So, do you have a “rule of thumb” that you will ride or jump or not ride in very cold temperatures?
I think when it gets below 5 degrees, and certainly below 0, even with an indoor, I would not do more than a good brisk walk, maybe some trot.
Maybe I am a temperature wuss, though.
I am one of those who feels that anything below 70 is jacket weather!:lol:
i’m with you… if it hurts me to breathe i’m not going to expect it to hurt my horse any less.
i’ll still get on in 0 F weather, but at the walk only… i do think when it is drastically cold out that there is more of a risk for soft tissue injuries if you do not take the proper/suitable time to limber up the horse… they get stiff in cold weather too.
Sorry the low teens are my limit. However the horses do go out and if they want to play, they may. They have longer noses than we.
I had a dressage lesson yesterday afternoon in the outdoor arena (frozen footing with 4" of nice snow on top). It was 14 degrees and WINDY. Horse was fine (kept a quarter sheet on him) and we could breathe W/T/C, but even with gloves my fingers got so frozen I felt ill. I didn’t ride the second horse I was supposed to, did in hand with extra gloves instead 
Usually my “rule of thumb” is that I won’t ride under 20 with no wind, higher if there is wind. (Yesterday it was 20 and calm when I started tacking…) Snow is fine (and cool even–we did a trail ride the other day while it was snowing, so pretty), and rain is OK if it’s over 40 We don’t have an indoor so the wind is a bigger issue than the cold.
Depends on the temp in the RING. It may be 5 degrees outside but 20+ warmer in the ring. But I’m careful of their lungs and breathing regardless. It is going to be in the teens for the high tomorrow…I have an indoor. We will ride some of the horses lightly tomorrow…because otherwise they WILL play to hard outside and get hurt. But I will not get their respiration up (or mine). So while tomorrow is a day scheduled for me to do conditioning work for our up coming event down south…we will not.
[QUOTE=bornfreenowexpensive;8527385]
Depends on the temp in the RING. It may be 5 degrees outside but 20+ warmer in the ring. But I’m careful of their lungs and breathing regardless. It is going to be in the teens for the high tomorrow…I have an indoor. We will ride some of the horses lightly tomorrow…because otherwise they WILL play to hard outside and get hurt. But I will not get their respiration up (or mine). So while tomorrow is a day scheduled for me to do conditioning work for our up coming event down south…we will not.[/QUOTE]
This - exactly.
[QUOTE=bornfreenowexpensive;8527385]
Depends on the temp in the RING. It may be 5 degrees outside but 20+ warmer in the ring. But I’m careful of their lungs and breathing regardless. It is going to be in the teens for the high tomorrow…I have an indoor. We will ride some of the horses lightly tomorrow…because otherwise they WILL play to hard outside and get hurt. But I will not get their respiration up (or mine). So while tomorrow is a day scheduled for me to do conditioning work for our up coming event down south…we will not.[/QUOTE]
this is where i envy those that have indoors… they can ride in nearly any weather since the indoor is almost always at least 10 degrees warmer than outside…
there’s a coverall indoor about 15 miles from my house and i rode in it a few times a few winters ago… i remember one day it was -2 outside and it was 35 in the indoor :eek: i had tacked up expecting walking only and pulled open the doors to the indoor and it was like stepping into a sauna… LOVED it. had a wonderful ride that day too :encouragement:
Where I lesson only has an outdoor, so if it’s below 25 and the ground is frozen/icy, it’s a no-go. I’m fine down to freezing at home, provided there is no wind or ice. This weekend (high for Saturday is 8F) is gonna be a wash. 
Depends.
If I am riding outside and it is -20F, it might feel fine if there is no wind and the sun is shining. I probably won’t ride if it’s 15F if there is a 40 mph wind and clouds and snowing. Temperature really isn’t a good guideline because it depends what else is going on.
For indoor riding, I’ll get more hesitate when it is below zero F. I don’t have an indoor where I board so I have to haul. The indoors I haul to are either not heated or minimially heated. Truthfully, I would stay away from ones that heat the indoor TOO MUCH because my horses get too warm in their full winter coats and it seems to be hard on their lungs.
Someday when my dream farm is built, I’ll have my own indoor. But that’s a long way off, haha.
It also depends on what they are acclimated to.
Growing up in VT, where during a cold snap it would be -25 or -30 overnight, a day that warmed up to 15 with sun reflecting off the snow felt practically balmy and the horses felt great.
Here in VA I probably wouldn’t ride at 15, because the horses aren’t used to it and their systems are a bit shocked, and if I wait a day I probably won’t have to.
I am admittedly a wimp/lizard, as is my horse. He’s got a halfway decent base on him, so I have no issues missing a few days or a week here and there. My general rule is if I feel guilty about undressing him, even though he’ll get a quarter sheet, then I don’t ride. Right now has an added hurdle of being at a new place and I like feeling like I can ride out any silliness that may ensue (though he’s been very settled), and when I have a million layers on and I’m doing my best Randy impersonation (I can’t put my arms down!), then I don’t really want to ride like that.
Yesterday was was one of those days. It was in the 20s (not too cold all on its own), and howling winds. I walked home from meeting the farrier and doing a couple of minor things, and couldn’t warm up. My dog was double rugged and she didn’t want me to take them off (our house can get coldwhen it’s really windy).
It truly depends on where you live, and what type of temperatures you get.
In Canada, winter, you ride. I ride until its about -15, in the indoor. You have to get your horse accustom to it. As the season change, you continue to ride in it. As long as your horse is gradually worked along with the changing temperatures, you’re okay.
Many who ride in warm temperatures all year round can’t handle what someone who lives more North can ride in.
Yesterday was -23, today, -13, I’ll be riding tonight, in the indoor. My horse handles it fine. He is brought into work slowly, and not worked more than 10-15 minutes depending on the temperature.
My general rule of thumb is 20 deg in the indoor for real work. Light work 0-20 and absolutely nothing below that. But that’s by temp in the indoor. I don’t really care what the temp is outside. Depending on the wind etc. it can be a good deal warmer inside.
My barns have all had a 15f outside limit for lessons, probably about 17-20 actual in the unheated indoor rings. If you want to come ride, that’s fine. It’s for the TRAINER frozen to the ground in the middle of the ring. And forget trying to set jumps.
If it’s only going to be that cold or colder for a few days, I skipped it. If it’s going on for weeks or months? Gonna have to work something out-like move to a barn with heat.:lol:
I got to where I was OK down to about 20f, long as you keep moving that’s not too bad, especially with the sun coming thru the windows, except when you hop off on frozen feet.
Also depends on what’s in store for us. A couple of years ago, I had signed up for a clinic with Nicola Wilson, but we had a nasty cold snap the week before her clinic. Normally, I would skip those days, but I needed to make sure Toby stayed broke. So, I’d rip his blankets off, throw every quarter sheet I owned on, do enough riding to ensure he remembered whoa and go, and then quickly threw his blankets back on. It sucked, but it got us to the clinic vaguely looking like we knew what we were doing.
I ride in northern Ontario Canada. I agree it is about acclimatization. It is not unusual to get several weeks with a high of -20 to -30C. We have an indoor so the wind chill is not an issue but it is not warmer than outside. We start being a bit more careful with the work we ask from the horses at about -25C. At -20C we complain then start dropping layers as we ride and warm up On the flip side…most of us hate the heat more!
I too used to live in Central/Northern Ontario, now I live in Alberta.
Here I’ve got a heated arena so it isn’t so much of an issue, just making sure they’re super dry before they go back outside.
In Ontario we always had indoors but I never boarded at one that was heated. I got my rule of thumb for riding in cold weather from my years racing as a cross country skier. Typically we wouldn’t race if it was colder then -25/-30C (-15f), that’s when you feel it in your lungs. I’ve carried that over to horses. As long as they’re accustomed to it, and you take the time to warm up and cool down properly they seem to be fine. I’ve never had one get hurt because it was cold outside.
[QUOTE=LadyB;8527475]
It truly depends on where you live, and what type of temperatures you get.
In Canada, winter, you ride. I ride until its about -15, in the indoor. You have to get your horse accustom to it. As the season change, you continue to ride in it. As long as your horse is gradually worked along with the changing temperatures, you’re okay.
Many who ride in warm temperatures all year round can’t handle what someone who lives more North can ride in.
Yesterday was -23, today, -13, I’ll be riding tonight, in the indoor. My horse handles it fine. He is brought into work slowly, and not worked more than 10-15 minutes depending on the temperature.[/QUOTE]
I hope that is centigrade.
[QUOTE=IFG;8527768]
I hope that is centigrade.[/QUOTE]
yes, obviously.
You guys are tougher than me! With spring a ways off and no immediate goals for competing, I’m not riding when it’s too cold. I hate being cold. I think mid-20’s is about as low as I’ll go (I do not have an indoor). I don’t like to ski in the bitter cold, either. I have trouble keeping my fingers and toes from freezing no matter what I try.
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