In or Out in the Polar Vortex?

[Meredith_Clark]

Mine are out 24/7 but have a big run-in shed. It has a swinging wall that can close to make it a stall (with a dutch door) so I kept the wall open but closed the dutch door so they had a 12x12 nook to stay completely out of the weather if they wanted.

My solar auto water trough did a pretty good job, the water wasn’t frozen but the cap that they push down to drink froze to the side :no:

I gave them a hot mash and put water in their nook that was still un-frozen when I went out again a few hours later.

[CaitlinandTheBay]

[QUOTE=NeverTime;7359824]
I guess its a bit situational, for us if not for the horses.[/QUOTE]

Definitely true. My guy rocks a heavyweight any time it dips below freezing. I was worried about him in his stall when it was 19 last night- I can’t even fathom what -20 must be like.

[colorfan]

Last night it warmed up to -15, only a bit windy. This winter we have had long bouts of -20/25 with lots of wind.
Lots of snow this year also, still hoping it warms up enough to ride outside.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

[QUOTE=NeverTime;7359824]
When I lived in the Rocky Mountains, the horses lived out 24/7 with double blankets and run-ins, and it would dip to -20 fairly regularly at night. (They were in pipe-fenced paddocks, and twice during that time I found minor lesions on my horse’s lip/tongue, presumably from pulling A Christmas Story and getting his wet mouth too close to the cold metal, poor guy:cool:) Now we’re in PA and the horses who usually live out 24/7 have spent the last two nights in their stalls, double-blanketed. I guess its a bit situational, for us if not for the horses.[/QUOTE]

It is also what they are used too. To me the issue with this weather has been the very sudden and extreme changes. I have a lot of blankets on the clipped horses…and the 33 year old pony

[millerra]

I decided to keep mine in for 36 hours when it was going to be -18 for a high, w/ a wind. The wind chills were in the -50 range. It was SO much more pleasant in my unheated, uninsulated barn than out in the wind! (really!!) My heated water tank just doesn’t keep up at the temp and wind w/out it’s lid on. So they stayed in. Now that the lows are “only” -20 and calm winds, they have to rough it and stay out. Obviously they are used to it…

For what it’s worth, 32 is cold to me too, in Sept. By January, it’s balmy. 99 with 98% humidity - EGAD! Kill me now!
It really is what you’re used to!

[pologirl27]

Looks like polar vortex is leaving us here in the mid-atlantic! Good riddance…My field board crew was out the whole time, gave them the benefit of the pasture with a shed. Went out Monday night when it was single digits and howling wind. Found 3 toasty warm horses nowhere near their shed :winkgrin: Guess my 1-3 blankets based on hairiness worked! Good thing that water heater works as well, they’ve been drinking away. In the barn is trickier because it doesn’t seal up very well. Still bringing warm water from the house (barn pipes are frozen) and heating up iced over buckets in the warm feed room.

[Beam_Me_Up]

I left mine in yesterday, was 5 and very windy when I left for work, just let them out for a couple hours when I got home. They are usually inside overnight in the cold anyway. It wasn’t that bad here in VA–low of 5 on the 2 cold nights and about 20 yesterday, 32 today. My family in VT had it much worse.

It doesn’t help me that I leave for work at 630 a.m.–I am always turning out at the coldest part of the day–wish I could wait for the sun.

I think my biggest obstacle was plumbing–my field water heaters and house plumbing both struggled a bit as they are really not built for this cold.

[Manahmanah]

I am so glad I only gave my boy a modified hairy belly trace clip this year.

Its so darn cold I have to take care not to lean onto the car while im cleaning it for fear of etching designs into the paint.

[retreadeventer]

I think for those with sheds, a lot depends on how the shed is situated – where the wind is, how much bedding or footing might be in it, whether on a mountain top or protected by trees…mud…ice…proximity to hay or water. My sheds are just basic protection, mostly made for summer shade, not really meant for heavy winter housing. My barn is much tighter than the sheds for a really cold night. So they’ve been in for a day, out today when it warmed a little, and in tonight. I expect to get them out all day tomorrow and as much as I can as it warms. Now, if I could just get the pipes fixed in my house…yah…

[ladipus]

For the first time ever …all of mine are living out 24/7 unblanketed and are doing great! They all have sheds, and hay huts filled with lush second cutting orchard/ alfalfa big bales, water troughs with ice broken daily, and their feed which consists of Progressive Nutrition Pro Advantage Grass Diet Balencer, and Envision Classic made into a wet hot mash with extra TC Senior added in twice daily along with everybody getting SmartDigest Ultra! I feel as if everybody is doing a lot better than when I used to bring in and only turn out for so mAny hrs/ day… Also to not have to deal with blanketing has been a big relief for me as I’m 7 months pregnant and on no condition to be constantly switching blankets around… All of mine which are mostly ottb’s,a senior retired wb, a pony, mini donkeys,and goat are furry and fat as can be! The only ones that are in the barn are my 3 pot belly pigs!

[Cameraine]

Mine live out 24/7. The two boys have a run-in shed that they share. The High Queen has the heaviest ears to tail blanket and 2 massive oak trees (think 300 years old) to stand by for a wind break. Although DH is building the mare her own shed. We were caught a little unprepared when I brought home horse #3. All have access to warm water, loads of good hay and get their twice daily grain with alfalfa cubes thrown in for extra heat making fuel. Someday when I retire from the Navy and move south I’ll have my own cozy barn. Ah to dream! Until then all of mine are fat and happy.

[DressageFancy]

My horses did fine! Stayed in their run-ins or stalls in the bank barn. No blankets—just plenty of hay and warm water. Me, it’s going to take me until about July to recover from taking care of them in the Vortex!

[Lady_Eboshi]

Mine are all out 24/7, with run-in sheds and plenty of natural windbreaks. They all are very fuzzy, but I put the blankets on anyway. Shoot, I even dug a heavyweight Rhino (rarely needed here!) out of the attic for our Senior Elder (34).

We keep really good quality hay in front of them around the clock, the oldies who can’t eat that efficiently get 3x/day Hay Stretcher/Senior or Etec hot mashes, but I found the big game changer is being able to pump hot water to the tubs!

Fortunately, my house is close enough to my pastures that the hoses reach from the pantry. I got an 80-cent faucet/hose adapter at the local hardware and threw the hoses (kept in the parlor for warmth) out the window. Pumped warm water 3 hundred-gallon tanks worth and my furnace neither protested nor ran out of hot water. Horses LOVED it and drank almost twice as much as usual.

No one showed any signs of discomfort down to zero with winds up to 40 mph.

I don’t really worry about wind-chill per se since neither the horses nor I am naked and soaking wet. Twenty years ago this weather was so commonplace here no one thought a thing of it . . . we’ve gotten soft, that’s all!