You come back from a nice ride in the middle of summer. You take the saddle off and your horse is all sweaty. You decide to give them a nice shower. The horse is fully wet, what do you do: do you scrape off the excess water or leave it? 

Exercise heats up the body. It is important to let the body cool down again, for example with cold water. It is often thought that it is better to remove the excess water, because the water could provide an insulating layer on the skin so that the heat cannot escape. But is that really so? 

Research shows that a layer of water has a cooling effect on the body. This is because water conducts heat better than air does. Just think about sweating. Sweating is a natural reaction of the body to get rid of heat. As the horse sweats, a layer of water is created and brought up to the skin to conducts the heat. This allows the body to cool down further. A layer of water after showering your horse can therefore help them to lose excess heat! 

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