Not trying to derail the thread, but an increasingly hairy coat as the horse ages is often an early sign of PPID, especially if the hair turns curly. It wouldn’t hurt to keep this on your radar.
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I had a horse 2 hours away for 3 years and I did blanketing. I pretty much put a 100 gm on at the start of the season, and when it got consistently cold enough, I changed to medium. This horse did not overheat and if your mare runs cold, I still think it’s more worthwhile to blanket than leave her naked.
I tried to see him about every 4 weeks during winter but honestly, I’m not not one to change blankets often unless they are soaked through.
You could befriend another border to assist in cases where the weather does swing wildly.
Yes, it is.
If they can’t guarantee free-choice 24/7 hay (even at an extra cost), I would not take the chance this year with this horse. Maybe next year, if she grows more winter coat.
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It truly depends on the horse and also just how you feel about it. I have two horses that are equally fat and fuzzy. One of them has never worn a blanket on in his life (he’s coming 3) and I don’t worry about him much. He didn’t even have a shelter one year lol. The other one … she’s my girl, my heart horse so to speak. And when it’s -30C and the wind is howling I can’t help but think about her. She would likely be perfectly fine if I just left her alone but I neeeed to know she’s either cozy in a stall or in a blanket of my choosing or I’ll be up all night.
If it were me and I was set on this facility 2 hours away I would pay for the stall for the winter only. Throw her back out to 24/7 outdoor in the spring. Or choose a lightweight (0-100gm) blanket that can just stay on for the winter.
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Interesting, a local vet I mentioned this to said it’s common for horses to grow more coat as they age, and didn’t mention anything about pathology. Thanks for mentioning it. I’ll have to ask around.
Notably, it’s from “no coat” to “almost a useful winter coat”, in case that makes a difference.
And thanks again everyone for the perspectives. I don’t think they will allow blankets at all for field board - it’s not part of their routine, they don’t want mares and foals getting tangled (it’s a breeding operation, and while there’s no foal in the field yet, there will be in spring if all goes well), and they just don’t want to deal with it.
I will ask about just keeping her stalled until spring, and switching to field board when it warms up a bit next year. I will sleep better and, while she’ll unfortunately get less turnout, it’s probably the better choice all things considered 
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I also live on the eastern shore of MD.
Given your circumstances being far away and no one to remove blankets, I agree I’d probably just keep her in a stall if you are concerned about no blankets (assuming they will do daily turnout).
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We have only blanketed the older horses, over 20yrs. The exception was a horse who got chilled ONCE, temp dropped to 96F. I thought he was colicing until we did his temp. Vet treated him for colic with DSS “just to be safe”, but we blanketed him and temp came up to normal in short order.
Ever after, he was covered if outside Temps dropped below 36F. No covers if warmer than that.
He mostly wore rainsheets down to about 25F . Then a 100mil, waterproof blanket until Temps went to teens when he got a heavy blanket.
He was not clipped, had a nice coat, but our cold winter winds were blocked by his coverings. Horse was at home, stalled at night when his covers were removed to let his hair fluff up with a quick grooming. He never again got chilled or acted colicy. Husband laughed about horse needing “his windbreaker” when outside below 36F. I used the Rambo ones which fit his body type well, stayed put, kept him dry. Horse did not WANT to be covered, swung his head as we threw his cover on, but he was NOT going to scare me like that again! His life was hard having to wear covers! Ha ha
I had two rainsheets to swap between if he got one soaked/filthy by rolling in the mud. I am in Michigan where it can get to zero and below. Any horse covered at 45F will probably sweat under covers, so hair is wet inside the cover. Then you have other issues to deal with.
OP, you may want to just leave mare uncovered, see how she does before going with covers. You are not near to monitor her with weather changes requiring different covers, other horse may be a blanket destroyer, leaving her to get tangled in the pieces. Better to keep a record during visits, using a weight tape, hands-on feel of ribs, meaty areas to see that she is keeping her weight on in the right places. Even a moderate coat will let her adjust her hair to fluff it up or flatten down on warm days.
Look at the quality of hay fed outside. Better quality, enough quantity will help keep her warm from the inside, might even be fattening! Hence the use of weight tape to track her with. Looks can be deceiving with winter hair. I would not consider 15yrs to be an old horse, ready for lots of special care yet!
As you and horse get used to the new place, you can change things if they are needed. I try to stay with “less is enough” until horse tells me we need to change something. Mine LIKE the cold weather, run, play after eating their morning hay. None will need to wear blankets. We lost the Old Man last spring, it was time. So all covers are tucked away now.
