan- but the water is now hot. But if you fill your skillet with water, then dump, then fill, then dump- your pan cools off. Same with the horses. Once water sits on a hot horse for a minute or two, it's just hot water- scrape it off and it removes the heat the water absorbed.

[lynnconnor05]

Originally Posted by Lindsayanne

You definitely want to scrape and remove the water off the horse. Hosing a hot horse down is like running cool water over a hot skillet. Put a half inch of cold water in that hot skillet and 30 seconds later it hasn't really cooled the pan- but the water is now hot. But if you fill your skillet with water, then dump, then fill, then dump- your pan cools off. Same with the horses. Once water sits on a hot horse for a minute or two, it's just hot water- scrape it off and it removes the heat the water absorbed.

That's a really good analogy! Thanks!

[Horse Angel]

I would. You don't want all that excess water and just like you said if the horse rolls he will be mess but also the water will get hot.

[GeorgieGirl]

I scrape mine, just because I find they generally don't go roll in the mud when they don't have all that excess water on them. Which would you rather be? Slightly damp with dry clothes on, or soaking wet with wet, warm, humid clothes on? That's the way I look at it. The faster the water can evaporate, the faster the horse will cool.

[hesmychampion]

I will allways scrape after a wash or if he is wet for any other reasons, its the way I was taught when I first started riding and learning about horses and have done it ever since.