I’ll just say that I certainly wouldn’t worry about her being cold in a heavyweight blanket with a hood in the 20’s, but rather I would worry about her being too hot.
My riding horses (TBs) are in midweight blankets until we get below 15 or so. If it’s colder than that and/or super windy/and blasting snow to bring the temp under zero with the windchill I add a neck cover, and change to a heavier blanket if they have a partial clip. They are always warm to the touch underneath.
Hay is fuel and fuel is warmth…as long as horses have access to enough hay for the weather conditions they can stay warm provided they are in good weight to start with and are not wet and can get out of the wind.
I live on the west coast and we can get some big swings in temperature from plus 12 C to minus 10 …mind you it doesn’t happen very often…all my horses manage just fine…and some of my easy keepers even have trace clips…no one is cold.
Dalemma
Well, I think that the “To blanket or to not blanket” question is the same than the “to go barefoot or to not go barefoot” question. It’s up to one’s personnal experience, and way of seing things. As others pointed out, nothing is all white or black.
We do blanket our pregnant mares. First few years I was breeding, I never blanketed the mares in winter, maybe a rainsheet when we were experiencing rain and cold and wind… But one winter, I tried it. In fact, I let the mares grow their winter coat (they spend 24/7 outside until late november) and when temps are getting lower than about 14 F, then I start to bring them in for the nights, and put mid-weight blankets. You know what? I saved significantly in hay, in grain, and my mares were overall much more FAT in the spring. As my foalings are not taking place usually before end of April, and more usually in May… Blankets are off since a while when the whole foal-watch starts out. Mares are keeping weight better, they are happy, I am.
Would they survive without it? Sure. Do I prefer to blanket them? Yep.
I know in USA you use Farenheit instead of Celsius, but I read somewhere that for each degre Celsius under -15 C (that’s 5 F), energy needs increase by 2%. So when it gets to -30 C (that’s -22F) for let’s say… a night or two, then your horse needs 30% MORE energy to maintain it’s weight. So when we have a week like this week, with temps on daytime around -22C (-7.6F) and -30C at nights (without the wind factor), you better give the whole truck load of hay to your 24/7 outdoor horses.
I blanket, they gain couple of degrees, they still eat hay as much as they want, they have a quiet night in a boxstall with shavings, where they can rest, eat grain, and then I have fat mares in the spring, and I don’t feel guilty when I look outside and I think my house has moved to artic pole.
Spike has a very good point regarding weight/feeding/expenses. We had a MAJOR hay shortage last year (as did many other States) and a $30 roundbale was selling for $80 plus. We have roundbales out 24/7 and we are just barely going to have enough to get through. I can’t feed more hay than 24/7 so to increase the calories to maintain the shivering/cold on those blistery nights, I’d be feeding alfalfa along with the mixed hay. Alfalfa was running around $12 for a 50# square bale. The other alternative is excess grain (an idea I’m not a fan of), and fat supplements. I prefer to stick to a forage first diet (they do get SrGlo or PrimeGlo for vit/min), and when every local hay dealer is sold out and you have to truck it States away for huge bucks, sometimes it pays to “warm” them up in other ways as well.
I have absolutely nothing against NOT blanketing a horse. Typically that is the camp I fall in. But they can and do get cold in certain weather conditions (like our 50 mph wind/sleet, etc), and blanketing is an option for other reasons as well. I’ve also had less incidents of sniffles/snotty noses/coughs in the weanlings since we started blanketing as a matter of practice when we notice signs that the horses are chilly.
“Can” does not equate to “will” :lol:
