Thermal insurance of peripheral tissue and coat in sport horses

1. The aim of this experiment was to measure the minimal and the maximal thermal insulance of the peripheral tissues and the thermal insulance of the coat in sport horses.2. The measurements were done on five horses in a climatic chamber at six different temperatures between -3 and 37 degrees C.The thermal insulance of the peripheral tissue in sport horses ranged from 0.015 to 0.100 m(2) K W-1. The thermal insulance of a dry winter coal in a calm environment was on average 0.120 m(2) K W-1. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.