To blanket, or not to blanket?

[Kaelyn5657]

That is the question lately. I've had Weez and Doc since July and with the chilly temps here lately I find myself wondering if I should blanket them this fall/winter. What if thats what theyre used to? What size? What kind? What weight? All of those kinda what ifs. They live outside for now until I can talk to the BO about cleaning out a couple of stalls again. (hes a bit of a packrat)
Their woolies are coming in just fine but I'd rather be prepared before it drops off too cold ya know? Any advice/personal experience would be greatly appreciated!

[singing tree]

As a non blanketer, I would think they would be fine as long as they have a wind break and plenty of hay to munch. The only time horses really get chilled is if it is damp and very windy as a rule. Blanketing can be counterproductive if you aren't careful, as it mats down their natural insulation. I know people do blanket, but you certainly do not have to, especially in your part of the country.

[Kaelyn5657]

Originally Posted by singing tree

As a non blanketer, I would think they would be fine as long as they have a wind break and plenty of hay to munch. The only time horses really get chilled is if it is damp and very windy as a rule. Blanketing can be counterproductive if you aren't careful, as it mats down their natural insulation. I know people do blanket, but you certainly do not have to, especially in your part of the country.

Yeah thats what I worry about. This is my first winter with em, so maybe I'm worrying too much Everybody's talking about how hard this winters gonna be and I just want to make sure my 2 are happy, healthy and warm when its freakin cold out there...lol

[WickedNag]

Blanketing smashes down the guard hairs and so even in our worst SD winters, I never blanket my horses unless absolutely necessary. My daughter's old mare didn't winter well and so we fed her extra grain and put a blanket on her to help conserve her energy.

[Berry]

We do not blanket our horses to allow their natural winter coats to grow in. OUr gypsys have been more than fine...their coat grows in to resemble a bear's coat. Turtle, however, does not grow a thick coat and I found him shivering a couple of times last winter....I may look at a blanket for him for the very cold, wet times.

[qtrhorse1993]

i dont blanket unless the weather is really nasty, he has a stall but if the weather gets really bad and drops below -15 with the wind i throw one on.

[Kaelyn5657]

Thanks guys! I probably am worrying too much. I may buy 2 for just in case instances.

[muttduck]

I initially wait to blanket until after they've grown their fuzzies.

After that, I blanket the horses under 50 and precipitating, and the donkeys under 40 and precipitating -(or if the highs are not going to be above freezing.) We don't have a barn, and use waterproof blankets so they have better protection from the weather if it's snowing/sleeting/raining.

On days where the blankets are off, I've found that their coat fluffs back up pretty quickly.

[Kaelyn5657]

Originally Posted by muttduck

I initially wait to blanket until after they've grown their fuzzies.

After that, I blanket the horses under 50 and precipitating, and the donkeys under 40 and precipitating -(or if the highs are not going to be above freezing.) We don't have a barn, and use waterproof blankets so they have better protection from the weather if it's snowing/sleeting/raining.

On days where the blankets are off, I've found that their coat fluffs back up pretty quickly.

The being out with no barn thing is what triggered me initially. And I'm starting to think the BO isn't gonna come off those stalls any time soon. Thatnks for the input Muttduck!

[CopperWalkin]

It's a matter of choice to blanket, but horses are energy neutral at temps of 15-60 degrees-unless of course the wind is blowing, they get wet, or there's no shelter. Horses will be fine with a wind break and plenty of hay. Hay should be the main calorie source. 40 and 50 degree temps are nothing for a horse. I do believe the exception is a special needs horse like a senior.

[AnChap]

I don't blanket at all but I used to worry a lot about it and blanket once in a while. My guy is outside 24/7 and has a barn he can go into for shelter, like a run in but an actual barn. He grows a really good coat. A lot do blanket at my barn and I used to worry but we watched him, he always was outside, and never shivers and it got down to the negatives here. He'd be in the barn with his buddies all warm, so I hope he's ok

[fishing_trex]

I'm a non-blanketer as well. I think often it does more harm than good, particularly if the owner can't check on the horse often (when they get wet due to precip or sweating they are doing more harm than good).

My horses can go in their stalls when they want to and have an overhang from the bank barn to get under if they opt to stand outside. They have wind breaks all over the place. I used to board them at my sister's in Missouri and they had no barn, but they had nice stands of trees for windbreaks and did fine.

I have blankets for each in case of a health problem, but I have never had to blanket any of our horses in the 14 years of living here. We've had temps in the high 30s and low 40s with drizzle or rain for the past two days and they are all fine -- even the gelding with very few winter fuzzies. I do make sure they are getting lots of hay at the barn, even though our pasture is still green. I don't want to force them to go out if they will get cold/wet, but they seem to prefer to stand out in the drizzle anyway, even when they are not eating.

[singing tree]

That's the thing. If they have a choice, they will often stand outside and get, wet or snowed on anyway!

[Silvercreekcrossings]

I have blankets on hand but only use them if a horse is shivering even after a couple extra flakes of hay. Even then, I never leave a blanket on for more than 8 hours so the hair does not become matted and the blanket does not become wet. If you do blanket, expect more work because the blanket should be taken off every day so you can inspect the horse for areas where the blanket is rubbing the hair off.

[Horselady44]

We dont blanket here either...I like to let them get their thick winter fuzzies...and then if it is absolutely nessasary I will blanket them...which I have only had to do to our rescue preggers mare She is nice and fat in her new home though so I think this winter will go much better and I hope I dont need to blanket any of ours now...they are all getting really fat and have a pretty good winter coat already.

[Island Mist]

What about cooldown blankets? Like the OP, this is our 1st winter with our horse. Her previous owner was an aggressive blanketer. We are planning to blanket only in extreme conditions, but I'm wondering if we should get a cooldown fleece blanket for after she's ridden on a chilly day. Thoughts?

[Sundance_Solo]

I blanket my guy. He's a AQH and doesn't grow a very heavy coat. I usually put a sheet on him if its below 50 and raining, and around 40 if its not. For his actual winter blanket I'll put it on if it's below freezing. I think it's important to blanket if you ride your horse through the winter (if they sweat at all) because then you don't have to take hours cooling them out. I would feel really bad if I didn't blanket my boy, but thats just me.

To measure for a blanket go from the middle of their chest to their tail, the amount of inches is their blanket size. You can usually order a size an inch or so smaller (if the blanket you want doesn't come in the size he is) or 1-3 inches bigger. I order from sstack.com usually. They have GREAT prices and their blankets hold up well. If your guys get a good coat I'd only bother with a sheet, and only put it on in rain/snow. I'd also get liners, then if it gets like below 0 or something you can throw that on under their sheets so they stay toasty warm.

[Amy]

My understanding is that sheets can be more harmful than good, because they mash down their coat but don't provide any additional warmth...

I only blanket my senior- 25 y.o. arabian, hard keeper. I blanket if it will be below 40, or 50's or below and raining. I work so hard for every ounce of weight he has, don't want him shivering it off.

[muttduck]

I will add - the past two nights, we've had frost, near freezing temps, a light layer of ice on buckets this morning, but no precipitation.

Toby's 8 weeks old, and has outgrown his foal blanket (and his new one hasn't arrived in the mail yet) - he went the past two nights in his nature made fuzzies, and is just fine. In fact, he's out in the big field with mom, and bombing around like a lunatic this morning.

[shayla]

The only one I ever used to blanket was a Peruvian Paso we had who had health issues and NEVER grew in a winter coat. And even then, at the vet's insistance, I blanketed him ONLY if it was a wet precipitation. I would occasionally blanket him in the snow, but once the snow stopped and the sun came back out, blanket came off.

Am a little surprised to see blankets already popping up on horses here in Texas!