A hard conditioning ride in summer heat is a different animal than a regular schooling session. Your horse comes back soaking, breathing hard, and carrying a body temperature that a quick cold-water rinse isn’t going to resolve on its own. What you do in the next thirty to sixty minutes matters — not just for how he feels tonight, but for how he comes out the next day. I have been thinking about cool-out protocols a lot lately, and the one piece of equipment that has changed how I approach this phase is the Benefab Rejuvenate SmartScrim.
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Why the Cool-Out Phase Gets Shortchanged in Summer
There is a common mistake I see at summer horse trials and conditioning barns: the rider finishes the work, hoses the horse, scrapes him off, and throws him back in the stall. Done. On to the next one.
I get it. It is 92 degrees, you have four more horses to ride, and standing at the end of a lead line while your horse walks circles feels like time you do not have. But that post-work window is exactly when the body needs support the most — and especially so when the ambient temperature is already working against your horse’s ability to dissipate heat and recover efficiently.
The challenge with summer cool-outs is that the heat outside slows everything down. Your horse has worked hard. His circulation is elevated. His muscles are fatigued. And the warm, humid air offers him less natural relief than a cool fall evening would. If you just stall him wet and call it good, you will often see tightness through the back and haunches the next morning, and legs that are a little more filled than they should be.
The cool-out is the recovery. It deserves the same intention you put into the warm-up.
What the Benefab SmartScrim Actually Does
The Rejuvenate SmartScrim ($349.95) is a full-body scrim sheet built with Benefab’s far-infrared ceramic-embedded fabric. It is designed to be used during or after cool-out — not as an insulating blanket, but as a sheet that supports the body while the horse comes back down to baseline.
The fabric itself is lightweight and breathable, which matters a lot for summer use. This is not a therapy blanket you would use in winter to add warmth. The SmartScrim is designed to sit against the coat, allow airflow, and support circulation as the horse settles.
Here is how I use it in practice: After I hose off a hot horse and scrape him, while he is still slightly damp and warm, I put the SmartScrim on and walk him. Most of my horses settle noticeably faster in it. The body seems to regulate more evenly — I am not a veterinarian and I am not going to overclaim the mechanism, but what I observe is that horses wearing the SmartScrim during cool-out tend to be less fussy, relax through the topline sooner, and come back to a resting state more consistently than without it.
Many riders I know use it as part of a deliberate recovery routine rather than as an occasional add-on, and that frequency is probably why they see consistent results. One-off use is fine, but building it into your standard post-conditioning protocol is where it really earns its place.
Fit notes: The SmartScrim fits like a standard scrim sheet. It sits well on warmbloods and sport horses. If you have a wider-bodied horse or a draft cross, size up rather than squeezing into a standard fit — you want the fabric to lie flat against the body, not pull at the chest or bunch behind the shoulders. The sheet should drape smoothly from wither to hip without gaps across the back.
Who this suits: This is a serious tool for the rider who does consistent conditioning work, competes in summer, or has a horse who tends to stay tight or filled after hard sessions. If your horse only gets lightly hacked twice a week and rarely works up much of a sweat, the SmartScrim is probably more than you need right now. But if you are conditioning for fitness, foxhunting, eventing, or any discipline that demands sustained effort in heat, this sheet earns its cost.
Who should think twice: The price point is real. At $349.95, this is an investment. If budget is tight, scroll down — I will cover how the leg wraps complement the SmartScrim and offer a more accessible entry point.
Pairing the SmartScrim With Leg Support
Full-body circulation support after conditioning rides means you cannot ignore the legs. Especially in summer, when stocking up after hard work is a common complaint, I pair the SmartScrim with the Therapeutic Smart QuickWraps ($199.95) as the next step once the horse is fully cooled out and back in his stall.
The QuickWraps are Benefab’s lower-leg wraps — same far-infrared fabric, applied specifically from the knee or hock down. They are designed for after-work use, and I reach for them on conditioning days, the night before a competition, and any time a horse’s legs look like they have been through it.
These are not standing wraps in the traditional polo-and-quilt sense. They go on flat, stay in place without rewrapping, and come in several colors. The application is straightforward enough that I can put them on at the end of a long barn day without wrestling with them.
Pairing logic: The SmartScrim handles the back, topline, barrel, and hindquarters during the active cool-out walk. The QuickWraps handle the lower legs once the horse is stalled. Together, they cover the most common areas where riders notice stiffness or filling the morning after hard summer work.
If the QuickWraps are outside your budget right now, the Antimicrobial Therapeutic VersiWraps ($99.95) are the more accessible alternative. You lose some of the quick-application convenience, but the fabric technology is similar and the price is significantly lower.
Ready to try the Benefab SmartScrim? Use my link for my reader benefits at Benefab → https://bit.ly/4uhqYoF
Building the Summer Cool-Out Routine
I talk about recovery protocols a fair amount on the podcast because I think they are one of the most underinvested areas for amateur riders specifically. Everyone obsesses over the training plan. Fewer people build the same rigor into the back half of the session.
Here is the simple summer cool-out sequence I use with my own horses after hard conditioning days:
- Immediate post-work: Hose thoroughly, prioritizing the large muscle groups — neck, back, hindquarters, and between the legs. Scrape and repeat if needed until the skin feels noticeably cooler.
- SmartScrim on: Once scraped and still slightly warm-damp, put the SmartScrim on and walk until respiration is back to normal and the horse is no longer blowing. This usually takes fifteen to twenty-five minutes depending on the intensity of the ride and the ambient temperature.
- Assess the legs: Run your hands down all four legs before stalling. Note anything that feels warmer than expected or looks puffy.
- QuickWraps or VersiWraps on: If you are using them, apply now. Leave on through the evening check.
- Electrolytes and water: Obvious, but worth stating — cool-out support is incomplete without adequate rehydration. Make sure fresh water is available and consider an electrolyte product appropriate for your horse’s workload.
This is not a complicated protocol. The point is that it is a protocol — a deliberate sequence rather than a spray-and-forget approach.
The Bottom Line on Summer Recovery
The SmartScrim is the piece of my summer recovery toolkit I would miss most if it disappeared. It fits a specific need — the transition between “horse is hot and worked up” and “horse is calm, comfortable, and ready to rest” — and it does that job well. The behavioral response I observe is consistent enough that I have made it a non-negotiable part of my conditioning-day routine.
The QuickWraps extend that support to the legs, and together the two products cover the body comprehensively after hard summer work.
Neither product will override poor conditioning practices, inadequate hydration, or asking too much of your horse in dangerous heat. But as part of a thoughtful summer training and recovery approach, they are tools I reach for confidently.
If you are conditioning seriously this summer and you have not built a deliberate cool-out protocol yet, now is the time. The horses that come through summer in the best shape are usually the ones whose riders paid attention to the details after the ride, not just during it.
Ready to try the Benefab SmartScrim and build your summer recovery routine? Use my link for my reader benefits at Benefab → https://bit.ly/4uhqYoF
