Climate change and horse keeping

[CHT]

It is April 26 in Northern/Central Alberta and in the high 60s (24 Celsius). Supposed to be mid/high 70s (27 Celsius) in a few days. It’s dry and hot with grass fires every day this week. This is not normal. Normal for this time of year would be so much rain we sacrifice small children to make it stop and we don’t plan on riding outside until may. For the last two years we rode outside April 8 as first lesson days outside.

Problem is the horses still have most of their winter fur. They live outside 24/7. We can’t clip them because it is still cold at night (near freezing), but man are they miserable. I did spray a few off, and gave one pen a low trough to splash in. It is crazy that the pens are so dry - we had snow in the shadows 2 days ago, but it seemed to sublimate vs melt into the ground.

Normally these temperatures wouldn’t hit until June/July and by then I would have the horses on pasture where they have trees for shade, but it is far too early to put them on pasture!

Is ethical 24/7 outside boarding going to be a thing of the past with the more intense weather shifts? Feed issues seemed obvious, but shedding patterns didn’t even occur to me to be an issue with climate change. What else should we be shifting to accommodate?

[Highflyer1]

I’m from Maryland where that’s not unusual (the temperature swings, not the drought, which we have too and it is scary). I do some kind of variation of an Irish or chaser clip on the horses that live out and they do just fine unblanketed

[Cowboy_Girl]

Do a bib cut - under jaw down jugular groove of neck and diamond/squarish bit on the chest.
It will allow them to regulate their temperature but still have fur. Many people do this in Colorado.
The weird climate this spring is all over the country - due to all the the solar flare activity. The one last month is giving lots of odd warm/cold weather patterns that I haven’t seen since the 1980’s.

[RedHorses]

Shelters in the paddocks work to provide shade. Modified trace clips help the horses cool off in the day heat and stay warm in cold nights.

In Eastern Ontario our spring is like that. Very abrupt shifts from cold to warm. I modify the work on the too hot for winter fuzz days. The first year I clipped my horse I did a full clip, and it was a nightmare keeping him comfortable through the day/night temperature swings. I did modified trace clips after that and it was so much easier. I have reclipped, pushing the side strips higher for extra cooling during an unusually warm spring.

More recently I zebra clipped my horse because the nights were too chilly for a full clip, and I wanted to clip early enough for some coat to regrow before the hottest part of the summer (so I could take the fly sheet off and he’d have a little hair protection against bugs).

[NoSuchPerson]

@Cowboy_Girl

The weird climate this spring is all over the country - due to all the the solar flare activity.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption in January 2022, which released huge amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere, is also still affecting the weather.

@CHT

This is not normal

Actually, yes, it is normal, on the geologic timescale that climate is most appropriately evaluated on. We puny humans have such short lifespans that we have very skewed ideas of what is “normal” for geologic timescale conditions.

I agree with the suggestions to do a partial clip like a bib cut or trace clip. The absolute worst of winter is over and they will be fine with a partial clip.

[Horse_Daft]

Just fyi, 24 celsius = 75F and 27C = 80F

[albytb]

@NoSuchPerson

Actually, yes, it is normal

I’d love to be able to bury my head in the sand and convince myself that that’s true. Climate change causes me a lot of distress. I try not to think about it since I know there’s nothing I can do but with the bizarre weather increasing ever year it becomes harder to ignore…

[CHT]

Would you clip NOW, or should I have clipped them all back in December? If I clip now, I know I will be clipping the summer coat, and then my worry is that they won’t have hair to protect against bugs?

I did find less clipping made winter more manageable. We had some crazy overnight weather changes where it was too warm to put heavy blankets on the day before, but then too dangerous for clients to drive out the next morning when the temperature dropped with howling winds and snow.

@RedHorses they have shelter, but they are set more for winter, so face the sun. They do have shade, but it’s not a lot. It would be more in the summer when the sun is higher in the sky and not shining in the shelter. I wish I had the talent for a zebra clip because I think that is the ideal solution! I need to look for someone local to pay to do it I guess!

[RedHorses]

Clip now. There’s almost two months of summer coat growth yet to come. I did my zebra clip late May (ie. almost completely grown in) and it faded very quickly once the summer coat starts to shed after the longest day. Even if you catch the tips of the summer coat now I doubt anyone would notice, though you might be able to see it because you’ll know what you’re looking at.

BTW the zebra clip took me around three hours to do. It’s harder than a full clip. After the first couple of years I spread it out over 2-3 days.

[GraceLikeRain]

I’d clip now and blanket as needed. Plenty of horses are clipped this time of year.

[Pico_Banana]

Sorry, but is a zebra clip what it sounds like? I googled and only found one image and it was, in fact, what I was imagining. I’m curious as to what the advantage is of this clip over a traditional clip?

[cayuse]

I live in New England and the temps can change radically day to day in the Spring, depending on the horse and coat, I’ve done partial clips similar to the one Highflyer1 posted or just clipped totally and blanketed when needed.

[mmeqcenter]

@CHT

Is ethical 24/7 outside boarding going to be a thing of the past with the more intense weather shifts?

This is a pretty bizarre question and extreme reaction. As if somehow stalling is going to become more ethical because weather happens? That’s already why a lot of people stall 24/7.

You can do a small clip and they will be just fine at night (bib, Irish), or you could do a bigger clip and sheet/blanket them at night if necessary.
Why is it too early to put them on pasture? You can put up shade structures in your pastures. Four posts and a shade sail, costs like $100 total.

[clanter]

@CHT

Is ethical 24/7 outside boarding going to be a thing of the past with the more intense weather shifts?

well actual horse ownership might be out completely if PETA has their way

https://www.peta.org/faq/how-does-peta-feel-about-horseback-riding/

PETA quotes:

Ren Hurst, author of Riding on the Power of Others: A Horsewoman’s Path to Unconditional Love , calls for an end to horseback riding, saying, “[W]e have this fundamental responsibility to not take advantage”

so really there is no need to do anything to horse at least that’s is the belief of some people

[treebeard]

I have a miniature mare with Cushing’s who used to grow a coat like a buffalo. The weather here in New York State has been so changeable that the winter before I bought a pair of clippers and gave her the throat clip under the jaw and down her chest to between her front legs.

I used a clipper cover (I know they have a name but my brain went dead) that allowed the coat to stay long-ish because my Sarah is known for not growing a coat quickly. If a veterinarian has had to clip her close she won’t grow that in for months.

If you are concerned about clipping too close those covers come in handy.

This past winter she didn’t grow any coat at all (only a few long yak hairs) so it was blankets all winter.

[Amberley]

A shade sail is going to last 10 minutes on the prairies if you are lucky.

IT’s too early up north because the grasses haven’t come out of senescence yet, that’s dependent on daylight and rain and if the days aren’t long enough and it hasn’t rained there is no new growth. Last thing you want to do is destroy your pastures by turning out too early.

Personally the heat and fires are what are starting to really scare me with horse keeping. Consistent summer droughts and heat high enough to made summer pasture unreliable east of the rockies would push the cost of horse-keeping out of reach. And fires are getting more intense and rural properties are becoming un-insurable in many areas.

[Mosey_2003]

That would be a guide or a comb, depending on who you’re talking to

[treebeard]

@Mosey_2003

That would be a guide or a comb, depending on who you’re talking to

That’s it! Ha! For the life of me I couldn’t think of the name of the things.

[CHT]

I don’t think you understand how intense the weather shifts are up north now. This morning we had ice on the waterers. In three days it’s going to be 27 degrees Celsius. Three weeks ago we had a foot of snow and the horses were literally covered in icicles.

In January we went from above freezing with rain as night fell, but woke up to -30 C and blowing snow. Roads were ice.

-40 C or colder is not uncommon now.

Even though it is warm, the grass hasn’t had a chance to grow, and what is there would be high in sugars. Without our usual spring downpours there is also still snow mold.

I think I will try to clip my one lesson horse who is chubby enough that being a little cold won’t hurt him and I will see how that goes. I might try the clipper guards - I think my clippers have them. I might put the other four who will likely be the worst affected on our small front pasture which is lined to the south by good shade trees. Not ideal, but should be fine for three or four days.

[crackerjack]

Exactly. Today we have a high of 23c and then later on t-storms with a change or tornadoes are rolling in. Hail and very strong winds. Tonight is -2 feeling like -9. No one can say that is normal.

Blanketing math is now too advanced for me. If the temp is 23c until 2pm and the wind is gusting at 76km/hr. Hail is falling at a rate of 9.8m/s at a 23 degree angle. Calculate your blanketing choice if the temperature then changes to -9c at 6pm. You are allowed one blanket change. HOW?