The Week

It was 110℉/43℃ on Monday, and Tuesday's high was 108℉.  It's been in the mid 80s at 6:00 a.m. with humidity in the 40s.  It's not like mid-80s is hot; it's that it quickly goes up another 20 or 30 degrees.  It's not predicted to drop below 100 until Tuesday and then only down to 95.  It's exhausting. Literally.

I know many horses in Bakersfield are having trouble dealing with this heat wave.  Mine have been handling it quite well (for which I am grateful). Speedy has the finest hair you've even seen.  As he moves, you can see his black skin peeking out through the hair.  He's practically naked.  His bright white coat, called gray, but it's definitely white, helps reflect the sunlight. Like most Arabians, his muscle mass is lean which allows him to cool off much more quickly after a work out.  His veins are also very close to the service and pop out all over his body when he's working.  This, too, helps eliminate heat while working.

Sydney enjoys many of the same physical characteristics as Speedy: his coat is very thin, and his veins are even closer to the surface.  He is more heavily muscled, but it's not excessive.  It's no surprise that Sydney shares so many features with Speedy since the Thoroughbred can trace it's ancestry back to three Arabian stallions: the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian. 

Wednesday was my last day of summer vacation.  My weekends will now be spent squeezing in as many morning rides as possible as the afternoons will continue to be very hot for the next few months.  When it's below 100, I will ride after school.  It doesn't look like I'll be able to do much riding next week, but I am hoping the weather forecasters are wrong and that this heat wave will break soon.

I am off to my official first day back to work.  Here's to cooler weather!