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I'm worried about my 14 yr old, beloved Friesian/Perch gelding, Jet. He's showing at Third level and schooling Fourth/PSG at this point (which is *so* cool to be schooling at that level!!!).

He's always been a horse difficult to get and keep in good condition, and loses condition easily if left unridden more than a week. This is somewhat expected given his draft breeding.

However in the last couple of years I have noticed more breathing issues. He doesn't cough at all, minimal nasal discharge (or none), but breathes very quickly especially in hot weather. Yesterday, even taking him out of the field I noticed he was breathing a bit quicker (but when he was resting in the shelter he was breathing entirely normally).

He has no heave line, and it wasn't much of an issue in the colder winter weather.

So yesterday I started wondering if he has heat stress including an element of anhydrosis. He *does* sweat, but mostly just under the saddle, his chest a bit, and between his hind legs. I'm wondering if he sweats enough, though, to cool him off.

Yesterday I auscultated his lungs during his rapid breathing and again after when it settled (basically, when he was in the drive shed out of the sun and being untacked), and everything sounded normal. No heart murmurs and heart rate normal & regular (no obvious arrhythmias).

I've read about some horses with acquired anhydrosis still sweating, just not enough. I intend to take his temperature during an episode to see if it is elevated which would lean more to this diagnosis.

Any ideas? I intend to talk to my own equine vet but she isn't out until next week, so in the meantime ...

Friesians are also well known to suffer from anhidrosis and, yes, it can have a gradual onset over the years with sweating occurring in some places but not others. Most commonly, the horse will exhibit exercise intolerance in warmer weather, increased respiratory rate, flared nostrils etc. You absolutely need to temp him the next time you see him exhibiting the signs you described. In addition to setting up fans, you may wish to set up some misters he can stand under. In a crisis, of course, hosing with cold water, applying rubbing alcohol to areas where large vessels are close to the skin, etc until his temp falls below 101.5 will help. Some also suggest making sure the horse has good and easy access to salt/electrolytes at all times during the warmer months.

My friesian statement is based on the small number of them I've known over the years. Every one of them eventually developed anhidrosis to one degree or another by their mid-teens. I don't mean to offend any friesian lovers out there.

I've dealt with with a handful of horses anhidrosis. Though most of them truly really didn't sweat at all.

It's certainly wroth starting your horse on One AC, which is by no means a miracle, but I do believe it helps some. I'm sure your vet will have other thoughts and ideas that will help.

The other thing that does help cool and it's something i do even with sweaters when temps are high, is to hose/sponge off the neck/shoulder and legs before you get on. It gives them something to evaporate from the get-go.

It does seem to be more prevalent in some horses with age (esp. drafts, Friesians). I agree with adding One AC to his diet + plenty of salt/electrolytes.

FWIW, I have hear from some vets that taking a horse off all grain products can be a good way to improve sweating. Usually you will see results in a few weeks.

I also do the pre-ride shower when it is above 90 F even though my mare is a good sweater.

I have dealt with anhydrosis with several horses over the years, one aged Arab with cushings that was severely affected. The BEST treatment I found was acupuncture! By far then put on one AC or one of the other get them sweating supplements. Beer did nothing for any of mine. We also used ventipullum with the Arab one summer. We have hot humid summers here in the southeast, difficult on the horses.

Wow, super information so far, thanks everyone. I'll check his temp when I ride this evening. We're in a show on Saturday and of course his tests are in the afternoon (hottest part of the day), but it looks like the temps won't be too bad so we'll see. I'm perfectly prepared to scratch him if he's not coping.

My horse has anhydrosis. He will sweat lightly at the beginning of the summer, but by the time it gets really hot he stops completely.
We manage him with acupuncture and One AC. You need to start the One AC now if you expect it to work this year. It takes about
a month to show a difference, and you have to get it started before it gets really hot.

Another vote for One AC - and start now. Some folks have used a pint of Guiness daily. My pony loved it!

https://thehorse.com/136585/a-beer-for-our-horses/

Josette wrote:Another vote for One AC - and start now. Some folks have used a pint of Guiness daily. My pony loved it!

https://thehorse.com/136585/a-beer-for-our-horses/

We did not have a ton of success with beer, but I know others have!
Another thing that can help with sweating is alfalfa (but only if it won't cause other issues like weight gain or hyper activity)

I’m another one who has dealt with an anhydrosis horse using OneAC and acupuncture. My horse loved it. Definitely start the OneAC as soon as possible. (Here I started it April 1). It helps with some horses but not all. My mare, who had multiple problems did restart sweating slightly (between legs and chest). However, what I found most useful was the Equicooldown products. I first found them at one of the Las Vegas World Cups. These are leg wraps and sheets made of a material that you wet down, wring out, and shake. They operate on evaporation. I would put them on Kerry and then 1 1/2 to 2 hours later her skin under them would still be cool in temperatures from 105 to 110F. Then I’d wet them again and redo on all the hottest afternoons. The horse was also in a shaded stall with an evaporated-cooler pointed at her. After 3 years of summer use they are starting to fray a little. I hope they are still available. Www.equicooldown.com. My vet also has used the sheet to cool down horses with fevers. The sheets run small.

When I retired my gelding several years ago, he quickly developed anhydrosis. He'd always been a good sweater when in work. Beer didn't help; nothing did, really. Over the years he's gone back and forth from sweating in the "usual" places at the "usual" times, to waiting for an hour at the gate for the dinner bell, in blazing full sun of summer (plenty of available shade), dry as a bone! Never appeared to be in any respiratory distress, although we're talking about a retiree.

My Morgan sweats, but not much. She will really start panting in hot muggy weather when worked. One AC does help. There’s also sweatwerks from horsetech.

I don't have any experience with anhidrosis in horses, but in myself it's a manageable pain in the ass. I'm a runner, and summers are brutal. Loose wicking clothing, lots of electrolytes (in my case purely potassium and sodium -- Gatorade and gels make me puke) PLUS water, and run either before sunrise or after sundown. It may be (generally) more humid in the morning, but more humid + lower temp + less sun = less chance of heat stroke. Follow it all up with a cool shower until I'm not sweating.

Perhaps something from that will help with your horses?

Throw me in as another who had had anhydrosis in her herd. Nothing additional to add but also found One AC and acupuncture to help the most. The management suggestions are all spot on and will say that mine continued to compete even in the Arizona summers. It also helped to get them in really top condition during the cooler time of the year so that they were better able to 'weather' the tougher times. I ended up putting in large fans with misters dripping in front of them for one of my hot house flowers.

Thanks for all the tips. I’m noodling about how to arrange a mister & fan safely since my horses are out 24/7. He has access to a large, very deep (30’) shelter that stays shady and cool, and if there is any breeze it goes through that area. My fear about fans is the risk of electrical problems while I’m at work so I’ve never been a “fan of fans” but wish I could trust one and leave it on during the hot days that are coming up. I may look into the enclosed motor fans at TSC that I’ve heard about.

Has anyone with an anhidrotic horse had success in requesting early ride times at mid-summer shows? Now that I’m riding him at Third Level, with the hopes of moving to Fourth later this summer, I find that more often than not my ride times are right in the heat of the afternoon.

I'll just put this out there for what it's worth. We had a haflinger who stopped sweating when he was on Therahist or Equihist (can't remember which). He resumed sweating when we took him off the medication.