At what temperature do you blanket your older horse?

[trubandloki]

At what temperature do you blanket your older horse - When he tells me he is cold.

I let him grow his winter coat, I provide him with shelter if he chooses to use it (stall attached to paddock), and pretty much all the grass hay he wants (though he tends to get fat so I have to limit it some, but on the really cold nights (single digits or below) it is for sure free choice).
Some days I find him coated with icicles hanging from his thick winter coat while he is standing out in the weather, choosing to eat from the round bale.

Every now and again I find him cold. I add a water proof sheet to protect from the wind and he is good to go.

I am not anti blanket. I have one horse trace clipped and blanketed. I just prefer to let him take care of him being warm. So far his body seems to do a fine job of that.

[mestle]

I blanket my 27 y.o. mare when its below about 40, and very windy or wet. Also when it gets down under 15 or so. She is in good flesh, eats well, and gets around fine. She is out 24/7 and has shelter that she uses if it is rainy. I mostly want to keep her at her current condition so don’t need her using calories to stay warm. She does not love being blanketed. She is turned out with 7 others. She’s not the boss but they don’t mess with her. We are in Iowa so weather can change drastically and quickly.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=mestle;8470243]
I mostly want to keep her at her current condition so don’t need her using calories to stay warm.[/QUOTE]
This is a good point. I think it needs to be part of the answers.

In the case of my older gelding, he is an easy keeper and I spend far more time making sure he is not over weight than I do putting weight on him.

[Simbalism]

My 22yo TB mare has never liked being cold. She starts wearing a sheet when it is in the 50’s. 40’s she gets her mid-weight with belly band. 30’s she gets sheet and mid-weight. When it starts getting into the twenties she wears sheet, mid and heavy weights with a neck cover. For this mare this plan keeps her in good weight thru out the winter. She lives out 24/7 with a run in.

[sophie]

I’m in Maine and I blanketed my 18 year old Tb yesterday for the 1st time this winter, when the temps went down to single digits at night and teens during the day. She is brought in at night, with plenty of hay, grows a decent winter coat, but I figured she might appreciate her medium weight in these temps.

Otherwise, if it’s dry and 20-ish and above, she wears nothing unless there is a bad windchill.
She wears a light rain sheet if snowing/raining 25-55 F
If really cold (10 and below) on goes the Medium.

I’d rather give her more hay than blanket her, when I can get away with it.

[LuckOfTheIrish91]

My guy starts wearing a sheet when it drops below 60 (as long as it isn’t a super warm upper 50s). I try to minimize hair growth and I keep him traced clipped so that plays a factor.

[saultgirl]

Last year I started blanketing my 18 year old QH when it went down to about -15C with wind/snow. She was cold! Then I pretty much kept a blanket on her for the rest of the winter (because the rest of the winter was that cold or colder.) I think that may have been because the cold came fast (beginning of December) and she maybe didn’t have her full coat yet.

This year, she’s been quite comfortable right down to the -20C (-27winchill) so I haven’t put a blanket on her yet. This winter has been very mild so I might get away without blanketing at all (yay!).

[HealingHeart]

When you get older, your temp gauge changes, even if they have a long coat, it doesn’t mean they are warm. Touch & check. I knew a 30 year old, super long coat, but it was not keeping him warm.

Ie, grandparents wear sweaters in the summer…

[saultgirl]

[QUOTE=HealingHeart;8472533]
When you get older, your temp gauge changes, even if they have a long coat, it doesn’t mean they are warm. Touch & check. I knew a 30 year old, super long coat, but it was not keeping him warm.

Ie, grandparents wear sweaters in the summer…[/QUOTE]

I don’t actually believe touching them to check is a good indication. I go by body language/demeanor to make blanketing decisions. If they are happy looking and relaxed, they are fine. Any indication that they are unhappy, tense, tail clamped, shivering, then I put a blanket on.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=saultgirl;8472855]
I don’t actually believe touching them to check is a good indication. I go by body language/demeanor to make blanketing decisions. If they are happy looking and relaxed, they are fine. Any indication that they are unhappy, tense, tail clamped, shivering, then I put a blanket on.[/QUOTE]
I second this.

I am not sure how touching them would tell me they are cold or not, unless you are feeling to see if they are shivering.

[SMF11]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8472864]
I second this.

I am not sure how touching them would tell me they are cold or not, unless you are feeling to see if they are shivering.[/QUOTE]

People say feeling their ears can tell you if they are hot or cold. I do do this, but I have no idea if cold ears = cold horse. (No one is shivering or acting cold).

I board retired horses, most of whom are in their upper twenties, some into their thirties. The bottom line is that it completely depends on the horse!

I have a 27 year old easy keeper QH who only gets blanketed when the temps are in single digits, whereas his buddy, a nervous, thinskinned, very hard keeing semi-blind (in other words – fragile) TB gets blanketed completely differently (med. in 30’s, heavy below, double blanketed (med and heavy) in single digits.

The horses all have sheds to get out of the wind and a TON of hay in front of them at all times.

(Side note, I put sheets on if it will be freezing rain or something, even with the easy keepers).

[sophie]

[QUOTE=saultgirl;8472855]
I don’t actually believe touching them to check is a good indication. I go by body language/demeanor to make blanketing decisions. If they are happy looking and relaxed, they are fine. Any indication that they are unhappy, tense, tail clamped, shivering, then I put a blanket on.[/QUOTE]

This is what I go by as well. Every horse is different, but it is also helpful to remember that horses are not humans, they don’t need a blanket just because we have our winter jackets on, as much as the tack stores want to sell us horse clothing