Take the Poll: Blanketing During the Winter Months
Wednesday October 1, 2008
The weather is turning chilly, and I'm already grabbing a warm jacket before I head out the door. But does your horse need an extra layer for warmth as the days cool off? What do you think? Do you blanket your horses during the colder winter months?
Comments
I never blanket my horses, they seem to do better if they are allowed to grow their winter hair without interruption.
Often I see horses with blankets that the owners don’t stay on top of taking care of them, if the blanket is coming off or torn or the weather changes to unseasonable warm and the blankets are not taken off for the horses comfort.
If a horse has free access to good hay, a place to get out of the wind, and is not debilatated in any way, I don’t blanketing is necessary. If the horse is old and/or recovering from injury but needs exercise a blanket may be called for.
I blanket my sale horses and keep them under lights. It’s hard to market a horse that has long hair. If I get a horse in that is long-haired, I blanket it and at least try to get the long hair laying down.
i rug mine up in winter because of where we live. being right on the east coast of northern ireland it gets very cold here. both my irish draught and my sons welsh cross pony are rugged up when they are out and at night in the stable during the winter.
I body clip my horse for the winter, as he sweats alot during workouts in the winter, so blankets are a must. He is turned out for at least 8 hours a day and it gets very cold here in the northeast. I remove the blanket and check him every day for any rubs, never had any problems.
I had an old farmer come onto the yard and tell me ‘you’ll make those horses sick by making them wear blankets’. Hasn’t happened yet, but blanketing does take more time and attention.
Blankets need constant attention. They need straightening to prevent slippage or ripping leading to being stood on or being torn off. That is about the blanket.
What about the horse. They can suffer rubbing or chaffing turning into sores, to say nothing of the fright of dealing with a falling rug. More important is the fact of overheating. I constantly see horses in England blanketed and even hooded in the heat of a September afternoon. I think that owners should be banned from keeping horses for allowing such conditions.
Here on the East Coast U.S.A. the winters are much more severe that the U.K. and yet the thoroughbred breeding farms sprouting up here do not blanket even in the most harsh winters. ( And often the run-ins are sheltering hay, not horses!)
Being English, I have a blanket.. but my horse doesn’t know it. I believe her cardiovascular system is better for running out in the cold, even if it hurts my conscience it seems so severe. But I cannot be at hand to correct a rug if she wore one and ultimately, that is why she is not blanketed but is left to grow a very long coat.
Well i never blanket my horse in the winter . It is cold but not very.I mean if it is like frostbite cold then yeahh i will blanket her. she is a Pintabian so shse is hott blooded.
I only blanket my old mare at the barn if she is having trouble staying warm. I will blanket if I’m hauling in a stock trailer or camping in cold weather, especialy a cold rain.
Our weather in Tennessee is very unpredictable. It may be 70 degrees in January and then start to rain and plunge into the teens. My horses never grow enough coat to keep them warm when they get soaking wet and the north wind blows, so I blanket them as soon as they start to shiver badly and pull the blankets as soon as it warms up.
I dont make it a habit of blanketing horses for our winters as I am a believer in the animal’s ability for adaption to our Ontario climates. Having said that, I ride a 12yr old Thrbrd from California and he does need to be blanketed. I check the fitting daily and brush out his coat to ensure there are no signs of chafing and such. It really depends on each horse, elements and provided shelter.
Unless a horse is sick, or underweight and having problems keeping warm, or is clipped, I normally do NOT blanket.
Mother Nature designed them to comfortably survive cold or inclimate weather. Their long wintre hair is designed to stand up and trap air for insulation, and lie down t cool themselves if they get to warm..blanketing inhibits this natural process and may actually cauise ahorse to become chiled if it sweats unde the blanket. Blanketing may also cause problems with bacteria and other coat malodies.
The only other exception for when I might consider blanketing, is after a COLD wet rain in fall or spring, followed by a bone chilling high wind and the horse is wet and shivering…I will remove the blanket as soon as the horse is dry and has stopped shivering.