RANT HERE thread

[teatime]

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Deb, again, so sorry for your loss. I know it must be very difficult. It sounds like you planned to move out to where you are because you wanted all your animals to be able to be close to you. I'm sure she appreciated that. *hugs*

 

[lareinesoleil]

Heylodeb, so sorry for your loss. Losing a pet to an accident is always impossibly hard. *hugs*

 

[jmo1012]

avoid stabbing yourself with an 18G needle that has just been in heparin flush. a) it hurts like crazy, b) it bleeds like crazy (giant hole plus heparin haha) c) it takes forever to heal! nabbed the base of my pinky over a week ago (went about a cm in so it was a bit more than a prick) and that sucker still hurts!

turns out a 25G hurts just as much. lesson learned-poking self with needles = ouch. (this one wasnt really my fault though)

 

[Lissarae06]

I'm so sorry to hear about your horse Heylodeb. Know that we are all here for you if you need to talk.

 

[hwolfe]

It's good to know we aren't the only ones with problems!

 

[vetme]

heylodeb, I was so sorry to hear about your horse:cry::cry:

 

[Marsala]

I'm sure my rant has been voiced before, but I'll repeat it:

Dear stupid people,
If the heat index is 116, please don't take your dog for a walk. Hell, even if it's just 95, I'm pretty sure they would rather sit in the A/C.

Thanks!👍

 

[that redhead]

Heylodeb, I'm so sorry. At least you got to know in the end that she did love and trust you, not just put up with you.


My rant (which now seems pathetic in comparison) is that my rabies titer levels are no longer good. Hello, $300 booster 😡

 

[vetme]

I'm sure my rant has been voiced before, but I'll repeat it:

Dear stupid people,
If the heat index is 116, please don't take your dog for a walk. Hell, even if it's just 95, I'm pretty sure they would rather sit in the A/C.

Thanks!👍

Dogs can tolerate pretty hot temps unless of course you have a husky or like dog with a really heavy coat. I would imagine if the walk was under an hour and a gentle stroll for potty purposes it would probably be fine. If the dog's human can tolerate being out in a certain temp, then I think the dog could probably tolerate it as well.

 

[Marsala]

Dogs can tolerate pretty hot temps unless of course you have a husky or like dog with a really heavy coat. I would imagine if the walk was under an hour and a gentle stroll for potty purposes it would probably be fine. If the dog's human can tolerate being out in a certain temp, then I think the dog could probably tolerate it as well.

I understand your logic, but the news reports and weather online both advise people to limit outdoor exposure. People tend to ignore that sort of thing.

 

[NStarz]

I am having a really hard time right now. I love my job, but it's draining and I'm working 40+ hours a week overnights, which isn't easy on my body. I'm constantly exhausted and I'm finding it hard to do other things. Four days a week I work 10+ hours/day, one day I take to switch my schedule back to normal hours, one day I'm volunteering at the shelter, and then the other I'm at the behaviorist. I have no time for applications, and no time for myself. I'm so stressed out about apps and I can't even bring myself to do them on my day off because I'm so tired and everything I try to write in terms of essays turns out like crap.

I'm torn between asking for one less day at the hospital I'm working at (but don't want to make a bad impression as it's a place I may want to do an internship at later and has amazing opportunities) and giving up something else. But I'm getting LORs from both the shelter vet and the behaviorist so I'm having a difficult time giving either one up. And I LOVE working at both the shelter and the behaviorist. And I love my job and the experience I'm getting (just not the hours, LOL).

Please someone give me a pep talk. I feel like I'm not cut out for vet school/being a vet because I can't juggle all of these responsibilities, when I know I should be able to. *needs a hug*

 

[LetItSnow]

Dogs can tolerate pretty hot temps unless of course you have a husky or like dog with a really heavy coat.

I took my Husky for a walk last week in 100+ (index) weather, and she did fine. We avoided asphalt, shortened the walk, and took a break in the shade to watch some kids throw a frisbee. Didn't bother her. She was trying to get going again before I was.

People need to consider the overall picture, not just the heat index ... what condition are your dog's pads in? Is your dog overweight? Out of shape? Hasn't blown the undercoat yet and you don't brush it? Access to water during the walk? Illness or other issues? What surface will you be walking on? Age?

 

[nyanko]

Dogs can tolerate pretty hot temps unless of course you have a husky or like dog with a really heavy coat.

Or brachycephalic.

Please someone give me a pep talk. I feel like I'm not cut out for vet school/being a vet because I can't juggle all of these responsibilities, when I know I should be able to. *needs a hug*

That is a lot, especially with the sleep schedule wackiness. I know this might not be what you want to hear but you are heading for burnout pretty quickly if you keep all of that up for much longer. If you don't have some outlet outside of vet med that you really enjoy and can participate in regularly, keeping up that sort of schedule for too long will backfire on you.

If you are really attached to keeping the variety every week, you should cut down one day at the clinic. If you would rather focus on the clinic, you should decrease the frequency of going to shelter/behaviorist. Is there any way you can alternate weeks with the shelter and behaviorist rather than going to both every single week? Like maybe go to shelter one week and behaviorist the next week, still only one day each?

edit: Trust me, I understand where you're coming from and why you're doing what you're doing. I think we all do, or else we wouldn't have gotten this far. But a big part of vet school and life, I've found, is to be able to know what your sanity limits are, and when to say no and be your own advocate. It is really hard for a lot of us to say no, especially when we are actually enthusiastic about opportunities we've earned or been afforded. We feel like we're letting people down and squandering these opportunities. But you need to make yourself a priority too.

 

[breenie]

So sorry, Deb. I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. Sounds like she was a spectacular horse and friend. *hugs*

NStarz, I think Nyanko gave some great advice! I know how hard it is to turn down stuff like that, but you gotta keep yourself healthy and happy to get to vet school. 🙂 Goodluck!

 

[Hotfillyky]

Deb,

So very sorry to hear about your horse.🙁 I know Trinity will be missed.

 

[lostbunny]

1. .... does anyone have experience with polo? Wow- I thought I knew about horse care, but in polo, they go by their own rules apparently! :/ !!!!! This is going to be a learning experience for suuuure....



2. Soooo anxiouss!! Was supposed to hear back from one of the schools by "mid July or earlier". Its now past mid july, and earlier. Gah! I called to prod a bit, and the admissions office still hasn't heard back from the vet school. I'm sure many can relate to that :| !

 

[StartingoverVet]

Dogs can tolerate pretty hot temps unless of course you have a husky or like dog with a really heavy coat. I would imagine if the walk was under an hour and a gentle stroll for potty purposes it would probably be fine. If the dog's human can tolerate being out in a certain temp, then I think the dog could probably tolerate it as well.

Completely DISAGREE. Dogs are not as good as humans at dissipating heat. We have our entire body surface area to sweat to dissipate heat, dogs mainly rely on panting and their paws.

For example, my dogs are short-haired and can get into trouble when the temps hit 100s even if in the shade with water and no activity.

 

[Bearby]

My car is dead. I think I need a new battery. Sucks

 

[MSUspartan]

noticed a weird spot on the medial side of my dog's left hind leg the other day...it looked kind of like she had just scraped it/been chewing at it, so i didn't think much of it...
yesterday i realized it wasn't getting better (even though it didn't seem painful) so i stopped by my work on my day off to have it checked out...ended the day with her having surgery to remove it and have the lump sent in for histopath 🙁 seriously hoping it's just a histocytoma and not a mast cell tumor, but the fact that she's a boxer mix doesn't thrill me 🙁 and we won't have results for 3-5 days...boooo 🙁 i'm a mess thinking about it.

 

[Dsmoody23]

Completely DISAGREE. Dogs are not as good as humans at dissipating heat. We have our entire body surface area to sweat to dissipate heat, dogs mainly rely on panting and their paws.

For example, my dogs are short-haired and can get into trouble when the temps hit 100s even if in the shade with water and no activity.

Seriously.

I saw a video demonstrating how a medium hair-coat dog could go from normal temp to 105-106 F in about 5 minutes of light play with a ball on a 90 degree day.

I'm almost insanely vigilant about this now, especially in the recent weather. I spray mine down with the hose before any kind of play, then take breaks every ten minutes and soak them again. We avoid the hottest times of the day and make sure they're well hydrated before doing much of anything.

It's scary how quickly heat can drop a domestic dog.

 

[Whyevernot55]

Friday was just...awful. Truly awful.

And we are open today and I have to go back in.

 

[dyachei]

Friday was just...awful. Truly awful.

And we are open today and I have to go back in.

Our Friday was also awful and I am also dreading going back in. I hope your day goes well.

 

[NStarz]

We had to euthanize a purebred puppy at work last night. Because it had worms and the owners didn't want to care for it after letting it get to the point where the dog was probably going to die without fluids. And the doctor wouldn't let me work my magic and save the dog which, although would have technically been against the rules, could've been made to happen legally without breaking hospital policy. I'm so upset and really disheartened. When (if) I become a vet, I think I'll do my best to stick my neck out, take risks when appropriate, and not let politics guide my decisions.

Here's to better days.

 

[jtom]

Our Friday was also awful and I am also dreading going back in. I hope your day goes well.

Fridays are always interesting at my clinic as well but that bad. Yesterday in the field we tended to two lacerations on arabians, c section on a cow, and did two cat necropsies at the clinic.

While I love what I do sometimes it would be nice to get home before 10 on a friday.

 

[breenie]

Fridays are always interesting at my clinic as well but that bad. Yesterday in the field we tended to two lacerations on arabians, c section on a cow, and did two cat necropsies at the clinic.

While I love what I do sometimes it would be nice to get home before 10 on a friday.

Fridays are the worst, man. I use to work at a small 2 doctor practice (only one really did appointments at this point, though), and our euthanasias ALWAYS fell on Friday.

For a month, we only euthanized our favorite clients' pets for really ridiculous and unlikely things. It sucked really bad.

*hugs* to those with bad Friday mojo right now.

 

[dyachei]

Fridays are always interesting at my clinic as well but that bad. Yesterday in the field we tended to two lacerations on arabians, c section on a cow, and did two cat necropsies at the clinic.

While I love what I do sometimes it would be nice to get home before 10 on a friday.

I had a kitten with a deep ulcer perforate his eye - and the owner relinquished it to the shelter. That was on top of the fact that with 3 doctors, we're supposed to have 3 techs and 1 front desk person - we had 1 tech. 1 tech was sick, another came down with the flu in front of us, and the receptionist's car broke down. We had a full day yesterday in terms of appointments. I left 2 hours after I was supposed to.

None of my other cases wanted to do anything, either.

I have terrible luck - I find a lot of random and unusual things on my patients and have been getting cases that the other doctor who has been out 1 year hasn't seen in practice yet. It's all very interesting, but not usually anything good.

 

[Whyevernot55]

I had a kitten with a deep ulcer perforate his eye - and the owner relinquished it to the shelter. That was on top of the fact that with 3 doctors, we're supposed to have 3 techs and 1 front desk person - we had 1 tech. 1 tech was sick, another came down with the flu in front of us, and the receptionist's car broke down. We had a full day yesterday in terms of appointments. I left 2 hours after I was supposed to.

None of my other cases wanted to do anything, either.

I have terrible luck - I find a lot of random and unusual things on my patients and have been getting cases that the other doctor who has been out 1 year hasn't seen in practice yet. It's all very interesting, but not usually anything good.

Unfortunately our Saturday wasn't much better, either. Lots of badness (including a seizing dog that we ended up euthanizing this morning), 3yo cats with renal failure, sick assistants resulting in short staff, and a friend in the hospital. I am looking forward to a couple of days off after how awful this week was.

 

[withoutane]

I had an awful week too. I think my 5 month old puppy might be a lemon and am anxiously waiting for her bloodwork to come back from the lab. I feel the protective Mama Bear instincts slowly taking over haha. I also feel super overworked and emotionally drained but such is life. I am now sitting down with a glass of wine and I see a looong hot bubble bath in my future.

 

[dyachei]

Unfortunately our Saturday wasn't much better, either. Lots of badness (including a seizing dog that we ended up euthanizing this morning), 3yo cats with renal failure, sick assistants resulting in short staff, and a friend in the hospital. I am looking forward to a couple of days off after how awful this week was.

Take your much needed time off to do something fun, relaxing, or uplifting. You deserve it!

 

[lostbunny]

I saw a video demonstrating how a medium hair-coat dog could go from normal temp to 105-106 F in about 5 minutes of light play with a ball on a 90 degree day.

I'm almost insanely vigilant about this now, especially in the recent weather. I spray mine down with the hose before any kind of play, then take breaks every ten minutes and soak them again. We avoid the hottest times of the day and make sure they're well hydrated before doing much of anything.

It's scary how quickly heat can drop a domestic dog.

Okay on the topic of hot dogs.... a vet assistant/groomer/crazy dog lady (would probably buy a 3 bedroom house so each dog could have its own bedroom- type of enthusiast), I worked with mentioned this breed of dog, I've never heard of (and don't remember), that has a 'special coat', or a special type of undercoat that keeps it cool in the summer.

I think the topic of conversation was to do with shaving long/med haired dogs in the summer, and she said its bad to shave these specific types of dogs, because it messes up their cooling system, as they were specifically bred to keep cool with their special fur.

Is this actually a type of dog, or is this one of those bullsh*t things that certain breeders swear by? Has anyone heard of this dog, and would shaving all its hair off really be a bad thing; granted it just went outside for walks/plays but stayed in a cool or A/C house the rest of the time?


ETA-

Also: on the topic of hot things...

I've always been taught that after you hose off a hot horse, you must scrape it because the layer of water that sits on the coat can actually have an insulating effect and cause the horse to have more difficulty in cooling itself off.... does anyone know if this is actually significant enough (not scraping) to actually cause a horse harm?

 

[Allthingsequine]

Okay on the topic of hot dogs.... a vet assistant/groomer/crazy dog lady (would probably buy a 3 bedroom house so each dog could have its own bedroom- type of enthusiast), I worked with mentioned this breed of dog, I've never heard of (and don't remember), that has a 'special coat', or a special type of undercoat that keeps it cool in the summer.

I think the topic of conversation was to do with shaving long/med haired dogs in the summer, and she said its bad to shave these specific types of dogs, because it messes up their cooling system, as they were specifically bred to keep cool with their special fur.

Is this actually a type of dog, or is this one of those bullsh*t things that certain breeders swear by? Has anyone heard of this dog, and would shaving all its hair off really be a bad thing; granted it just went outside for walks/plays but stayed in a cool or A/C house the rest of the time?

This is definitely true, although I'm not sure what she was talking about with one specific breeds of dog. Many, many dog breeds with long hair are double coated, meaning they have a layer of soft, fluffy undercoat and a layer of coarser guard hairs which act to protect the coat. In the summer, much of the undercoat is shed out (and often must be combed out, especially in a dog with a thick undercoat), allowing the dog to stay cooler without this insulating under layer. The guard hairs also provide a layer of protection against the sun and insects. If you shave the coat of these dogs, the body's hair production system kicks into overdrive, sensing the lack of protective guard hairs, and begins to make massive quantities of undercoat to try to compensate. To make matters worse, as the new guard hairs come in they become entagled with the mass of undercoat, often leading to a dog that is a matted mess, and is even hotter than it was before you shaved it. The proper approach to handling a double coat is to "strip" it when the dog is wet, using a fine toothed comb to remove the loose undercoat. Products like the furminator work for this task also, but may damage the coat or skin if overused.
(My mom is a professional groomer specializing in large and giant breeds, so this is a topic I have heard a lot about!)

 

[Dsmoody23]

(My mom is a professional groomer specializing in large and giant breeds, so this is a topic I have heard a lot about!)

 

[Minnerbelle]

Also: on the topic of hot things...

I've always been taught that after you hose off a hot horse, you must scrape it because the layer of water that sits on the coat can actually have an insulating effect and cause the horse to have more difficulty in cooling itself off.... does anyone know if this is actually significant enough (not scraping) to actually cause a horse harm?

I dunno much about horses, but isn't evaporative cooling a universal thing? Why does it not apply in horses?

 

[breenie]

I dunno much about horses, but isn't evaporative cooling a universal thing? Why does it not apply in horses?

I was told the same thing as a kid, but haven't noticed a difference in my experience with horses. I don't have a scraper on hand a lot, so I'll just wipe at my mare with my hand... but only for the purpose of getting the extra water off she's just going to drip all over the walk-way.

I don't think it really makes a difference, frankly. They dry faster with less water in the coat.

 

[lostbunny]

I dunno much about horses, but isn't evaporative cooling a universal thing? Why does it not apply in horses?

Horses sweat and yes they use evaporative cooling, but when we work horses we normally hose/sponge them if they're sweaty and hot just to help cool them off faster.

Because horses are covered in fur, when you drench their fur with water, a layer of water will lie next to their fur/within it, and the theory is that their body heat will warm up this water layer and will thus have an insulating effect.

So, in scraping off the excess water, you help to reduce this extra water that supposedly can warm them before cooling them. I suppose that having all that excess water around you will take much longer to evaporate. Kind of like how you can over heat in a hot tub if you're in there for too long. The warm water around you doesn't let you evaporate and cool off.

I was wondering if the water insulation idea just had minimal effects, or if some horse person along the road was over thinking something a bit too much. I'm sure if the horse were in a vacuum, and the temperature was 30 C with 85% humidity, that may cause some problems. But in the real world the sun, wind and humidity of the air all have a part to play. Not to mention when the horse rolls and dries itself off.

 

[lostbunny]

This is definitely true, although I'm not sure what she was talking about with one specific breeds of dog. Many, many dog breeds with long hair are double coated, meaning they have a layer of soft, fluffy undercoat and a layer of coarser guard hairs which act to protect the coat. In the summer, much of the undercoat is shed out (and often must be combed out, especially in a dog with a thick undercoat), allowing the dog to stay cooler without this insulating under layer. The guard hairs also provide a layer of protection against the sun and insects. If you shave the coat of these dogs, the body's hair production system kicks into overdrive, sensing the lack of protective guard hairs, and begins to make massive quantities of undercoat to try to compensate. To make matters worse, as the new guard hairs come in they become entagled with the mass of undercoat, often leading to a dog that is a matted mess, and is even hotter than it was before you shaved it. The proper approach to handling a double coat is to "strip" it when the dog is wet, using a fine toothed comb to remove the loose undercoat. Products like the furminator work for this task also, but may damage the coat or skin if overused.
(My mom is a professional groomer specializing in large and giant breeds, so this is a topic I have heard a lot about!)

Thanks for the explanation! Interesting for sure. But just a question- and perhaps this is getting too much into irrelevant stuff or to biochemical- but how does the dogs body sense a lack of guard hairs if they've only just been clipped- not actually plucked out? If someone were to shave this type of dog- could you not just upkeep it by shaving it every few weeks?

Thanks for the explanation though, honestly! 🙂

 

[heylodeb]

In another life, I was a working student at a rather successful event barn in Northeast PA. I lived above the barn in an apartment and had a blast riding some amazing horses and learning a lot.

Please be in prayer/be thinking of the owners and their horses at this farm - it went up in flames last night. Many horses died in the barn, others are severely burned, and several panicked, fled the property and are now missing.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Because horses are covered in fur, when you drench their fur with water, a layer of water will lie next to their fur/within it, and the theory is that their body heat will warm up this water layer and will thus have an insulating effect.

So, in scraping off the excess water, you help to reduce this extra water that supposedly can warm them before cooling them. I suppose that having all that excess water around you will take much longer to evaporate. Kind of like how you can over heat in a hot tub if you're in there for too long. The warm water around you doesn't let you evaporate and cool off.

Isn't making much sense to me at all, but thanks for the explanation.

 

[LetItSnow]

The proper approach to handling a double coat is to "strip" it when the dog is wet, using a fine toothed comb to remove the loose undercoat. Products like the furminator work for this task also, but may damage the coat or skin if overused.

FWIW, I've found the Furminator works like crap on my husky. I just have to get her damp and comb it out. The Furminator works great on my chow/aussie. The Furm does an ok job of getting the undercoat on the husky, but there's just so much of it that by the time I get most of it out I've taken half the guard hairs with it and done more damage than I'd like. Easier, quicker, and less damaging to comb out the undercoat. And hey, the birds all love it - bonus.

(And yes, the husky hates getting wet... she'd rather lie on asphalt in the summer than damp grass. Anything to avoid water.)

 

[LetItSnow]

Because horses are covered in fur, when you drench their fur with water, a layer of water will lie next to their fur/within it, and the theory is that their body heat will warm up this water layer and will thus have an insulating effect.

I don't get it. Isn't that exactly what you want? I mean, that's the idea; you txfr the heat from their body to the water and dissipate it through evaporation. Having air trapped in the fur next to the body is a far more effective insulator. Same reason humans lose heat so much faster swimming.

So, in scraping off the excess water, you help to reduce this extra water that supposedly can warm them before cooling them.

The water can't warm them because it has to get its heat from the horse. You overheat in a hot tub because the temperature of the water in the tub is higher than your body. When you spray cold water on a horse, that water can't "heat up" your horse without some external source of energy heating the water.

I don't know much about horses, so I'm kinda curious.... is this just some sort of folklore thing (needing to scrape the water off), or is there really something to it? And if so, why?

If it is true, I wonder if it's because spraying them with water doesn't actually get the water all the way down to their skin, so you still have that air layer against the skin doing such a poor job transferring energy away from the body and now on top of it you've got water that needs to evaporate that isn't actually carrying body heat away with it?

Anyway, don't the smart horses just roll around in the dirt after you get them wet? 🙂

 

[Whyevernot55]

I don't get it. Isn't that exactly what you want? I mean, that's the idea; you txfr the heat from their body to the water and dissipate it through evaporation. Having air trapped in the fur next to the body is a far more effective insulator. Same reason humans lose heat so much faster swimming.

The water can't warm them because it has to get its heat from the horse. You overheat in a hot tub because the temperature of the water in the tub is higher than your body. When you spray cold water on a horse, that water can't "heat up" your horse without some external source of energy heating the water.

I don't know much about horses, so I'm kinda curious.... is this just some sort of folklore thing (needing to scrape the water off), or is there really something to it? And if so, why?

If it is true, I wonder if it's because spraying them with water doesn't actually get the water all the way down to their skin, so you still have that air layer against the skin doing such a poor job transferring energy away from the body and now on top of it you've got water that needs to evaporate that isn't actually carrying body heat away with it?

Anyway, don't the smart horses just roll around in the dirt after you get them wet? 🙂

OK, let's see if I can explain the idea in a way that makes sense. Basically you get done and you have a hot, sweaty horse. You hose them off, and the water warms up because it is taking heat from the horse's body. While evaporation WILL cool them down, it is much faster if you scrape all the excess water off - now you've removed that heated water, effectively cooling the horse the same way as evaporating all that water would but more quickly. They're still wet, and further evaporation will continue to cool them off.

You'll see people at summertime horse shows and endurance events and the like continuously hosing and scraping a hot horse to pull as much heat from their body as fast as possible. Essentially you're just using the principles of heat transfer and evaporation, but speeding it up by scraping the excess water that's holding the heat away.

Did that make any sense? I'm studying for ochem and my brain is absolutely fried.

 

[rubygirl]

I don't know all the biomechanics behind it but when I hose my horse and let her drip dry she is just as cool the the touch as if I scrape her. Also when it is really hot or horses are acting co icy in the summer my trainer always has us drench them and leave them standing soaked in their stalls so they cool off some. I think the scaling helps dry faster especially when they get turned out after getting washed/rinsed so that less muck sticks to them. My horse has never gotten warmer after I soaked her with ice cold hose water, yes the water warms up but only until it equalizes with her body temp think about the law from chem that has to do with mass times heat capacity (cant think of the name of the law at the moment) the final temp is always between thetwo temperatures never warmer then the warm one or colder then the cooler one

 

[GirlGeek]

In another life, I was a working student at a rather successful event barn in Northeast PA. I lived above the barn in an apartment and had a blast riding some amazing horses and learning a lot.

Please be in prayer/be thinking of the owners and their horses at this farm - it went up in flames last night. Many horses died in the barn, others are severely burned, and several panicked, fled the property and are now missing.

That is so sad 🙁 I can't even imagine that happening to our horses.

 

[scb44f]

OK, let's see if I can explain the idea in a way that makes sense. Basically you get done and you have a hot, sweaty horse. You hose them off, and the water warms up because it is taking heat from the horse's body. While evaporation WILL cool them down, it is much faster if you scrape all the excess water off - now you've removed that heated water, effectively cooling the horse the same way as evaporating all that water would but more quickly. They're still wet, and further evaporation will continue to cool them off.

You'll see people at summertime horse shows and endurance events and the like continuously hosing and scraping a hot horse to pull as much heat from their body as fast as possible. Essentially you're just using the principles of heat transfer and evaporation, but speeding it up by scraping the excess water that's holding the heat away.

Did that make any sense? I'm studying for ochem and my brain is absolutely fried.

I see what you're saying, but liquids are far more efficient at heat transfer than gases (i.e. scraping them off will not allow them to cool as quickly since air is a worse medium for heat transfer than sweat or water). Plus, with evaporation, the whole point is to let it evaporate... The energy it takes to change state is what's beneficial, so it doesn't make sense to scrape water off before it has a chance to evaporate.

 

[Coquette22]

Please be in prayer/be thinking of the owners and their horses at this farm - it went up in flames last night. Many horses died in the barn, others are severely burned, and several panicked, fled the property and are now missing.

This is one of my worst nightmares. I can't imagine what those people and horses are going through now. 🙁

Anyway, don't the smart horses just roll around in the dirt after you get them wet? 🙂

No, the dumb ones do this too. 🙄

 

[LetItSnow]

Did that make any sense? I'm studying for ochem and my brain is absolutely fried.

Yup, makes sense. Keep in mind I know very little about horses, so it's not like I'm "arguing" about it. 🙂

It sounds to me like you're saying part of the issue is that they're already covered with water (sweat) that's already absorbed about as much energy from the body as it is going to.

In that case, wouldn't the smartest thing be to scrape the water/sweat off first and then hose them down with cool water?

Regardless, thanks. I sorta get what you're saying.

 

[lareinesoleil]

LOL!!!!

 

[EllieGirl89]

In that case, wouldn't the smartest thing be to scrape the water/sweat off first and then hose them down with cool water?

Yes. This is what I do. I rinse and scrape, rinse and scrape, until the water coming off the horse is no longer warm and its skin is cool to the touch. Whyevernot explained it well-if you leave that water on them it will draw the heat from their body, but that water then becomes warm and doesn't evaporate very quickly, leaving that warmed water on the skin, unable to "absorb" more heat and unable to take the heat it currently holds away from the horse because evaporation only happens so quickly. Scraping the water off effectively "evaporates" the water holding the heat, allowing the horse to cool off more quickly.

Heylodeb, I'm so sorry about the horses at your old barn =( What a terrible tragedy.

 

[scb44f]

Scraping the water off effectively "evaporates" the water holding the heat, allowing the horse to cool off more quickly.

I agree that scraping and then immediately applying cool water could help and feel really great initially, but I don't believe that you can really say the above is what's going on. Yeah, the water is off the skin's surface, but not due to energy transfer causing evaporation. Maybe I'm in a nitpicking sort of mood but the energy change due to evaporation (a change of state) is more significant than the energy change in just warming up more water. Unless it's humid, the sweat will evaporate anyway so I don't really buy into it...

 

[Minnerbelle]

I agree that scraping and then immediately applying cool water could help and feel really great initially, but I don't believe that you can really say the above is what's going on. Yeah, the water is off the skin's surface, but not due to energy transfer causing evaporation. Maybe I'm in a nitpicking sort of mood but the energy change due to evaporation (a change of state) is more significant than the energy change in just warming up more water. Unless it's humid, the sweat will evaporate anyway so I don't really buy into it...

I didn't have the energy to say the above earlier, but yes that's exactly why it didn't make sense to me. You're not really "essentially evaporating" the animal by scraping off the water... It's not water coming off the animal that cools it down. It's the transfer of body heat to the water causing it to evaporate (the vaporization of water), that cools it down. If I remember correctly, of conduction, convection and evaporation, evaporation takes the win every time. Which is part of the reason why you pour alcohol on animals that are in heat shock (low bp fluid). But then again, the earth revolves differently for horse people (gravity, science, evaporation, puh puh!), so perhaps this is one of those things 🙂. Whatever your horse likes I guess, as long as it's helping to cool them down so they're not overheating!

I wonder if there's any other reason why it might be beneficial to scrape the horse though, other than that it'll dry off faster.