The Power of Light

Everyone knows that the best indicator of a healthy horse on the inside, is a glowing, sleek coat on the outside. The duration of day-length and environmental temperature both change over the course of the year and regulate the length and density of a horse or pony’s coat in different seasons.

Equilume’s Performance Lighting products mimic a long summer’s day, stimulating seasonal hormones, including prolactin, while also ensuring that melatonin levels are sufficiently suppressed allowing your horse to produce a shiny summer coat and optimize the horse’s muscle response to exercise.

Early Coat Shedding Post Winter

After 8 weeks of extended daylight (16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness), the coat will shed early to a summer coat. Fastest results are achieved when horses are blanketed and kept warm.

Extending a Summer Coat

Light therapy needs to be initiated within one month after the summer solstice onwards maintaining 16 hours of daylight and 8 hours of darkness to extend and maintain a summer coat. Light masks should be fitted before July 21st in the Northern Hemisphere and January 21st in the Southern Hemisphere.

Starting light therapy in the autumn is too late to prevent the growth of the winter coat. Don’t leave it too late to start if you want to maintain a summer coat!

Influence Body Composition and Muscle Mass

Horses maintained under customized stable light systems with biologically effective blue light had a significantly higher fat-free mass (FFM) compared to horses under standard lighting. These horses also recorded higher weights and improved coat conditions. Using the Equilume Stable Lights increases the FFM in horses indicating an increase in athletic ability and contributing to all-round improved performance.

Contact a member of our team to calculate the recommended light activation date for improved coat condition and muscle development.

Under conventional lighting, frequent interactions with horses during night-time hours result in erratic exposure to light at night. This regime negatively impacts the horse’s body clock by disrupting their circadian rhythms and can result in impaired growth, reduced immune response and poor performance.

Our customisable stable lights were designed to provide the horse with extended blue-enriched white LED light by day, gradual transitions at dawn and dusk, and red light at night. The use of dim red light at night eliminates the need for white light at night as users can perform night checks without disrupting the horse.

“I have noticed the Equilume products have really helped Cooley HHS Calmaria to relax and focus on her work.

My other horses rest and recover better making Equilume an important part of our
management programme.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp, International 5* Event Rider, USA

Blue light is the most biologically effective light responsible for regulating an animal’s internal rhythms and coordinating all bodily functions to a daily and annual rhythm. Natural environmental lighting is essential to generate and maintain circadian rhythms ensuring optimum health, well-being and performance. Equilume Performance Lighting best reflects and mimics the benefits of the natural environmental day-night cycle. Our research results as well as feedback from clients are very exciting. As well as blossoming coat condition and increased muscle development, horses have better appetites, improved behavioural changes and focus on their work. Horses are happier and healthier overall using Equilume.