This roving reporter decided it would be a service to all to ask some of our local trainers what their strategies are. Tactics, we found, were both similar and interestingly diverse.
Eventer Charlie Plumb put one theme forth. “You’ve got to get to know your horse,” he says. “Some horses sweat and others don’t. I’m very leery of those who don’t. You then have to adapt to that.”
Fellow eventer Meika Decher agreed, saying it’s essential to pay attention to horses’ individual needs, stressing “a short focused workout. Rinse the horse in the wash stall, put a fan on him and he goes to sleep. They really seem to enjoy that!”
Driver Alfonso Hargrove says he gets up at 5 a.m. and works his horses until about 10 a.m. After that, he cleans tack in front of a fan or in air conditioning. Hargrove added the he didn’t think we used to have “this killer heat. It must be Afghanistan and everything we’ve kicked up there or our messing around in outer space.” Hmmm, sounds reasonable to me.
Dressage trainer Jim Koford is another early bird who starts his day at 5 a.m., sometimes napping in the afternoon. “Also I dump rubbing alcohol over my horses or give them ice baths.”
In contrast, hunter-jumper trainer Don Sheehan says, “I ride all day, including midday, because that’s when I usually have to show. It’s not so bad, up here it’s cooler outside because we always have a breeze.” Sheehan works out of Greenore Farm, perched on a bluff off Den Road.
On a more personal level, what about the riders themselves? There are different approaches.
Plumb takes short cooling breaks between horses. “I sit down briefly in my office,” he says. “When I’m riding six or seven horses a day in humid heat, it is essential. I’m also really into getting fit. In addition to riding, I run.”
Sheehan agrees with Plumb. “I go to the gym to build up stamina and maintain weight,” he says. “It makes a big difference.”
The final topic is hot weather fashion. Plumb swears by Cool-max shirts that wick. Sheehan wears loose muscle shirts. Koford has been spotted riding topless with a broad brimmed hat to minimize sun damage. (Decher said she might try this — no gender bias here!)
Koford enjoyed some unexpected personal air conditioning recently at a show. “I was getting ready for a show and needed to wash my riding pants,” he says. “The (leather) patches had gotten really stiff so I decided to use fabric softener… Well, it did make them softer and I was pleased with myself. Later while doing my test in the arena I realized that not only were they more comfortable but when I looked down the legs had split open. In a sitting trot this was not so bad but in the rising trot it was another story!”
The long and short of coping with the heat: use fans, stay out of the midday sun and wear as little as possible.
