horse sweating before the race

Question
hello, why do horses sweat a lot before the race? if a horse is sweating excessively, what does it mean? is it a sign of sickness? how to fix this problem?

Answer
Hi Caine,

Thank you for your question.  Horses use sweating as a way of cooling their body temperature, and will sweat naturally in response to elevated ambient temperatures.  Horses will also sweat in response to pain...so severe lameness, colic, etc can also cause your horse to sweat profusely.  Sweating is not something you can really stop your horse from doing, but rather you have to eliminate the reason for the sweating.  Keeping your horse cool works in hot weather, and eliminating pain (or in the interim using painkillers) can help alleviate sweating.  Also remember that horse sweat is rich in minerals...and horses will sweat concentrated sweat regardless of the mineral status of the horse's body.  They will lose valuable mineral through sweating so feeding a well balanced electrolyte is essential in maintaining your horse's mineral balance.

Thanks, Corlena