Evaporative Cooling Rugs For Horses Tested - July 2025 - AskAnimalweb
Quick Chill Cooling Rug for Horses from Equilibrium
The perfect solution to cool the temperature of your horse. This advanced rug utilises water-activated conduction technology to draw heat away from your horses’ body, promoting optimal comfort and cooling during warm weather.
Ideal for:
- Cooling your horse down without the need to get them soaking wet (when used for up to 10 minutes).
- Provides cooling relief in the stable at rest for at least 2 hours*
- Provides instant cooling up to 5.9℃ in the stable* or after exercise**
- Warm competition days to gently cool your horse before, in between or after classes.
- Horses who get hot when/after travelling.
- Horses who don’t like the hose, or the feeling of running water.
- Yards or remote locations where running water may be limited.
- Training sessions, competitions, or arena hires where access to running water is limited.
*Based on horses in the stable in temperatures ranging between 28-30℃. ** Based on horses exercised for 20 minutes and cooled directly afterwards.
How the Quick Chill Rug works:
Designed with your horses’ wellbeing in mind, the Quick Chill rug provides a refreshing cooling effect without the need for traditional soaking.
Here’s a breakdown of how the Quick Chill rug works:
- Specialised Material
The rug is made from a high tech, breathable open cell structure material, which is designed to effectively absorb and store water. This material has been chosen for its ability to retain water, but also to allow the water molecules to move through the fabric easily.
The rug should be fully submerged in a bucket of water, or thoroughly soaked. Once removed from the bucket, wring out the excess water and place onto the horse. The water stored within the fabric is essential for the cooling process, but due to it being held within the fabric, it will stop your horse from getting soaking wet when used for up to 10 minutes.
- Heat transfer, evaporative cooling and breathability.
Your horse will be warmer than the rug, and so the thermal energy will move via conduction from the hottest place (the horse) to the cooler place (the rug) to equalise temperatures. The water from the rug also evaporates into the atmosphere to further aid cooling, similar to what happens when your horse sweats to naturally attempt to cool themselves down.
The cooling area of the rug is contoured and shaped so that it covers the large muscle groups across the back and hindquarters with direct contact, and the remainder of the rug is mesh to allow it to remain lightweight for use in the summer, but also to remain well-ventilated to facilitate breathability and evaporation to further aid the cooling process.
- Reusability
This process helps regulate the horses body temperature while providing a cooling sensation without soaking the horse. The rug can be reactivated as many times as it is needed by re-soaking it in water, making it an environmentally friendly solution to keep horses cool in warm conditions.
How to use the Quick Chill Cooling Rug:
Simply submerge the cooling rug in a bucket of water until it is fully saturated, before wringing it out.
If you have limited access to water, you can activate the rug as above where you have running water (i.e. at home or the stables), before placing it into a plastic bag and taking it with you to where it is needed. The rug will stay activated in this environment for the rest of the day.
Alternatively, sprinkle water from a hose or bottle of water onto the rug, wring out the excess water and then put on your horse.
The rug can then either be reactivated in water to be used again straight away or left to dry out.
Care should be taken in humid climates and the rug should be checked more often, as humidity can affect the process of evaporation in general, from the rug or even on an un-rugged horse.
Quick Chill Testing.
The Quick Chill Rug has been tested both in the stable on a hot day, as well as immediately after exercise.
In The Stable:
A horse wearing the Quick Chill Rug in accordance with our instructions was tested against a horse who was sponged off in the same stable yard, on a hot (29℃) day over the same time period.
Temperature data loggers were fitted to the horse’s hind quarters taking a temperature reading every 10 seconds. Both horses were at rest, and the same mains tap water was used to soak the rugs and for sponging off. This water measured 18.5℃. The horse wearing the Quick Chill was visibly relaxed. Data also showed that the horse wearing the Quick Chill remained cooler than their starting temperature for the entire 2-hour test period.
After Exercise:
On the same day, 3 horses had their surface skin temperatures measured on their hindquarters and shoulders before exercise, immediately after 20 minutes of lunging and again 10 minutes after cooling. The ambient temperature was 18℃ and the Quick Chill was applied to one side of the body post exercise and not to the other, so each horse acted as their own control. Results showed that after using Quick Chill for 10 minutes, the surface skin temperature was still more than 3℃ cooler than immediately after exercise.
How do I care for the Quick Chill Rug?
Machine washable at 30 degrees, so you can quickly and easily clean your rug.