Fort Worth

Cutting horse riders take precautions as days reach 100-degree temperatures

Riders take million-dollar horses into a cryotherapy chamber to keep them healthy in extreme heat.

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The paramedic contractor in many parts of Tarrant County, MedStar, transported more than 570 people to area hospitals in the past three months from heat-related illnesses.

As temperatures move past 100 degrees day after day, it's important to take precautions.

At the Will Rogers Coliseum, sometimes the animals get better treatment than the people. It makes more sense when you know some of the thousand-pound horses can cost up to a million dollars.

"Especially in this heat, horses need energy," Sofia Borowski from Fullstride Cryotherapy.

Sofia moved one horse into a trailer and turned on a large machine blasting the horse with temperatures down to negative 220 degrees. It helps them get back in action if they've become so dehydrated they stop sweating, a common symptom for people who experience heat illnesses as well.

"I mean, I was standing there when the horses were done 'cause I'm hot. They're hot. So I want to stand in there when they're done," Borowski said.

For the cutting horse competition at the Will Rogers Coliseum, riders separate one cow from a group of them and the goal is for the horse to prevent the cow's urge to go back to its friends.

"These are the cream of the crop as far as the animals," said Jay Winborn from the National Cutting Horse Association.

"The riders and horses are professional athletes. With more than $11 million in prize money, nobody wants heat stroke."

"Especially right now," said Winborn.

Earlier this week just down the street from the competition, emergency crews took a patient to a nearby hospital after they stood outside in a line at Dickies Arena for too long. Organizers quickly moved the line inside afterward.

Thursday a grass fire broke out north of Fort Worth in Denton County.

Across Tarrant County Thursday, MedStar took seven people to the hospital with heat-related illnesses.

So whether you're dog walking, going to a concert, or riding a cutting horse, safety should be front and center this weekend.

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