Cooling Tips for Horses, Dogs, and You
With record breaking heat covering much of the country this month, it’s a good time to seek out cooling tips for horses — not to mention for your dogs and your human companions. In addition to traditional cooling methods like, fans, AC or swimming, you can also find cooling relief from foods. In Ayurvedic medicine, foods are categorized as cooling, warming, and neutral.
In Ayurveda, summer represents the dosha Pitta (warming). To counteract the warming qualities of Pitta, we look for cooling and neutral foods. This does not mean completely changing your horse or your dog’s diet, however you can either add cooling and neutral foods, or remove warming foods from their diet.
Cooling Tips for Horses and Dogs: The Big Role Foods Play
FAVOR |
AVOID |
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HORSES
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FRUITS: sweet apples, sliced mango, melons, papaya, watermelon VEGETABLES: celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, pumpkin, squash, zucchini NUTS/SEEDS: almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds HERBS: basil, fennel, mint, turmeric, sea salt OILS: coconut oil, camelina oil, hemp seed oil |
FRUITS: sour apples, bananas, kiwi VEGETABLES: raw carrots, beet greens, garlic, corn, peanuts OTHER: table salt, paprika, molasses, vinegar |
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DOGS
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MEATS: buffalo, chicken and turkey (white meat only), freshwater fish, rabbit DAIRY: eggs, cow’s milk, goat’s milk, ghee, yogurt (plain), cottage cheese, non-aged cheese FRUITS: Blueberries, blackberries, sweet apples, sliced mangoes, melons, papaya, watermelon NUTS/SEEDS: almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds HERBS: basil, fennel, mint, turmeric, sea salt VEGETABLES: celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, pumpkin, squash, zucchini GRAINS: quinoa, oats OILS: coconut oil, flaxseed oil, sunflower oil, camelina oil, hemp seed oil |
FRUITS: sour apples, bananas, kiwi VEGETABLES: raw carrots, beet greens, garlic, corn, peanuts MEATS: beef, duck, saltwater fish, lamb, dark meat turkey, salmon DAIRY: hard cheese OILS: corn oil, safflower oil OTHER: table salt, paprika, molasses, vinegar |
But wait, my horse loves carrots and bananas
You might try feeding fewer carrots and bananas during the hot weather. However, if your horse loves carrots and bananas, balance their heating properties with other cooling foods like pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
Pumpkin seeds are considered a “cooling food” in Ayurvedic medicine.
Isn’t salt, salt?
If you are wondering why sea salt is OK but not table salt, it’s because sea salt isn’t just sodium chloride, it also contains the 72 trace minerals that exist in sea water. The high content of trace minerals makes it more balancing (neutral) than table salt.
What about metabolic horses?
For metabolic horses in the summer, clearly you would not want to feed watermelon, or any of the high sugar fruits. Instead you could try sliced summer squash and zucchini. I have two easy keepers who think those foods are the “bees knees.”
Specific Ayurvedic balancing foods
Amalaki, also known as Indian Gooseberry is called “the sustainer” for its cooling abilities and capacity to strengthen the immune system. It is one of the most revered plants of all the rasayanas (path of essence) due to its rejuvenating and nourishing properties.
Shilajit, also called “conqueror of mountains, destroyer of weakness” in Sanskrit, is a resin formed during the late Triassic period when geological shifts in the continents caused plants and ammonites (extinct marine mollusks from the Cretaceous period) to be trapped under sediment and rock, particularly in the Himalayas, the Caucasus mountains, the Altai Mountains, and the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. It is considered rejuvenating and part of the rasayanas that promote health and balance. You won’t find shilajit on most lists of cooling tips for horses and dogs, but you should.
Cooling BioStar Formulas
Cool Star EQ: provides an Ayurvedic blend of herbs, fruits, vegetables and seeds to help cool the equine body system.
Alixir EQ: comprehensive recovery paste for horses with the Ayurvedic resin shilajit.
Tri Dosha EQ: provides the Ayurvedic rasayana plant Indian Gooseberry (Amalaki) to support equine metabolic balance.
Ayurvedic Tips for Keeping Your Own Cool
Ayurvedic Brahmi Oil is often recommended during summertime. Massage this oil into your feet in the evening to help “ground your energy and draw the heat down.” I’ve been using this oil on my feet for a few days, and I am definitely sleeping better.
Make your own cooling spritzer with ½ ounce distilled water, ½ ounce rose water or rose hydrosol, and 4-6 drops of lavender or roman chamomile essential oil. Mix together and spray yourself as needed.
Sleep on your right side to open your left nostril. This corresponds to the ida nadi, a subtle energy channel that corresponds to the cooling moon.
Stress aggravates Pitta, and extreme heat can lead to even more stress. Bring laughter into your life, which is cooling. When needing to give myself some laughter medicine, I’ll seek out an old Seinfeld episode, animation, or YouTube videos of Robin Williams, Chris Rock, or Richard Pryor.
Stay Cool Everyone!
About the Author: With over 30 years experience in the equine and human supplement industry, Tigger Montague knows nutrition from the synthetic side as well as the whole food side. She started BioStar US in 2006 with formulas she created in her kitchen. Before she started the company, she was an avid rider and competitor with eventing and show jumping, until she got hooked on dressage in the late 1980’s. She has competed on horses she’s owned and trained all the way from training level to Grand Prix.
