Horse Illustrated Magazine

I’m not one to complain about the heat, but it has been a bit too much lately, hasn’t it? I’ve spent much of my time at the barn just hosing Snoopy down with cold water and leaving him in his stall with the fan on for the hottest afternoon hours. I’ve scrubbed and refilled his water bucket to make sure he has access to cool, clean water (which he invariably snubs and instead waits until he’s back outdoors where he can enjoy the earthy flavor of the shared pasture trough.)

If all of our horses were as clever as the horse in this video from CNN.com, hot weather management would be a breeze. I love how he paws at the sprinkler when the water flow moves away from him, as if to say, “Hey, I wasn’t done with you!”

This isn’t a unique phenomenon, of course. Check out the elderly fellow in the video below making sure the sprinkler hits all sides. Refreshing!

Now, I’ve never tried putting a sprinkler in the pasture, but based on the way that Snoopy only grudgingly accepts a hose-down, I doubt he’d react the way these horses do. What about your horses? Do they find creative ways to stay cool?

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