I understand horses in essence if fed good quality hay/roughage have a built in furnace that keeps them pretty warm as long as they are out of wind and wet (via, shelter and/or turnout sheets) and as long as we are not talking about extreme cold. Unless you are dealing with the far north, heating barns is usually for the human comfort (and to avoid frozen hoses/water buckets!).
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You’ve gotten a lot of very detailed and super information here. It’s a lot to digest. I’ve got some practical thoughts. Others have mentined, but it may have been lost in the details.
If your climate drops below freezing for a time, bring a hose in the house or in your garage. Hoses freeze and then take time to thaw. I owned horses in chilly NH for several winters. Ours did fine with no blankets BUT they were generally a little plump and had shelter from wind and rain. Wind and rain will make them cold. Of course, they grew coats like woolly mammoths. But in the snow and cold, they were just fine.
Of course, this has been said, just always have good quality hay in front of them when temps are bitter.
You guys are doing great!!!
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I think the weighing of hay is such a good recommendation. Depending on the type of hay you may be really surprised by the volume it takes to get to 20-25 lbs of hay.
Lots of good hay, a sheet if it’s raining and below 50, blanket if it’s below freezing or in the low 40s and raining.
Not all vets are great with teeth but ask about a dental and then if they will pull a fecal. The fecal is usually all of $20 and it’ll tell you what types of worms you might be dealing with.
Horses are a rabbit hole of never ending learning but clean water, lots of hay, and making sure their bodies can break down that forage because they can chew it, digest it, and keep the calories are really good fundamentals.
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However, a woolly coat can hide an animals true condition also.
So really it (a thick, dense, long body coat) can fake people out that the horse is in good weight, that they are warm enough, and more importantly (to me) that their calories are going to maintain body condition vs keeping them warm.
Come spring you may get an unwelcome surprise when that winter coat sheds.
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True. I should have added that you feel through that coat to check for ribs, etc. The insulation of that coat was so good, snow on their backs didn’t melt. We did brush it off to make sure it didn’t seep into the skin. Come spring, we always had happy, healthy horses. But you can’t just ignore them.
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A friend of mine has one of those hoses that crinkles up when it’s empty, so it’s very easy to just toss it in an empty bucket to carry into the house and back out to the barn as needed. Very handy for cold weather.
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I hate those things because if you’re at the end of them where you need to fill, you have to wrestle to keep them there (they shrink if the water pressure lowers, ie, when you open the end to fill the trough).
Strongly prefer the zero g hoses that are the same length at all times.
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I love my expandy hose! Not only are they so easy to drop into a bucket & bring inside, but they’re also just so fast to drain properly.
I keep a sprayer on the end, not only to keep pressure up, but to weight the end so I can drop it into a tub & walk away. (Good water pressure is pretty important, though. They don’t work with poor pressure.)
They’re not super hardy, and I blow up about one a year. But they’re pretty inexpensive and it’s SO SO worth the convenience!
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Same. My favorite hose.
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I second this.
I bought one to make winter chores easier, but it just did not work because my trough is just far enough from the hydrant that the hose was only long enough if the water was not flowing. That was with the spray end on and all those other things people suggest.
If your trough is 48’ from the hydrant, a 50’ expanding hose is not going to work for you.
I have very good water pressure and water volume.
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Same, our well is artesian and we are constantly battling too high of pressure. A 100 foot flexi is good if you need 75 feet or less of hose.
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Same! I had high hopes for one of those to add to my garden watering setup, but as soon as you get even close to its length, once you let the water loose to DO the watering, it really pulls. A 50’ one isn’t well-suited for much more than 30’ IME. I love love the Zero G. If you can find an inexpensive shrinking hose that’s a good 50%-ish longer than your longest need, that may be the perfect solution for ease of use and lightness, but a cheap one isn’t likely to hold up to abuse. If it’s just to water and put away, that should be fine.
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I’ve had…none…of these issues with with expandy hoses and have used them daily for ten years.
We do have a continuous pressure well pump which maybe mitigates any pressure drop. The only time I find the hose not fully uh turgid is when I’m also filling a water trough off the other barn spigot, with my outside 3/4" hose. The pipe from the house can only carry so much 
We have both at the farm and I much prefer the expandy hose too. Much lighter and easier to wind back up.
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Since we’re chatting about hoses, I love this one. Sadly not available anymore, at least not on Amazon. It’s fabricated in a squashed oval shape (cross section) and expands with water filling it. As soon as the water is turned off it squashes back down and self drains. I can pick up 150’ in one hand because it’s so light. The downside is that it can kink like crazy if you don’t wind it carefully or lay it out before use. I’ve got some that are 10 years old and while they’ve developed pinholes (usually due to horses stepping on them) they can be repaired with standard hose repair kits. If you find something like this, please post it so I can get more!
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Thanks for the update, certainly nothing wrong with her appetite and wanting it all to herself.
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Cracks me up that 2/3 redheads are so photogenic and the third is so obviously disgusted by the entire proceeding 
Actually, these emojis are more appropriate:
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I definitely had the thought “three redheads”cross my mind as well. 
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Love these photos!
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As a disabled rider, this is something to get behind. Anything that makes life easier and more accessible is wonderful.
Sheilah
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