Humidity levels also play a huge role in how cold it “feels.” I’m in Colorado where it’s very dry, so we have a 20* cut off in an unheated indoor. I find that the same temp in Virginia feels MUCH colder because of all the extra cold humidity in the air! I wouldn’t ride in an unheated indoor above 30* on the east coast.
As a transplant from Oklahoma to Canada (as is my mare, though I got a 5 year head start on her) it’s DEFINITELY relative. She arrived in August, and I think I surprised people at my barn by riding outdoors in the middle of the day. It was “very hot,” in the 30’s ©/high 80’s (F).
When I lived in Oklahoma, I don’t think I ever rode below 30°F. Why would I, when simply waiting would ensure a warmer day soon? Plus,we had no indoor, and OK is pretty windy. Here, I’d get maybe 4 rides throughout the winter if I kept to the same standard. I’ve ridden at least once weekly and usually 2-3 days a week all winter, since the indoor is relatively pleasant down to - 10/mid-teens.
It’s definitely all about what you and your horse are used to.
Rockxox mentioned ice. We’ve had it BAD this winter. I’m pretty proud of my Oklahoma born and bred OTTB walking calmly across the skating rink of the barn yard while some of her Canadian-bred barn mates have to stay stalled during the slipperiest days. 
(We don’t ride at ALL on icy ground, walking in hand only to get from barn to pasture/indoor arena.)
I was, pretty worried about how Winnie would adjust to the big move and all of the changes. Unnecessarily. Mare is a rock star.
It appears to depend on where you are located. In Alaska, it was before 15F, in central Oregon it was below 25F, in Seattle, 30F. Not my decision and yes, I do appreciate the irony.
I won’t ride when it’s too cold for ME which is generally below 20F. We have a heated barn but an unheated indoor and I still have to go out to the pasture to catch her :lol:
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I’ve found my limit is about 20* F. I’m at a barn with an indoor, and the indoor has a couple of thermometers inside it. I’ve noticed that the indoor is generally 2-3*F warmer than the outdoor temp.
Like others have said, the colder it is, the less strenuous the work is. When it’s cold, I don’t want my guy sweating.
Half the challenge is hiking out to the back 40 get him. It’s so much more taxing with long underwear, riding pants, sweatshirt, winter coat, hood up over the head, snow pants and snow boots.
I alter the routine to wear my whole snow pants/boots to catch/groom/tack. Then right before I ride, I strip off the snow pants and change boots.
I tried (in the interest of expediency) to stick with my breeches and jod boots but just get too cold and miserable at anything less than 40*.
Wish we could trail ride, but there’s either too much ice or just too cold for me. My horse (and i) are tired of 20M circles, spirals, and serpentines.
I hear that one! I can’t believe my mare isn’t getting ring sour! We’ve only ridden outside three times in the last 3 months or so (super short hacks, one in a snowy field, two down the road). I guess it feels good enough to work and really use her body (she doesn’t even run around much when turned out, deep snow) that she doesn’t mind the monotony.
I’m grateful for the indoor (it was one of my requirements for a boarding stable), but I’ll be sooooo happy when it’s no longer our only option.
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How warm are most heated barns/indoors kept? And how much does that cost?? I’ve always been curious. I’m in VA and a heated indoor sounds like total bliss but it doesn’t get that cold here.
I ride at a heated barn, and it never goes below 40 in the arena. I rode when it was -55 (windchill) here in Minnesota. We also have heaters in the cross-ties If you are riding anywhere with NO heated arena or horses that are not accustomed to the cold, or any way to heat them up, I would suggest not riding when it is under 20 like the other people said.
Yes! Breathing is my overarching concern. Well, that and sweating. Under 20F and I have to pull a balaclava up over my nose and mouth if I’m working outside. Now, 'm not an expert and I don’t know if breathing in super chilled air during exercise is truly dangerous for the horse. But I do know that it freaking hurts. So, if the temperature is cold enough that it hurts to breath without shielding my airways, I’m not going to ask my horse to do it. My clipped horses always wear a quarter sheet if it’s under around 40F. Occasionally, I’ve walked a horse with a cooler or even the heavy turnout blanket pulled up around me or just ridden bareback on top of the blanket.
LOL! A friend of mine spent a couple years in Los Angeles for grad school. One morning, it rained. Being a native of Virginia, he thought nothing of it and headed in to work as usual. When he arrived, the office was practically empty. He asked what was going on. “It’s raining!!” he was told. Still confused, he pressed further. “But, it’s RAINING!” It took him a minute to realize that driving in rain made a lot of SoCal natives as nervous as driving in ice did for him.
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I live in Florida now but when I lived up north we would cancel lessons in the 20s usually. Bareback walking with blankets was allowed but only for boarders. If it was too icey for the horses to go out I would turn them out in the indoor arena and they would run and play just as much as they would normally. Honestly my horses didn’t seem to mind the cold as long as they were blanketed sufficiently but I really had no desire to ride once it got down to that level lol I was happy to come up, brush them, give them treats, let them run around a bit, and go home.
We have 2 indoor arenas and a heated barn, I believe they’re kept at around 10C (arenas get turned down to 5C when not in use)…not sure what BO pays per months but it’s a lot!
Fun fact (oh, the things I never knew about having horses in the cold!), on days when the high won’t get over - 18°C/0°F, BO leaves most horses in. Not for their comfort as much as to keep the barn warm enough so that the lines won’t freeze to the stall waterers.
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I know one place that heats the arena off geothermal under the manure pile. Sheer brilliance!
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Generally I will ride no matter what the temps but I do fit my ride to the weather and the horse. I have no ring or indoor- so whatever we do is out on the trails. The last couple of evening have been in the 20’s- one mare who is very fit went out and did a fast five miles, the other mare who is not nearly as fit did a couple hours of good walking. If it got to much colder I would have kept the fitter mare to a walk/ easy trot to not get her sweated and to take it easy on frozen ground
Heated barns I’ve been in are kept around 40, maybe a little warmer in the groom stalls. Mold and mildew get to be a problem if you aren’t careful and viruses thrive in warm, moist environments so fresh air circulation is a must, cold or not. It can cost thousands ( a month) depending on how many square feet are heated and how well designed and insulated the building is. Also various options in how to heat can effect price.
We we tend to think of how the cold effects us and our tolerance. Don’t forget the trainers, instructors and other staff working in it all day, Lessons in my three unheated barns stopped at 20f in two of them and 15f because the instructor would freeze to the ground in the center of the ring after an hour or so, Pro schooling usually converted to hand walk, lunge or treadmill followed by indoor ring turnout ( pastures were fine, track to access them generally were iced over and both barns were hilly terrain). Two barns had overhead heaters and some benches ringside, instructors could teach from there, they went to 15f for lessons. The other barn had no such thing, instructor had to stand in the ring, that barn quit at 20f.
At about 15f both barns discouraged clients from visiting, Too much door opening and closing, pee and sloshed water frozen on the mats and aisle flooring, full muck tubs waiting to be taken to the disposal area, diesel tractor not starting, smaller vehicles not able to get enough traction with full muck trailer and so forth. Clients could come if they wanted but would realize they were in the way and normal barn routine was impossible, doors frozen shut, arena may not even be available due to trying to exercise all horses. And in one case, dead tractor with full muck trailer- aisle door frozen shut so going across ring to double doors at far end. About 5f tractor checked out, wouldnt restart. Right in front of the far side rail in front of the doors. Attempts to start just smoked up the arena, they dragged some jumps over and fenced it in so horses were safe but it took up a big chunk. There for a few days until it got to around 20f.
Barns in areas known to need heat at least 4 months out of the year are situated and designed differently, cost more to operate and often are, guess what? Too hot in summer. You can’t win, pick your more severe season and design for that or make do as best you can. But remember your instructor and barn staff to whom it’s not a nuisance for a few hours a couple of times a week.
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I’ve never heard of that! We have never had our indoor water lines freeze and it routinely gets down to below -30c…if we left horses in at -18 they’d hardly get turnout LOL
we also have 2 large garage type doors (1 at each end of the barn), so that in the summer we can get good airflow down the barn aisle. As Findeight said, barns here are designed for winter, so become hot in the summer…if we designed for summer like the open sided ones we see on the West coast, we would never ride! Our tractors are kept in a heated garage in the winter, we adjust turnout on really cold days (think -30C with windchill) mainly so our barmwotrkers don’t freeze, but we never don’t allow clients out to ride as we are a winter place and we have a winter barn! But yes…it is thousands of dollars to heat!
That must be a heck of a manure pile! We don’t have a manure pile, we spread…we and all the other barns in Alberta heat with natural gas!
Yup. 50 stalls. Composting manure piles generate a lot of heat.
We have been having one of the most miserable winters I can remember, but the show must go on. I ride up to -25C barn is heated, indoor is not. I don’t do much when its that cold, but at least get them out of the stall and stretch legs. -15 -20C is a decent day where I am from, and I have found ways to keep myself warm and the horses are just fine. If the horses have worked hard and they are damp, they stay in overnight to dry off.
