Find out how BEMER equine care can help your horse bounce back faster from injuries & hot summer training days.

Heat stress and injuries can leave your horse feeling moody, exhausted, and uncomfortable…

But with daily BEMER therapy, you can help them recover faster and more effectively in minutes.

In the article below, we’ll cover heat stress, how to manage it, and how BEMER can optimize your horse’s recovery from heat-related and physical injuries.

Heat Stress, Heat Exhaustion, & Heat Stroke in Horses

More than any other time of year, your horse is at the greatest risk of developing heat stress in the summer.

When temperatures are high, it’s best to schedule any demanding physical activity in the morning and late afternoon to avoid overheating.

A horse’s muscles are large, powerful, and capable of generating a ton of heat. Enough to raise its body temperature by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit every minute, in fact.

Add a blistering hot day into the equation, and it’s all too easy for a horse to develop heat stress. If left unchecked, the condition can worsen, leading to irritability, disorientation, coma, or even death.

Luckily, however, the symptoms of heat stress and heat exhaustion in horses aren’t too difficult to spot.

If your horse is showing any of these signs, they may be experiencing heat stress:

• Profuse sweating
• Rapid heart rate (greater than 150 beats per minute)
• High respiratory rate, trouble breathing
• Dehydration
• Sweating too much or not enough
• Fatigue, exhaustion
• Loss of appetite or refusal to eat
• Rectal temperature above 103 degrees Fahrenheit
• Drooping ear position
• Irritability
• Unwillingness to cooperate

Without timely care and management of equine heat stress, heat stroke can develop, which may cause:

• Lack of coordination
• Disorientation
• Gait abnormalities
• Convulsions
• Loss of consciousness
• Coma
• Death

Horse Health Care Tips to Prevent, Manage, & Recover From Heat Stress

Here are a few tips to prevent heat stress:

• Always provide plenty of fresh water
• Provide access to plenty of shade
• Work around the hottest times of day
• Cut back on riding
• Avoid riding when the air temperature (F) and relative humidity (%) total more than 150
• Install fans and/or misting fans in your stable

But if, despite your best efforts, your horse still shows signs of heat stress, it’s important to remove them from the heat and start cooling them down as soon as possible.

Kentucky Equine Research recommends the following steps to quickly get the symptoms of heat stress under control:

1. Direct application of ice and cold water to the body, focusing on the head, neck, abdomen, and large muscles
2. Scraping off the water frequently to avoid it warming up on the horse’s body. A team of three people is recommended for faster and more effective cooling—one to apply ice, one to spray with cold hose water, and one to remove the water.
3. If you fear your horse may soon become a danger to itself or others, consider having a veterinarian sedate them.
4. Depending on the severity of the condition, consider having a veterinarian administer anti-inflammatories and intravenous fluids.

To help your horse bounce back from heat stress, you’ll need to give them plenty of time to rest—at least a day or two, in many cases—before jumping back into their normal routine.

In extreme cases, follow your veterinarian’s recommendations for easing your horse back into its regular activities.

During the rest period, make sure they have access to fresh water, cool shade, and electrolytes to replenish what they lost through sweating.

And if you want to help them relax, speed up their recovery, and improve their overall health, you can add BEMER therapy to their daily schedule.

BEMER: Elevating Equine Recovery

Whether your horse is recovering from heat stress or a physical injury, BEMER therapy is scientifically proven to help them return to form faster and more effectively.*

BEMER is powered by a patented pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) signal that passes through your horse’s body to improve local blood flow, and vasomotion, improves functional movement in horses, (1) and speeds up the recovery process after an injury* (3)

Over time, with just two 5-15-minute sessions a day, these circulatory benefits compound to provide a wide range of life-changing health benefits for your horse.

Less Stress, More “Rest & Digest”

In addition to improving blood flow, BEMER therapy has been shown to promote relaxation and regeneration after exercise and support parasympathetic processes in the body (also known as the rest and digest system). (1)

These benefits are perfect for the heat-weary or recovering horse in need of a break from stress and an uplift in mood.

Fighting Back Against Back Pain

Back pain is incredibly common in working and competitive horses…

And while medication, chiropractic therapy, and surgery can help, there isn’t much you can do on your own other than giving them rest and adjusting their training schedule.

But with BEMER, you can reduce their back pain in minutes a day.*

A 2022 study from the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science showed that regular BEMER therapy significantly improved back pain, postural stability, and spinal flexibility. (2)

Quality of life improvements like these are priceless, especially for a horse that may be suffering from near-constant discomfort.

Less Time Recovering, More Time Riding

When your horse is injured, you want them to recover as fast as possible, not just for the good of their health and well-being, but also so you can get back in the saddle.

Well, believe it or not, BEMER can help with that too!

In 2017, Dr. Herman Josef Genn, DVM, MS, and Board Cert. Eq. Practitioner conducted a study that found BEMER therapy actually speeds up the recovery process after injuries. (3)

That same study found that BEMER improves post-recovery and regeneration after surgery.*

That means your horse can return to form faster, and you can get back in the saddle sooner. We call that a win-win!

The Best in Equine Recovery at Your Fingertips

Navigating injuries and working around the heat can be tough…

But with BEMER, you have a secret weapon that can elevate your horse’s recovery and quality of life—a cutting-edge wellness tool you can use to make this summer a healthy and happy one.

Your horse deserves nothing but the best.

Reach out to a BEMER distributor today to give them the best in equine recovery.

*The BEMER Horse-Set does not replace the treatment and care of an injury or disease by a veterinarian. A veterinarian should be consulted prior to the use of the BEMER Horse-Set for any medical condition.

[1.] Effects of BEMER physical vascular therapy in horses under training. A randomized, controlled double-blind study. Francesca Daia, Emanuela Dalla Costaa, Alessia Giordanoa, c, Eugenio U.L. Heinzla,
Piermario Giongob, Gracia Pagnozzi, Simona Cannasa, Giulietta Minozzia, Michela Mineroa, Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Universita di Milano (in publication)

[2.] King, M., Seabaugh, K., Frisbie, D. (2022). Effects of a Bio-Electromagnetic Energy Regulation Blanket on Thoracolumbar Epaxial Muscle Pain in Horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2022.103867

[3.] Observations and experiences in the application of a therapy blanket by induction of electromagnetic force on the tissue of horses Hermann Josef Genn, Horse Clinic Mühlen, Germany, (2017)