For the past few weeks, a large portion of the United States has felt like someone turned up the heat from warm to sweltering. Here in Lexington, we had several consecutive days with heat indexes over 100¡F last week which was even too warm for me, a self-proclaimed hot weather lover.

On the hottest days, I opted to let Dorado, my 16-year-old Thoroughbred, take a break and just focus on keeping cool. Although I thought he’d appreciate the sentiment, he acted bored out of his mind and clearly had no idea why we weren’t going out for rides in the afternoon. The lucky boy stayed cool as a cucumber under his fan all day, which probably kept his stall a good 10¡ to 15¡ cooler than the ambient outdoor temperature. This “Come on, mom, let’s go work!” attitude is a welcome change from our experience with last year’s summer heat.

Last year, Dorado struggled with the high temperatures due to his living situation. He lived at a different barn with a different living arrangement that made it difficult for him to come inside during the day. On some of the hottest days in early summer I’d arrive after work to find him sweating and clearly uncomfortable.

I’d bring him inside and hose him off until his body temperature dropped. Often times I stayed inside with him while he ate his dinner; after that we’d play in the cooler barn until the sun began to set and the outdoor temperatures dropped. Then I’d turn him back outside a much happier horse