This is why I am not allowing myself to get donkeys. No way to know how talkative they would be and I don’t want to annoy my neighbors. Sigh.
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Some distant over yonder type neighbors of ours have cows with some donkeys. When they run the herd in the upper pastures we can hear the donkeys regularly. Once they get going they seem to stay noisy for a minute!
I have three extremely wimpy horses, one moderately wimpy, and 2 that could probably live in Antarctica. First you must figure out what your horse is. One of mine is a big draft and even on -10 days just a heavyweight is enough. On my wimpy mare, she was wearing 4 layers. Sleezy, wool cooler, 300 gram liner, 400 gram blanket with hood. And she stayed inside the whole day; refused to leave.
Sleazys or fleece coolers under their winter blanket do help a lot to keep warmth in.
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What concerns would you have? I had some before I said eff it, you get to look like an idiot! but am interested in if others’ concerns are the same as mine were.
It’s funny someone just posted on the thread about the new horse with eyebrows about a horse getting an ear stuck outside the fly mask overnight and losing pigment around that ear. My own concern is an inability to see well at night. Now, what are the odds of a problem? Very very low. But not zero. So for me, the thought process is: risk of mask overnight - say 4%. Benefit for cold - 0%. Therefore “no mask” wins. In the example above with the horse injuring her eye, the analysis would be risk of mask overnight - 4%, benefit, ie reduction in corneal scratches - 25%, “mask overnight” wins.
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Would you use a fly sheet to keep a horse warm?
I don’t think a mask is going to do dick all to add to warmth but runs the risk of making them colder, either by trapping moisture or reducing lofting ability (or both!)
They’re not designed for warmth at all. They’re designed for breathability, which is kind of the opposite.
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The farm across the street has the cutest spotted mini donkey out with the TB yearlings. We hear him 3x a day minimal. 5am feeding, lunch time, and at dinner.
He’s precious but oh so loud.
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I put the wug on top of the neck cover blanket because it fits better that way, but I’m sure it totally depends on the specific horse and blankets.
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D’oh! Of course. I didn’t even think of that because my mask-wearing idiot always comes in before dusk.
Depending on the brand masks add plenty of warmth in the ears. One of the reasons I wish my little cupcake could have earless in the summer, but, gnats prevent that.
Also, depending on the brand/style of mesh, they do cut some wind - or not if they’re the more open traditional Farnam or Kensington mesh.
Would I use one in hopes of preventing frostbite in ears? No. I’d put the horse in the barn, but harm to a horse in daylight - I wouldn’t worry one bit if the mesh were the really fine stuff and the ears the slightly heavier, not so well ventilated fabric.
I’ve certainly never seen a mask with anything over the ears that adds warmth in my ridiculous collection of fly masks. Ymmv of course if you’ve got something with fleece or fill or wool.
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It’s not so much adding insulation as blocking the breeze/trapping the horse’s own body heat. Mine will get sweaty ears in the summer when her buddies in the same field with earless masks/naked heads will not.
A mask will not make a horse cooler unless a person happens to be dumb enough to leave it on in a cold penetrating rain. I guess that could happen depending on how a person deals with turnout in inclement weather and/or whether the horse has access and uses a shelter or not.
I just disagree, which is of course fine, it’s not like we have to agree. I’d also not take a horse acclimated to regular winter temps and toss a fly sheet on when it gets unusually cold, thinking I was doing anything of use.
In fact, those weird fall days or early spring days where there are bugs but also cold are so tough, because yeah–a fly sheet when it’s chilly does make them colder.
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One of my mares, OTTB, 15.3, delicate-boned, 6-furlong type build, was just like this. She was a little hothouse flower. When I had her four layers on her, we called her the Michelin horse, all pouf on the top, with her spindly legs sticking out underneath. But she was happy all bundled up.
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I still do the loose mineral salt except in summer when the humidity makes that salt soup, then I put up a Himalayan salt lick which they all devour regularly (and resists melting). In fact they are so dedicated to it, I think that’s why I switched to loose salt, I seriously wondered if they were getting too much!
I’ll still add electrolytes periodically, and always add it to horse quencher when they come off hard works or extra hot days.
Can I just add 2 more cents to the fly mask conversation? Any of y’all have horses who have stood outside in a windy snow storm and their face and ears get wet? And by windy I mean: if you think 15 mph is windy, bow out of this conversation… Winds in my neck of the woods are brutal and they swirl around the sides of sheds, and fill barns via the very tiny cracks between doors and the structure.
Even aside that, I have some idiots who just choose to stand outside in the crap with just a side of a building for a wind break, rather than their roomy and cozy shed. * insert eye roll * So there are plenty of times throughout winter where their face and ears get wet while the temperatures plummet or are already extreme. If they had a mask covering their ears, I would worry about the mesh trapping even more moisture, as well as crumpling inward some and contacting the wet/cold ear. I would worry that the mesh would freeze to the ear.
I’m in the “risk not worth the consequences” crowd. Even if the risk is low, the magnitude of the consequences could be pretty severe.
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This was my thought as well. In cold, dry weather I don’t think a mask is making much difference, good or bad. In high winds, with snow or sleet? A buildup of ice/snow on the mask in inclement weather might even become a vision hazard.
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We have a mare who wears one year round no matter what the temp or weather conditions. When it gets that cold it doesn’t get wet or stiff from exposure in sub zero weather. It does protect her eyes from blowing snow or sleet etc.
We don’t do ear masks. Those may get stiff and uncomfortable.
I read this thread earlier this week and I keep wondering…
We wear long sleeve shirts closest to our body, and a thick winter coat atop that. Why would the opposite be suggested for our horses? I can’t imagine a thinner blanket being more beneficial on top of the thicker one. I feel like it should be thin and then thick. Just my two cents. LOL
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Right now it’s zero here with a windchill of -22. The horses are in their run in shed, munching on hay and being smart. I chose not to double blanket because when I was there to feed, it wasn’t so bad out of the wind. Now, granted they have 4 extra large nibble nets full of hay, so I doubt they will leave the comfort of their shed (which is very large).
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