Can I stop blanketing horses mid winter??

[JB]

I’m glad you brought up day/night length and temps as a combo. I have found that while a day of 25-30* and/or a night or 2 into the teens , which is fairly typical for us for a couple days in Jan, might not require blanketing, if we get a week of that and there’s little to no sun, I will see them looking or acting (lots more silly running around) more uncomfortable. They aren’t shivering (that I have seen, clearly I’m not out checking at 2am :lol:) but their display of comfort tells me more than enough. So, for extended periods of colder but not COLD weather, I may well end up putting blankets on.

Also, time of year matters too. 50* in Jan with a full Winter coat still, having acclimated to colder temps, will feel a lot warmer than 50* in August when there’s very little Winter coat and bodies have been acclimated to 80-90* weather.

[tabula_rashah]

OP how were you blanketing? aka- what temps/blanket weights were you using?

[wildlifer]

Just a note to not use temperatures of ears to gauge whether a horse is cold. Ears are extremities, they are supposed to be colder in cool weather, as the body reduces circulating blood to ‘expendable’ bits to conserve heat. With little volume to them & lots of surface area, ears are inefficient at maintaining heat, so you want that to happen. Stick to watching for shivering, posture & feeling the core body areas.