Nearly 5,000 horses from 500 different farms helped identify anhidrosis factors for University of Florida researchers. Geography, breed, and use of horse were examined to determine factors for anhidrosis–the lack or decreased production of sweat.

While it is widely known that some horses lose the ability to sweat properly in hot, humid climates like Florida, accurate information about the true prevalence of the condition and which horses are at risk is lacking.

"Since the studies performed to date are small and did not used objective research methods, the purpose of this study was to get a better estimate of the prevalence of anhidrosis and to identify factors at the farm and animal level that are associated with this condition," explained Robert MacKay, BVSc, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, and Jorge Hernandez, DVM, MPVM, PhD, lead researchers on the study.

Questionnaires were distributed to 1,207 horse farms throughout Florida in the year 2005. Of these, 500 farms completed the questionnaires. Hernandez et al