Yes, going from sunny 60 degree weather to freezing rain, sleet and snow was rough on all of us. So far she’s looking back to normal but I’m certainly keeping an eye on her. For such a big girl (draft cross) she gets cold more easily than some of the others. Even my TB wasn’t particularly bothered.
You’ve never been bone cold for so long that your whole body aches?? If you haven’t, I certainly envy you.
And why do you think they use quarter sheets and rumps rugs on horses warming up and even working in cold climates? Gotta keep those large muscle groups warm for them to work properly.
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Yes, a good friend of mine lost her mare to colic this winter. At Tufts they told they had seen record numbers of colic. Now the mud is awful. I lost a boot in one paddock yesterday and i’m not sure how I’m going to keep shoes on them.
I’m with you guys on this lovely spring weather in MA! And have you all noticed in every weather report, the forecast is always “great next week!” …but by the time next week rolls around, it is sleeting and miserable?
Well, at least the weather is supposed to be great next week 
:lol:
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Thankfully it appears you’ve never been cold enough, for long enough, to shiver enough to stay warm, that you didn’t just feel exhausted and sore when it was done.
And thankfully you’ve never had a horse who was forced to spend too many nights, being too cold, and asked to work in the morning. At least I hope that’s the case.
Go out with a blanket now and can’t get any where near them…they avoid you like the plague. So pretty good indication neither want blankets on.
It could be 80* out and none of my 4 would even walk away if I came up to them with a blanket.
However, my big horse did start pinning his ears and walking to the back of his stall to tell me his blanket was uncomfortable. I got him a new blanket, new high neck style, and he hasn’t acted out since.
Cold rain they go in shelter to stand.
That’s great they’ll do that. I hope they have hay in the shed.
Many horses will not use a shed, no matter how miserable they are. Some are just that way.
No hay in shed if there’s hay inside shed paint won’t let pally in shed. Tried putting a bale inside shed and without fail pally was standing outside in pouring rain sleet/snow. No they have never been cold for more then overnight,if still cold when i feed in morning. I’ll blanket or bring them in the barn,if weather is still nasty out.
Usually if it’s that cold out i wouldn’t ride work them,i have never been so cold i shiver. But i run on the hot side anyway so tend not to get cold. I wouldn’t leave my horses out shivering cold for days on end, wouldn’t be right or fair to them.
This time of year i tend to bring them in if it’s going to be raining/sleeting and windy out with temps in 40s.
I think it is very dependent on the horse. I had one gelding that hated being too warm, so I would always blanket a little lighter for him. And I mean hated it to the point where he would actually stress about getting too hot and cause himself to colic! After him, I had a mare that LOVED blankets. You could not put enough on her, especially in the winter. She was just always cold. One day in the early spring, we had a random warm sunny day and I could not get to the barn until the late afternoon. It got to over 15C, and I arrived at the barn expecting to find her a sweaty mess (my barn does not change blankets). Stuck my hand under her blanket, and to my surprise she was completely comfortable in 300g! My current mare is more “normal” and doesn’t have the extreme sensitivities like my previous horses did - but I would say she too prefers to be slightly over blanketed. I think it’s important to figure out where your horse is most comfortable and blanket to their needs and preferences.
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