SARAH: "How do you tell when it's
too hot to ride your horse?"
Ooh, this is a good one.
We get this question a lot.
"Does SmartPak have any items that
would help with keeping cool this summer?"
Do we ever.
DR LYDIA GRAY: So, you know what I
read online about people that are having conversations
about when it's too hot to ride.
It's interesting that the people who
live in the northern climate, like, "oh, it's 75,
I'm so hot."
And then the people in the south,
just, it's just a solid all caps, ha ha ha.
And then maybe rolling on the floor laughing.
So it, a little bit, varies from where you are
and what you're acclimated to, that's a huge component of heat
and, really, cold too.
So it's vice versa.
So there is a rule of 150, that when
you add the temperature and the humidity,
if it's 150 or greater, you either shouldn't work
or you should really take it easy.
So that would be like--
SARAH: That's with riding.
Not like going to work, you still have to go to work.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, you don't go to work if it's 150.
So like that would be like 90 degrees and a 60% humidity.
So it's not-- like that's not exactly the heat index,
because it's a little bit more complicated.
There is an algorithm, it takes into account
the sun intensity, the cloud cover, wind--
because you know you feel cooler on a day
when there is a breeze outside versus there is nothing moving
and it's muggy and warm, and you're like,
ugh, you're out there for just a few minutes
and you can't take it.
So a little bit, use your common sense.
Certainly if you moved a horse to an area that was cool
and now it's warm, he's going to need to get used to it.
If a horse is not fit, the time to ask him
for that 100 mile trail ride is not the hottest, muggiest day
of the year.
Because horses sweat to cool, to keep their core temperature
at 99.5 degrees.
If the sweating mechanism is inefficient,
as it becomes when the air is full of moisture,
they're not going to be able to cool off
and then their core temperature is going to rise,
and that can actually become dangerous for them,
like it's dangerous for people.
So it's a little bit using your head.
SARAH: So definitely, that 150 is
kind of a good rule of thumb.
The rule of 150 is a good place to get you thinking about it.
But if you're worried about it, it's
probably not worth the risk.
Ride in the morning, ride at night,
but don't feel like you need to go out there and go crazy.
DR LYDIA GRAY: And if you have a show planned,
I mean even though you've paid money or whatever
and it's all planned, use your head.
SARAH: Yeah.
DR LYDIA GRAY: You know, you don't have to do this.
It's not worth it.
SARAH: Yeah.
I feel like we missed something because I was wondering--
because I know we have some products
back here that we didn't talk about.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh.
SARAH: And it was the, do we have any products to help
keep you cool this summer?
DR LYDIA GRAY: We did miss that.
SARAH: And do we ever.
I don't remember what happened with this question,
but I got so excited.
We talked about when it is too hot to ride,
and that's such a great topic so we got distracted.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Look what I found.
SARAH: So, c.a.b187, we are going
to answer the second half of your question.
This is a cool aid.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Cooling technology.
SARAH: Which is very cool.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Very hip.
SARAH: Pun intended.
DR LYDIA GRAY: So you wet this and you put it on your horse
and it helps--
I think I read about this--
I think it can reduce the ambient temperature
around the horse, like 30 degrees or something crazy.
And the really cool thing is, if you don't wet it,
you can use it in the winter then, as a wicking,
to wick the sweat off after you ride,
and dry your horse faster.
So it's a year-round technology.
But I haven't used it, it's new for us, I think.
I would like to.
I think it's a super product, so that's
what I recommend for your horse.
I also found this.
You know, when I was answering this question
I just kept finding stuff.
This is getting awesome reviews.
It's a Sunflower Suncoat.
It's for horses who have some--
well, that you don't want to bleach out,
because they have a beautiful bay coat or black or whatever.
But imagine too, that they have white somewhere.
And it's pink skin under white hair,
versus dark skin under dark hair.
And this can help protect them, because it's UVA and UVB both.
So this is getting rave reviews.
And I also like these fly masks that have the long noses,
also provide some protection for those white noses--
those peak noses.
SARAH: Yeah, when you have those markings.
DR LYDIA GRAY: And strips the skin--
it's painful as it gets really red, you know?
SARAH: Yeah.
So there's a lot of things that we have to help you cover up.
We also did an article called Beat the Heat,
in one of our recent supplement nutrition guides,
that we sent out.
And that has some product picks to both protect you
from the sun and help you keep your cool,
so we'll include a link to that.
DR LYDIA GRAY: For people, too.
SARAH: Yeah, for people.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Like the long sleeve shirts.
SARAH: We have a lot of sun shirts
and they have really cool ventilation under the arms.
There's a lot of cool products we're
very passionate about here at SmartPak.
And of course, a little shout out, free shipping both ways.
Free ship over $75 and free returns on sized items.
It's the smartest place to try a new product like a Cool Aid
Blanket.