Rainsheets in cold weather

[AMWookey]

I am in central-north Ontario. We have a lot of -20 and below days. My dude who has a full coat, goes out in 220g with a full neck, but if it is going below -25 with wind, I throw a liner or a heavier weight blanket on him (the heavier weight has an attached hood as opposed to built in, I use it less for that reason)

We have people in the area who are throwing their horses out if it’s windy or below minus 30 in just a wind/rain sheet. Is there new documentation or research out on this? I know some horses don’t need blanketed. My dude will grow far too large of a coat if he isn’t blanketed at all, but if it is between -15 and -10 and not windy, then he goes out naked. He gets covered in snow and everything. I let it happen, and check to ensure he is warm. It works for him, he doesn’t sweat and he doesn’t shiver. I can’t imagine that taking a horse who is naked 90% of the time, and then randomly throwing on a rainsheet for certain days, is going to be good? I am honestly curious, as I respect one of the farm managers that does this as a knowledgeable horse owner, but I have always read and been taught that if you are going to blanket, make sure you do it adequately because you strip away the animals natural ability to warm themselves.

True? False? Is there new research?

It will be interesting next year for sure when I move somewhere that doesn’t have 3 ft of snow all the time. This winter has been weird enough. It’s +4 today! It was minus 25 on Saturday. Make up your mind and stick to the single digits please!

[Mozart]

I agree with you

Another Canadian here, prairie dweller myself.

I don’t believe rain sheet will do much at -25 in fact I feel it is worse than nothing. The sheet does not insulate at all and by putting it on you are now squashing down the horse’s natural insulation. Might well leave the horse unblanketed.

I one had a boarder that left a rain sheet on her pony all winter. On cold days I put my hand under the sheet and did not feel a trace of warmth at all.

[Roxyllsk]

If it’s that cold you’re better off leaving them naked, than with a rain sheet. It doesn’t allow the hair to do its job because the horse can’t fluff up. People don’t always get that

[banmharcach]

As long as it doesn’t weigh down/flatten the natural coat, then a “windbreaker” works well as an improvement especially if out in an open area without either a loafing shed or tree line for shelter—the insulation of their coat depends on dead air being trapped.
If the blanket is tight/heavy & squashes the natural coat then it would reduce the coat’s insulation and not be useful.

[enjoytheride]

I think a rainsheet would work fine in weather like that especially if the intent is to keep the horse dry or to be used as a windbreaker. I don’t believe that a plain sheet flattens down the hair enough to remove natural protection.

[SMF11]

Agree with enjoytheride. Can anyone point to any studies proving sheets make horses cold due to flattening their coats? I don’t think they are out there. It is a widely held, yet unproven, belief. In my experience sheets work well in windy and/or wet weather. No horse here has been cold because they were wearing a sheet.

[AMWookey]

Interesting perspectives, thanks! Like I said, one of the local BO I respect does this. It bothered me because it went against the principles I thought. Unless I actually see a horse cold though, not my business and we can each go about our blanketing regimes the way we do.

[GoodTimes]

I’m actually more confused about your blanketing then that of this BO you speak of.
Your horse is turned out naked until -15C and then you throw 220gm on? And if it’s below -25C you throw another at least 100gms on?
In this scenario my horse would have developed a full winter coat and thus would be sweating at -25C.

Horses who have a good winter coat really only need help when it’s windy or wet out. In both these scenarios I would be open to putting a light waterproof sheet on to cut the wind or keep them dry.

[cherham]

Here in Ontario just waiting for our ice storm to hit…thanks Texas for sending it our way

Anyway my outdoor horses are now wearing rain sheets only. They are super fuzzy hairy beasts but with the rain and sleet expected I put a light outdoor sheet on them to keep them dry. They do have a nice large run in and of course prefer to always stand outside anyway. When the rain passes and the cold temps return I take the sheets off and they will be naked the rest of the winter.

[RedHorses]

The idea that blankets squash haircoats and prevent fluffing comes from the bad old days of tonweight canvas and wool New Zealand rugs. They did.

Fortunately for our horses, we live in the twentyfirst century with access to many lightweight, modern materials that we can use in making horse blankets. These blankets have significantly less “squash factor” than the old NZ rugs and have less effect on the healthy, furry horse’s ability to fluff his coat. The minor degree of squash from a typical rainsheet/light turnout is made up for by the reduction in heat loss due to wind. The healthy, furry horse can even fluff to a significant degree under a midweight (200-250gm) blanket. :eek: Yes, really!

I have run horses through winters, with regular temperatures as the OP described, using nothing more.than a rainsheet. They were comfortable, and maintained their weight without issue (free choice hay, heated water, shelter).

We puny humans also tend to forget that mammals adapt to the temperatures as the seasons change. Horses are very good at this. It takes them about two weeks for each drop. Did you know a horse’s base temperature can vary by up to two degrees between summer and winter? We do it too, though not as well. Think about it - temperatures that you find cold in the fall are greeted with “it’s WARM today!” and stripping off clothing layers come spring.

This ability to adapt is also why it is unnecessary to keep increasing blanket weight once blanketing is begun. If the horse is cold we can offer the minimum assistance to keep warm and allow the adaptation to occur. Once that takes place we can actually go back to no, or lighter blankets and have a perfectly comfortable horse - until the next temperature drop. Very few people actually do this, and we can send the horse’s adaptation in the wrong direction by keeping them too warm. Horses, like humans, are individuals and the amount of insulation required at any given temperature will depend on the horse and that horse’s living situation. Fortunately horses are highly adaptable and do adjust when we get it wrong. Most of the time. They’ll let us know if they can’t adapt to our mistakes.

Isn’t nature amazing?

[JB]

It does entirely depend on the sheet/blanket used as to whether it lays the hair down or not. Some sheets do, some do not. At the very least, pretty much all of them will lay the hair down in the shoulder area. For some horses that might be all it takes to make them cold, for most, probably not, all else equal.

A very light (physically) sheet, which provides 100% wind protection, is going to allow almost all the fluff to remain, while removing the wind, and if that works for a horse it works.

[MysticOakRanch]

If the sheet keeps the horse dry and protects them from the wind, it will help keep them warmer. As RedHorse says, we are all still thinking of the days of uber heavy, flattening rugs - I remember those NZ rugs, when they got wet, they weighed more then I did! The newer sheets tend to be light weight AND many even breathe.

[vandenbrink]

The rainsheet flattens the insulation layer…their puffed up hair. Rainsheets when it’s raining—Winter Blankets when it’s Winter weather…pretty simple.

Have several young horses living out in blankets. The temperature has been hovering between -10 to +7, rain and snow. They are wearing winter lightweight blankets and comfy…but not too warm.

[AMWookey]

Goodtimes - in principle, he only wears a heavier one IF it is crazy windy (i.e. windchill bringing it below -30). Or the other one gets wet. In reality, he hasn’t worn it in 2 years. He has grown enough of a coat that he hasn’t needed it. As for the -15 it’s up to the BO discretion. Sometimes he has it on, sometimes he doesn’t. If it is gusty or overcast, they get it on. It’s much easier now that he is on indoor/outdoor board, but they go out in the dark and come in the dark so it can drop low. I have yet to find him sweaty, but I know that if it all of a sudden gets sunny out and the wind drops down (and I think he has been tossed out in a sheet) I will just pop over to the farm to pull it off.

It did get up to 7 degrees yesterday! When I got to the barn, he had obviously been out naked, and he had clearly been sweating. Last year was easier. It got cold and stayed cold.

[JB]

The rainsheet flattens the insulation layer

Again, it all depends on the sheet, and the horse. A horse with longer, finer winter hair may have it flattened with a lighter sheet, but a horse with very dense, coarse hair is less likely to, or to a much lesser degree. There are rain sheets that are physically heavy enough to lay most coats down, and there are regular waterproof, uninsulated turnout sheets that weigh next to nothing.

My old Miller’s turnout sheet, uninsulated, is not that lightweight physically (not HEAVY, but it’s actually about as heavy as my Schneider’s Norlund medium weight blanket), and absolutely lays down my oldest guy’s dense Winter coat. I found him shivering more than once wearing that as protection from cool rain.

[stryder]

I think it depends on the horse. My Appendix mare has fine hair and the lightest sheet flattens it. My friend’s Andalusian has hair like a yak. It stays puffy under a sheet.

[poltroon]

My experience is that rainsheets do flatten the hair to some extent. On a human jacket, they don’t weigh as much and it all hangs from your shoulders, so there’s lots of air trapped around your torso. On a horse blanket, they are heavier and lay across the back and shoulders and can get kind of snug. Horse blankets are made of much heavier material than a windbreaker rain jacket for humans also.

That said, it’s going to matter some as to the individual horse and the cut of the blanket. I like the wug type blankets and I like them maybe a little big rather than small. They can be very tenty. I used just a turnout sheet for years as a stable blanket when my neighbors in CA used real blankets, because my mare didn’t grow so much winter coat that she needed clipping.

Feel the ears, view the horse’s demeanor, etc.

I’ve found that I don’t really blanket most of the horses unless it’s low 30’s and raining and windy. If it’s colder than that (lowest here is mid teens overnight), it doesn’t feel as cold because the snow doesn’t wet their coats, or there is sun. But my experience here is that if I blanket them at all I like to have the 200 gm.