Summerwind solarium - light

Trivia regarding horse tanning for capacity and vitality:

Variation in temperature trains the animal:

When imagining the adequate animal housing required for the proper training of sports horses, one only has to visualize a horses wildlife habitat, what a horse is equipped for and what it has no built-in mechanisms for. Horses are steppe animals and not built for cave dwelling or living in wooded areas. The steppe does not provide lots of shelter by trees or relief features. It induces great variations in temperature throughout the seasons, as well as a variation from upwards to 40 degrees Celsius in a single night and day circle. Furthermore, the animals are constantly exposed to a lot of light and sun radiation, wind, rain, snow. To overcome these conditions, horses have a very distinctive high- and low temperature tolerance. Their thermoregulation system is based on short-termed sweating, adjusting of their fur and through a variation in circulation of the skin's tomentum, and long-termed change of coat and layer of fat. Horses are used to nights that are drastically colder than days and to fresh air and wind, to a greater or lesser extent.

Your horses should be tanned for that reason:

The needed natural sun radiation is reduced to a minimum, due to animal housing, lack of grazing and exercising in indoor riding areas. But as steppe animals, horses are used to and need a lot of sun light.

UV- radiation stimulates growth and is a significant factor in the bone- and muscle metabolism (generation of vitamin D within the skin), as well as in increasing of red blood cells (consensual training effects). Additional, UV – radiation enhances the protection against infectious diseases, enhances the natural production of antibodies in the body, strengthens the immune system, stabilizes the immune system and therefore increases the power reserves.

A lack of natural sun light results in anemia in horses and humans equally. This leads to a constrained transport of oxygen throughout the system, which decreases the performance of the muscles, due to an interrupted carbohydrate cycle. Additional water gets stored, which decreases the trainings effects significantly. Large windows in a stable enhance the wellbeing of the horses, but cannot substitute natural sun light, due to glass blocking the UV- rays.

Horse tanning with our Summerwind – solaria resolves this lack of sun light. Sun light not only gives humans vigor and vitality, our horses stay resistant, energetic and healthy as well. The physical well being is enhanced, the horses get better-rounded, the concentration capabilities increase, through which the performance rises. Light means energy and life.

Tanning not only for high performance horses:

The enhancement in performance and health benefits tanning has on horses should not be reserved for high performance horses only, since all housed horses are not exposed to a fair amount of sun light, even with open stable husbandry.

Horses in training:

Horse tanning with our Summerwind solaria as an additional preparation activates the immune system of the horse and therefore boosts the performance. It is very important to warm up and relax the horses prior to labor, especially in winter. Tanning amplifies the capillaries, resulting in an enhancement in transport of oxygen throughout the whole muscular system.

After work is over and the horse has had its needed walking period (to reduce lactic acid and normalize the lactate level, preventing an acidosis, which results in sore muscles) the horse should be tanned, to encourage muscle relaxation and to relax. Heat therapy also applies to intense training, reducing the pain induced by inflammation of a muscle and accelerates the recovery through increased blood flow. Also used as prophylaxis of Polysaacharid Storage Myopathie (PSSM).

Tanning, how often? :

Um dem Pferd das notwendige Minimum zur Gesunderhaltung und ausreichende Widerstandskraft zu geben, sind drei Anwendungen / Besonnungen pro Woche nötig. Wenn darüber hinaus alle Lebensvorgänge des Organismus aktiviert werden sollen, ist eine tägliche Besonnung notwendig. Dasselbe gilt bei therapeutischen Maßnahmen. Für in Leistung oder Training stehende Pferde ist es sinnvoll vor und nach dem Einsatz zu besonnen.

Only 20 minutes a day…

…is enough, to reassure and optimize all benefits from tanning. This daily dose of sun light pays for itself through the savings in veterinarian-, medicament- and fosters costs. Distance between solarium and animal ca. 60 cm.

Additional benefits from tanning:

  • Tanning reduces the tissue repair time. UV-radiation disinfects and kills germs and bacteria.
  • Stimulation of the hormonal balance, enhancing the performance in stallions.
  • Greatly increases fertility in mares (Vitamin D3-cultivation in a natural way). Increase in receptivity.
  • Warming up and relaxation of the tendons.

Air circulation system:

The integrated air circulation system prevents the so far typical after sweating, since the humid air that originates at the body of the horse during the drying process is guided away from the body by warm air, resulting in a steady drying.