Q about blanketing and a thermometer I can read at home

[Bristol_Bay]

I’m in the middle of a minor dispute with trainer regarding blanketing and unblanketing. I think there should be a threshold temp and if the temp dips below it, the blankets can stay on. The barn is off the beaten track and none of the weather app sensors give a reading for this area. Is there a thermometer that I can check from home via wifi to know what the temperature is? There are a ton on Amazon, but I’d love to know if anyone uses one.

I’m also interested in hearing what your threshold temp is for blanketing and unblanketing clipped horses. I’ve had days when I worried all day that my horse was cold when it was 48 degrees and he was clipped, when in reality, he was just fine and would have been roasting in his blanket.

[Simkie]

To read something from your home, it has to connect in some way at the barn. Is there a barn wifi you can connect it to?

[Bristol_Bay]

Yes, there’s wifi at the barn.

[Simkie]

Then you’re looking for a wifi outdoor temperature sensor. Like so:

Temp Stick

More options & discussion about them here:

Best WiFi Thermometer & Wireless Remote Temperature Monitor 2021 |...

[RedHorses]

Around here wind, cloud cover and precipitation affect the point of blankets on/off.

My two horses have different temperature points and considerations. One has a lower temperature point and is blanketed based on the high temperature/weather forecast, while the other has a higher temperature point and his blankets are based on the forecast low. Generally - obviously there are large temperature/weather deviations sometimes that must be taken into consideration.

My horses live outside all the time and I usually have one chance per day to change blankets. Sometimes I get it wrong because I misjudged or the weather changed more than expected. They survive the few hours of too warm or too cold.

[Texarkana]

If you want to get fancy, they make all sorts of weather stations around the $150 price point. We have an older model of this one:

AcuRite Iris (5-in-1) Home Weather Station with Wi-Fi Connection to Weather Underground with Temperature, Humidity, Wind Speed/Direction, and Rainfall (01540M) , Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D9D6CXW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2K534C18J4V5M4M4J7GV

I like it because you can get notifications when it starts raining and see rainfall totals.

My threshold temp is kind of situation/horse/precipitation dependent.

[Renn_aissance]

I go by the real feel average and I have a chart posted on my horse’s door since I am ridiculous about blankets. My chart was approved by the barn as being manageable.

Generally, horses who are inside where the air temperature is 45 or above do not need a blanket unless the horse is a wuss about cold or has a medical situation. Assuming clipped in the last 3 weeks, I sheet outside with a real feel of below 50 and/or it’s hovering around 55 but rainy and windy. If the animal comes with its own built in rug I adjust. I’m about to clip my guy and based on how his temperature ran last year I expect to put a rug on him under about 37 degrees. (My temperature chart runs in fairly normal 10 degree intervals but I, as a person, am ridiculous about this so when I rug I do it differently.)

I have never had luck fighting the barn on the way THEY blanket so I hope you’re able to find something that works for both of you.

[JB]

@Bristol_Bay

Is there a thermometer that I can check from home via wifi to know what the temperature is?

how far between home and barn?

@Bristol_Bay

I’m also interested in hearing what your threshold temp is for blanketing and unblanketing clipped horses.

Sunny? Cloudy? Day? Night? Windy? Misting/damp, or very dry? Higher hill, or low “valley”?

Meaning, there’s more to it than just temperature. 45 and sunny in a low protected area could be really warm, even for a fully clipped horse. And 45 and cloudy with a stiff breeze and some misty crap could be cold for a furry horse.

[Bristol_Bay]

It’s really hard for me to let the trainer and groom make decisions about my horse. I’m a DIY horse owner who always kept my horse within easy driving or walking distance. Now my horse is a 30 minute drive away, and I can’t just run down and check on him, and have to pay others to take care of the blanketing. I don’t want to second guess them as they are really knowledgeable, yet IME most people over blanket, or will leave blankets on when it’s overcast but 65 degrees. All the horses live in stalls. I mainly just want to know for myself what the temps really are there.

When I was at the local stable, there was still a temperature disparity because I’m on a hill and the barn is in a valley, so it was always colder there.

[LCDR]

Temp Stick.

It is a battery powered WiFi transmitter that sends temperature and humidity to your phone. No subscription charges and the receiving app is free. It is expensive at about $150. It may be worth it to you for peace of mind.

[Renn_aissance]

@Bristol_Bay

When I was at the local stable, there was still a temperature disparity because I’m on a hill and the barn is in a valley, so it was always colder there.

The area where my horse lives has its own little climate zone- on the high side of a valley. The horses who go out on the hill could wear a different rug than the ones who go out down the hill. The horses like mine whose field spans up the hill and down the hill, well, at some point I have to leave him to make his own decisions. There is not ever a time when the weather report is right. We get double rainbows all the time. All this to say, I understand.

[lenapesadie]

@Bristol_Bay

will leave blankets on when it’s overcast but 65 degrees.

I fought that kind of malarkey at a boarding barn once. I know blanketing is time consuming but leaving horses to sweat under heavy rugs all day isn’t the answer.

I don’t have any clipped horses, but my oldie wears a turnout sheet overnight if lows are going to be below 50 for more than an hour or two. He also wears a turnout sheet in damp, windy, cloudy 60 degree weather based on cold ears / flanks. My younger horse is comfy naked in both above scenarios so it depends.

• my horses are on overnight turnout

[cnd8]

For the horses who are blanketed where I board, anything below 50 = blanket. We are in South Georgia though, so I’m sure that guideline wont fit horses in the north or west where they are accustomed to deeper chills than we are.

[LadyB]

Horseware makes a sensor called HorsePal, you can use this to gauge if your horse is handling the blanketing or not.

Comfort & Fitness Sensor - Horsepal - A new frontier in equine management

[lenapesadie]

FL here. Local practice is below 50 = 200 gram blanket.

I gave up fighting that culture and removed 200 gram blanket from barn and took it back out for freezing temps only. The availability of 100 gram blankets has helped immensely.

My current favorite thing about having horses at home is complete control over blankets.

[Bristol_Bay]

Could be interesting, but that link doesn’t provide much information.

I’m going to talk to my trainer about getting a wifi thermometer. Who knows, maybe she already has one just for her use?

[LCDR]

I have been reading a lot about blanketing recently. Vet recommended as many as 3 or 4 blanket changes per day to keep pace with temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind (clipped horses). That of course occupied a big chunk of my time. No way in my wildest dream can I imagine a boarding barn changing blankets 4 times a day. I personally date back to the days of a New Zealand canvas rug or nothing. And having a New Zealand that looked like a patchwork quilt from years of patches.

So I now have 5 blankets per horse, with zero, 50, 100, 220, and 440 grams of fill. As I took them all out of storage this year I decided to study the blanketing issue. As you ‘d expect, the recommendations from blanket manufacturers and blanket sellers lean heavily toward over-blanketing (my word choice, not theirs). But they make money on blanket sales. The recommendation from vet schools lean pretty much the other way. This winter I’m going to try to limit blanket use.

[Bristol_Bay]

@LCDR

So I now have 5 blankets per horse, with zero, 50, 100, 220, and 440 grams of fill.

Finally, someone worse than me! And probably only because you live in a harsher winter climate.

I have a stable sheet, stable blanket, turnout sheet, second turnout sheet with two liners of 100 and 200 gram fill, and one 250 gram turnout blanket.

There have been days when I asked the groom to put the sheet on during the day, but that’s when my horse was close by and I could go put the thicker blanket on at night. Here in So Cal, it hardly ever dips below 50 on winter days, so there isn’t too much of that. My vet always said it’s easier for horses to stay warm than it is to cool down. In any event, here it’s seldom below 40 at night, although we have had arctic blasts when it gets into the low 30s or 20s. Which I am prepared for! Lol

[Heinz_57]

I have one that runs cold, and most of the replies here would categorize me as over blanketing. He is clipped now, wears a 200g if it’s above 40 and below 60. Below 40 and he really prefers his heavyweight with a full neck. BUT, it rains frequently and is generally somewhat breezy here. I didn’t used to blanket him so heavily, but he will shake even in a full winter coat if it rains much when it’s low 50’s.

[Equkelly]

I tend to go by the accuweather real feel but I live 4 minutes from the barn so I also have a pretty good sense for what it’s up to. I don’t think installing a thermometer at the barn will help you with a trainer dispute. It sounds like you guys just already have different standards in blanketing. Adding a thermometer will not get the trainer to raise their standards to yours.

I also think the actual temperature is pretty irrelevant in my blanketing decisions. I live closest to the barn and it’s self care so I’m the designated barn blanketer from October- May. I’m also in Colorado so it’s typically cold at night and then sunny during the day so blankets usually go on in the eventing and then off first thing in the morning. A 15 degree night with no wind and no moisture will require a totally different blanket than a 15 degree snowy windy night.

I think ultimately you have to be able to trust the barn management in their blanketing decisions and if you don’t, it’s time to leave. Full care is unfortunately not custom care.