When do you start blanketing?

[RedHorses]

I’m similar to Scribbler with my older horse, though mine live out 24/7. 10C with rain gets the rainsheet. There does come a point in the fall when he just keeps the rainsheet on all the time so I can have a cleaner horse to ride. By the time we get to highs around 0C I have done his modified trace clip and he’ll get his 200g at that point.

My younger horse gets a rainsheet at 15C with rain. He gets his 150g quilt underneath as soon as he shows me his signs of getting cold. He also gets a modified trace clip, but his midweight quilt is 280g. The next step is a 200g neck rug when daytime highs are in the minus teens Celcius, then a 340g quilt when lows get around -25C. I let him tell me when he got cold the night before and note what the weather was like for future reference. Wind chill affects the blanket weight decision quite a lot where we are.

[Showbizz]

I started about 3 weeks ago with mine, at night and on cool days, because they got clipped. But they’ve grown enough since then that after the show this weekend, I’ll only throw TO sheets on when it’s in the 30s at night or wet. They’ll have regained full coats by Nov.1 and will then mostly only get them when we get a windy/wet squall or a north storm.

[JB]

“when do you start blanketing” is sooooo open-ended. It’s like “how long is your piece of string” lol

The equally nebulous answer is - when it is necessary for the situation you have.

The healthy, wooly, not-worked-in-Winter horse in full turnout with access to (and uses) a nice shed with hay, may never need even a sheet. But the horse who is in full work, gets a sweat going in January, and has to be clipped as a result, may need sheets, then blankets, and starting sooner.

Is it 30* with a blazing sun and no wind, or is it a cloudy 40* with 25mph winds from the North?

My answer is almost like Simkie’s post on #2 - right before I know, or strongly suspect, they will start shivering. For a new horse, or new environment, when they shiver is good. Or, when we know it’s a point they are losing too much weight due to burning calories to not shiver.

I know my horses, they’ve been here for 7-14 years, so I sheet and blanket to prevent shivering, or the stupid-running that comes when my mare doesn’t want to be cold.

That might be 35* and a light drizzle or high biting wind, it might be 25* and windy, and yes, sheets might go on when it’s 65* and raining for 48 hours.

[betsyk]

Midweights or rainsheets and liners when the high for the day is consistently below 30F. I’m likely to put the rainsheets on when the cold winds come from the north, even if the temps are still in the 40’s and 50’s.

[btswass]

I start adding layers early to prevent too thick of a winter coat so that I don’t have to body clip. At night about 60 I add a baker stable sheet, 50s hansbo ceramic infused fiber sheet (similar to BOT), 40s wool stable sheet, 30s midweight TO with neck, 20s hansbo plus midweight with neck, and I continue to add layers as needed.

During the day depends more on the weather if its sunny or grey/raining but generally once into the 50s (low 50s if its sunny) a TO sheet, 40s hansbo plus TO sheet. Once into the 30s I follow the same blanketing schedule as night since the sun isn’t making much a difference by then

[Palm_Beach]

When do you start blanketing? LOL I rode 3 horses today and it was rainforest hot and humid. Not thinking about blankets at all!!! Except I still need to waterproof.

I don’t “blanket.” I put on unlined rain sheets to keep them dry if it is going to rain and I am regularly riding the horse and it’s cold enough they won’t sweat.

I have a medium weight blanket that goes on the TBs that are home for r&r and it is bitter cold. My riding horses only shiver for a day then they acclimate. Even in the bitter cold they are fine. Horses are cold weather animals and have evolved to be very very cold tolerant as long as they are healthy and have shelter and hair.

[quietann]

I do full board so to some degree the answer is “whatever the barn does.” IMO this is more likely to be too much than too little. The other answer is “when I put the blankets on the mare’s blanket bar.” I haven’t yet but other boarders have. We’ve had the occasional dip into the 40s at night, but the barn stays pretty warm.

My mare doesn’t grow much winter coat so when the cold sets in, she’s blanketed most of the time. This year, however, all bets are off, because she may have Cushing’s.