Just to add more data…EASY keeper horses, out full time, have shelter and forage at all times. mid Atlantic. Bib or trace clipped. Waterproof sheet for the icy sleety cold rain we get (30s and 40s). 100 g for cold - below freezing for the trace clipped horse and low 20s for the bib clipped one. A heavy or sheet plus med when we get teens and windy …not often but it does happen…
I’m nuts.
23-year-old fellow turned out overnight with three buddies, a pile of hay, and a run-in shed. Trace clipped, unclipped parts look like a Shetland, but lost weight faster than expected last year so rugging up like a clipped horse. I blanket for the real feel and go 5 degrees down for rain or wind. High and constant wind has been an unpleasant feature of our winters the last two years.
40-50: turnout sheet
30-40: midweight rug
20-30: heavy rug
10-20: heavy layered over the sheet
0-10: midweight layered over the heavy
Too cold to live: all three rugs
I also have a 100-gram Amigo which is great for borderline temperatures, as a layering piece, or as an alternative to the sheet so I can take it home to launder. I don’t use it very frequently but I’m always glad to have it. Likewise, with so many options I can almost always take a rug home to wash and layer up to something appropriate for the conditions, which is much more hygienic for the skin and hair coat.
I have a Rambo Supreme sheet and a Rambo Supreme with Varilayer medium weight for each horse. Both have detachable hoods. In this fairly mild Southern weather, I use the sheet almost exclusively if the horses are not clipped, going to the medium only if the high is in the 20s or lower. I use the hoods if it’s raining, super chilly-windy, or when the lows are in the low 40s or lower. If they’re clipped, I put the medium on, with hood, if the highs are in the 30s or lower.
I agree. I’m very close to the ocean…about a mile as the crow flies. When I went out to feed last night, I was freezing and changed into my heavy winter coat. I figured I’d get warm and have to strip it off while I was doing chores…never did. The temperature was 46 F, but the dampness and wind direction made a huge difference in how the air felt.
To answer the OPs question, I keep four weights: sheet, 100g, 200g, and 300g, and neck rugs. So much of my decision depends on rain and wind. It will be in the 50’s today, but we are getting heavy winds out of the SE (off the ocean) along with heavy rain. That means horses will stay in their 100g blankets and will be just fine.
I generally use the guidelines published by the blanket companies, but—due to my location—I adjust for wind and rain. For either wind or rain, I deduct 10 degrees each from the temperature. That seems to work well for my little herd.
Outside 24/7 with roundbale and shelter. Not clipped(yet), but thinner coat. I have a sheet, 100g liner, 200g, 450g. All are horsewear Ireland.
-5°c to 0 : sheet
0 to -15°c: 100g liner under sheet
-15°c to -25°c: 200g
-25°c to -35°c : 100g + 200g
-35°c and below: 450g.
Haven’t had to use the 450g with the 100g, but it’s an option. I add necks to the lower end of the temp ranges. If it’s raining and windy I’ll adjust to colder. I’ve used my 200g when it was around freezing because it was raining for days and he was freezing cold, and everything else was wet.
He spends most of winter in the 100g and 200g. This year he’s only worn the 200g once so far.
Depending on your winter environment and if you keep your horse out 24/7 is it stalled 12 out 12, clipped/fuzzy
I kept my horse clipped during the winter because he was so sweaty so I have a no fill sheet a medium high neck and a heavy with attachments. All are waterproof outdoor I hate stable blankets I don’t see the point unless you horse stays in the barn in the winter months. changing them would be an extra pain and you’re putting a cold blanket on a horse.
In Georgia/Texas we follow
Clipped horses (stalled 12 out 12) :
45-55 sheet
35-45 medium
25-35 sheet and medium/ or heavy
below 25 sheet with heavy
Unclipped horses (still stalled at night) :
45-55 nothing
35-45 sheet
25-35 medium
below 25 sheet and medium/ or heavy
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26509636 [h=4]REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Horses may adapt to a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions. Owners often interfere with this natural thermoregulation ability by clipping and use of blankets.[/h] [h=4]OBJECTIVES:[/h]
To investigate the effects of different winter weather conditions on shelter seeking behaviour of horses and their preference for additional heat. [h=4]STUDY DESIGN:[/h]
Observational study in various environments. [h=4]METHODS:[/h]
Mature horses (n = 22) were given a free choice test between staying outdoors, going into a heated shelter compartment or into a nonheated shelter compartment. Horse location and behaviour was scored using instantaneous sampling every minute for 1 h. Each horse was tested once per day and weather factors were continuously recorded by a local weather station. [h=4]RESULTS:[/h]
The weather conditions influenced time spent outdoors, ranging from 52% (of all observations) on days with mild temperatures, wind and rain to 88% on days with <0°C and dry weather. Shivering was only observed during mild temperatures and rain/sleet. Small Warmblood horses were observed to select outdoors less (34% of all observations) than small Coldblood horses (80%). We found significant correlations between hair coat sample weight and number of observations outdoors (ρ = 0.23; P = 0.004). [h=4]CONCLUSIONS:[/h] [h=4]Horses selected shelters the most on days with precipitation and horses changed from a nonheated compartment to a heated compartment as weather changed from calm and dry to wet and windy. Horse breed category affected the use of shelter and body condition score and hair coat weight were associated with voluntary shelter selection.[/h] This study was done in Denmark (Nordic conditions)
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220 gram medium Weatherbeeta turnout with hood
200 gram Rambo liner
Unlined lightweight sheet
This is a the combo I’ve found to be most economical.
I combine these to handle whatever weather we have. What they wear depends as much on sun and wind as temperature. A damp windy 40 can feel colder than a still and sunny 25.
Do not use coolers as liners! My poor paint mare has a horrible wither rub scar to show for my ignorance. Without a smooth nylon or polyester type lining the cooler will work it’s way back and cause a lot of pressure across the chest and can stretch and pull behind the withers.
Wow, you offer your horses free access to a heated compartment? That’s pretty cool. What’s your set up for that?
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I got a 100 gram blanket about 3 weeks ago and it has been a total game changer! I’m in New England and my mare is unclipped but naturally has a very short coat and tends to run a bit on the warm side. In addition to a sheet, so far I’ve only used the 100 gram – down to about 30 degrees - and a medium for between 20-30 degrees (and maybe even lower than that). They are both wug style blankets. I also have sheets with no-fill hoods and a heavyweight Rambo with an insulated hood. Am hoping to delay breaking out the heavyweight as long as possible!
She is by far the “lightest” blanketed horse in the barn!
That is such a useless study :rolleyes: I know there are heated barns - lots of them in the Western world. I don’t know ANY of them which allow free choice access (because doesn’t that reduce the amount of heat?).
Studies are great. We need them. What’s relatively useless is when they are done under conditions that don’t have any relation to the real world.
They observed shivering when it was sleeting? Who knew?!
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I still like my unlined sheets quite a bit; they probably get the most use out of any of my blankets.
I recently bought 100g liners, although I really think sheet + 100g liner is almost the same amount of warmth as a medium weight turnout thanks to having 2 layers. Although I do like them for weather on the cusp of me wanting to use a sheet v. medium weight. Prior to buying the 100g liners, everyone used fleece or knit fitted coolers as liners, but usually only in the coldest of weather.
With my unclipped horses, I tend to use:
40s to upper 30s: turnout sheet
32F to teens: medium weight turnout
Single digits and below: medium weight + liner
Of course, this varies greatly depending on the weather and individual horse. I blanket more heavily in precipitation. I blanket differently for daytime temps v. the same temp at night. On a sunny, calm day, I’ll almost always pull blankets off, regardless of the temperature (provided I will be home to put them back on when the sun goes down).
I remember when I was a kid in SE PA, we used to put all the horses’ blankets on at Thanksgiving and leave them on until sometime in March. Every horse only had one blanket. I only remember the odd occasion where it would get warm enough to justify taking them off over the winter. I don’t know how we got by doing that; I couldn’t even fathom it today!
Yeah, it’s kind of one of those “thanks Captain Obvious” things. However, I don’t think the point was about heated barns exactly, the point was that horses prefer more “warmth support” when it is cold AND wet. Therefore, blanketing may need to be heavier as opposed to when it is just cold. It doesn’t necessarily mean free access to a heated facility. It was just used to outline the horses preference/needs. They just preferred increased warmth. A blanket would suffice.
Again though, who would’ve guessed?! And of course breed/coat condition and whatnot are factors. I don’t know, maybe they wanted to make sure they really had proof of this obvious thing. I can think of more useful studies.
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Hey now. It shows pretty well that we don’t need to bother with blankets if we just let our horses have free access to a heated compartment. Sounds great!
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Good point about the heating as a “blanket”. I wish we could see the whole study to know what temp/wind/moisture conditions went with which choices, not to mention what breeds. It wouldn’t change what I do, there are plenty of horses who prefer to stand outside in miserable conditions even though there’s a perfectly good shelter right there :lol: and some horses are just weenies :winkgrin:
Wow some grinchy grinchers needing some Christmas spirit here! I guess that if snarkiness makes you feel better, have at it.
For the OP, who posted,
“My typical rule of thumb is:
40’s sheet
30’s liner and sheet
< 30 liner and heavy.”
It’s a great guideline based on real observation of behavior. Happy to help the OP out!
I got the Dover Northwind 100g this year (when they did the $100.00 gift card rebate). So far I’m very happy with it.
35-45 sheet. I’d probably go about 5 degrees lower but we have lots of wind
25-35 100 gram
15-25 a 200 gram midweight.
I do have a heavy weight but I only bring it out if we are going to go below 15 for more than a couple of days. My horse is stalled at night in a relatively warm barn. His coat doesn’t get long but it is pretty dense. I did not use the heavy weight at all last year.
It’s rainy, windy, and cold outside. My horse is standing just outside of the overhang to his stall. :lol: I think he really wants to get his monies worth out of the Waterproof feature of his blanket. On the plus side, it does clean the mud off of his blankets!
Update- thank you all for the info! My horse is clipped and inside at night in the northeast. Will look into a 100g next time
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