Equiwinner™ Makes Horses Sweat Efficiently.

Summer heat & humidity can be a challenge for many horses. Get them healthy now.
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It's not about feeding more electrolytes. It's about making them work properly.

If the exact correct balance of electrolytes is not present in the horse’s normal perspiration, then the protection against normal skin microbes entering some of the millions of sweat ducts in the skin is lost. Microbes enter the ducts and the immune reaction to their presence blocks the ducts.

Equiwinner patches reset electrolyte balance to optimum in 10 days. This can reverse the immune reaction and unblock the sweat ducts. The horse should begin sweating naturally and results can last for up to one year.

Equiwinner patches contain only natural balanced electrolytes and nothing goes into the body of the horse. There are no side effects.

WATCH what happens when sweat is efficient.

More about Non-sweating (Anhidrosis) in Horses:

The horse is one of the few mammals that, like humans, relies on skin sweating as the main method of cooling during heat or exercise. The greater muscle mass and the greater work rate of the horse, than of humans, results in much greater heat production during exercise. Also, the horse has less skin surface area, proportional to weight, for cooling evaporation than humans.

The horse has evolved to be able to travel rapidly for long distances in the heat, needing only drinking water at intervals. In order for a horse to work and perform to the maximum of its ability, the carefully balanced sweating mechanism which has evolved, has to be working efficiently to help prevent anhidrosis in horses.

When the potassium and sodium salts in the horse are thrown off balance, a horse will not sweat efficiently. Because these salts circulating in the body are strictly controlled, the imbalance cannot be corrected by adding extra electrolytes to feed.

If the sweating system is not working efficiently and equine anhidrosis is occurring, then the horse’s ability to perform at its best will be limited. The horse may not be able to work or will be severely limited with instances of refusal to perform at all. Sweating, which is often ignored, is also extremely important for the horse’s health and welfare.

There is a relationship between sweat and stress. A stressed horse will sweat, in the same way as humans. Horses will produce more sweat during transportation in vehicles or aircraft, and at the start of a race or other performance. If the horse is suffering from equine anhidrosis and not sweating properly, this will cause the horse real distress, resulting in abnormal behavior. Once the sweat system is stabilized, the physical component of stress is removed, so removing the cause of the distress.

How do we know whether the horse is sweating properly? The sweat glands operate in two distinct ways. The first is called insensible perspiration. Insensible perspiration continues at all times, day and night. This low-level perspiration keeps the skin moist and is well known as the sign of a healthy horse. The perspiration contains protective anti-microbial peptides, which are necessary to prevent any infective microbes from entering the skin.

If the horse has reduced insensible perspiration, then the skin and coat will appear dull and dry, the sign of an unhealthy horse. Proper sweating is also associated with proper hydration of the skin, and of the muscles of the horse. The test for hydration is to take a large pinch of skin on the flank between the thumb and forefinger. This is known as ‘tenting’. On release of the ‘tent’, properly hydrated skin will spring flat again. Insufficiently hydrated skin will take a couple of seconds or more to go flat. Assuming the horse has water available, and is drinking, then poor body hydration means that attention is needed to the sweating system for insensible perspiration.

The second way in which the sweat ducts work is to produce copious sweat for cooling. As the horse warms up from hot temperatures and/or exercise, the sweat glands at the front of the horse start to push out this copious sweat to start the cooling process. As the exercise continues, or the temperature rises, more and more of the millions of sweat glands become activated in the output of sweat. This starts with the sweat glands on the front of the horse, progressing along the body of the horse to the rear. Horse sweat contains a white protein often called lather, which helps the sweat to stick to the coat, so that the cooling effect lasts a little longer.

So proper second level copious sweating should produce a damp skin along the whole length of the body. How long it takes for the whole body to become damp depends on the length of time of exercise and the temperature. On a warm day it would typically be about 30 minutes, but much longer on a cold day.

In some cases, there is excessive sweating at the front of the horse, really soaking the skin, and also under the saddle, with dry areas elsewhere. This is not efficient sweating and the horse will not be able to provide maximum performance. The horse is likely to be distressed when put under pressure.

You can test your horse for proper sweating. When the horse is thoroughly warmed up, push the fingers into the coat. Dampness should be felt along the whole length of the body.

The best way to get proper insensible perspiration and efficient copious sweating for cooling is to ensure your horse’s electrolytes are working properly. Equiwinner is guaranteed to restore optimum electrolyte balance to support efficient sweating. Once the ten-day treatment is completed, the effect is long lasting and only has to be repeated every spring. Some trainers of high-performance horses, particularly racehorses, use Equiwinner two or three times a year as an assurance of continuous peak performance.

Can Healthy & Fit Horses Handle the Heat Well?

Equine athletes, like their human counterparts, are frequently required to exercise and compete in hot humid conditions. Competitions that require sustained, strenuous effort are being held in locations and during seasons with hot humid conditions that have the potential to result in severe, exercise-related heat stress. There is a need to prepare equine athletes for competition in such adverse climatic conditions. Equiwinner now provides an easy and effective way to help prevent anhidrosis in horses and quickly adapt the horse to competition performance in heat.

Even the FEI is concerned about horses competing in extreme heat. Read more about that here.

Nutrition can either help maintain proper electrolyte balance or it can completely unbalance electrolytes. If you can’t feel or see your horse’s ribs, please click here for more information.