A horse is usually warm and sweaty under his tack to some degree after a workout. And, if he’s wearing boots or wraps, he’s probably pretty muggy under there, too. But did you know studies have shown everyday protective legwear can make a horse’s lower limbs hot enough to cause tendon damage?

Wanting to learn more, a team of Middle Tennessee State University horse science program researchers set out to explore leg surface temperature during and after exercise when horses wore commonly-used leg protection. They hypothesized the boots and wraps would increase temperatures compared to a bare lower limb during workouts, but show differences in the time required to return to baseline temperatures. However, the scientists were surprised by some of the results.

The team’s findings were presented at the 2021 Equine Science Society Virtual Symposium last spring by lead author, graduate student Lucas Brock, who started by explaining that, due to a lack of muscle below the knee or hock, the horse’s bare lower limb during exercise is highly efficient, aerodynamic and self-cools through convection – the process by which heat is carried away from the body via moving air.

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