Right now it is -12F(-24C) windchill -25F(-32C) and the horses are all outside and they are all fine. As long as they are dry and have somewhere to get out of the wind, they are fine.
We used to stable our horses when we lived in Lancaster county, PA. We live in the mountain plains of central NM now (6300â), and the horses are out 24/7. PA wasnât any colder, but it was wetter. We see overnight temps in the teens from now through March, with the occasional excursion to single digits or even zero. Weâll have between 2 and 4 feet of snow - not a lot. :winkgrin:
Having done both, I think 24/7 turnout is a better way of going for horses that can handle it that stabling them. They can move around, be social, get out of the weather if they want to, go stand in the rain or snow if they want to, etc. I always kind of felt like we were putting our horses lives âon holdâ when they went in for the night. One place we boarded had tiny stalls, fed the last time at 5 pm, and if we didnât come in the morning to feed, no one got any hay or water before 9 am. That was an extremely poorly run barn, and we didnât stay long, but I also wondered often what it must have been like for those horses to stare at those walls in the cold with nothing to eat for 12-16 hours a dayâŠ:no:
Nope. Never again. We do blanket when the air temp is below 20 degrees and thereâs either winds above 20 mph or more than a 30% chance of precipitation. I think theyâd be ok without the blankets most times, as getting out of the wind is easy, and thereâs hay 24/7, but keeping them from getting soaked is important. So, we blanket, And put a cooler on them after riding until theyâre dry.
Hay, a windbreak, dry. Theyâll be fine.
IF a horse was clipped, old, sick, hadnât had a season ahead of the cold to get a good coat grown in then I would blanket, which has never been the case for me yet. Iâve never blanketed any of my horses in the whole 40 yrs Iâve had horses. It sometimes gets -40 here without the wind. They have a run in but rarely are in it. When very cold they get free choice hay and they are just fine. HOrses come with their own insulating system and I prefer to let them use it as I feel it is their best and healthiest defense.
[QUOTE=asb_own_me;3741223]
It is 22 degrees right now. The horses in question have winter coats and are wearing turnout blankets. They were used to being in the barn at night, but the barn is not heated/insulated and seems to only run about 5 degrees warmer than outdoors. They do have a shelter to go into, a heated water tub and a round bale to munch on.
Opinions? Itâs supposed to be quite a bit colder in the coming daysâŠthink negative wind chills. I know other peopleâs horses are out 24/7 and are fine. Am I being silly?[/QUOTE]
Yes, you are being silly (although I know you mean well).
My entire herd is outside with no blankets â last week the wind chill was -20 degrees. They are all fine.
They have various types of shelters, plenty of hay and thawed out water (either a heater trough or an automatic waterer).
95% of healthy, mature horses (not real young or old) do just fine without blankets â in fact the blankets just squash the hair down and lessen the amount of natural insulation their coat gives them.
The only exception to this is the occasional horse who has come from a warm area to a very cold area and hasnât had time to grow a good winter coat â they might need a blanket the first year. And, for the humanâs convenience a horse that you are riding â otherwise they will take forever to cool out.
Today the sun was out and the HIGH was 5 degrees. I have 30 lbs of clothes on and was STILL freezing my hinny off. The horses were lounging around like they were in Miami.
I read an article by a breeder in Alaska who brings herâs in and considers blankets only when itâs âreallyâ cold â her definition is BELOW -50 F.
Horses arenât people. You have to respect their âhorseynessâ and recognize the difference.
Our are out during the daylight hours, no blankets and doing well. Inside nights with plenty of hay and fresh water.
Guess itâs mild here compaired to others however only 26 today. We still are able to get in a ride or two often, however. Only concern is the footing. We had some nice trail rides the past few weeks.
I live in Florida and I just shake my head when I go out to the barn and see every other horse but mine out in heavy blankets in 70 degree weather! Seriously - they are in full winter blankets including hoods! Plus many have something I had never seen before - leg wraps made to protect them from the cold. And many of these horses arenât even clipped. My horses are Norwegian Fjords and the barn owner and I have been back and forth enough that she has finally given in and left me alone about not blanketing them. The worst we ever get is one or two nights a year in the 30âs and I think my hardy ponies in their thick coats can survive that But I come from IL, OH and PA and I have never seen blanketing there like people do down here in Florida. When the temps hit 40 degrees down here people are panicing, the barns are closed up and every horse has two or three blankets and is treated like they are going to expire from the cold. Its a sight to beholdâŠ
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My horses are outside in -25 or -40 windchills. They stay in overnight during the winter so they get a good break with nice bedding. But during the day, theyâre out pretty much regardless of temp or weather. They wear blankets as needed, and have plenty of hay, with the option of coming back in the barn if they want to.
Paula-I canât even imagine the scene you are describing in Florida⊠and I thought the Halter people in New England were crazy with there double blankets, nylon sheets, full sleazy hood, and insulated hood!!! :eek:
Mine are now out 24/7. My appy was a show horse who I now trail ride. I moved him from a barn where he got âhalf dayâ turnout = 3 or 4 hours. Then back in the stall. He now has access to a 12 x 12 stall and is outside MOST of the time unless the wind is brutal. I would never believed it unless I did this for myself⊠he really does like the choice. NEVER again will I lock em up unless it is literally a blizzard or due to injury. I suppose if I get back to showing he would be in the night before because is a red leopard⊠tons of white!!! But seriously, tons of hay and water and they couldnât be happier.
Paula! LOL!! I canât imagine the sight! They would expire in a single breath out here as it was -30 before windchill last night, and my gelding was out naked!! My mare did have her heavyweight on, but thatâs really just so that she doesnât lose too much weight. Leg wraps to protect them from the cold!!! Oy vey!! shaking head
Too funny!
I had to post, I was laughing so hard at the various descriptions of overdressed horses I had tears rolling down my face. I have seen it too! You are right, less is best!
I wanted to compare our barn to others, as well.
We do not have run-in sheds here, but we have heavy tree lines for shelter and we bring the horses in during the winter nights. As soon as the weather started becoming unpredicable and we could get flurries OR heavy rains it was time to put them in.
We have a 28yo, a 10yo, an 8yo and a 19yo. The 28yo mare lives in her medium turnout unless: a) the weather hops up to 40*+ and sunny, in which case she spends some time outside in the sun naked⊠or b) the weather drops below 10*, in which case we add a thin liner to her outfit. She is difficult to keep weight on, and this works best for her.
The 10yo wears a light turnout to keep him dry if it is precipitating (rain more than snow is the concern) and is otherwise naked. The 8yoâ has barely any coat at all, so his owner is constantly changing his fancy clothing several times/layers a day (I donât think THAT is necessary). The 19yo has a medium turnout that he wears when the weather is nasty, or below 30* or so. Anything over 40* and sun gives them a chance to sunbathe and itch scratchy places in the snow. All have access to free choice hay in and out of the barn.
Everyone seems comfy and healthy and happy. They are standing around the hay pile in 2 feet of snow, and take occasional breaks to race along the fence beside the plow truck, tossing their heads and kicking up their heels.
Not to be a spoilsport, but I had a Hanoverian that froze half of one of his ears off in Minnesota before I bought him. So, it can get too cold for horses! I think most people do what works for them and then justify it by saying the horse likes it that way.
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my horse is out all winter even at 40 below. As long as he has a walk-in shelter, plenty of hay and blankets when needed, heâs just fine.
Goodness, those Florida folks - if I put a winter blanket on my guy in anything warmer than 20 degrees, heâd keel over from heat stroke
[QUOTE=siegi b.;3744711]
Not to be a spoilsport, but I had a Hanoverian that froze half of one of his ears off in Minnesota before I bought him. So, it can get too cold for horses! I think most people do what works for them and then justify it by saying the horse likes it that way. :-)[/QUOTE]
yes, that sort of thing can happen when horses go downhill in cold weather - no shelter from wind, not enough roughage and/or blankies to keep the core warm. When the core temp drops, blood leaves the extremities, such as ears, and they get frostbitten.
Thatâs why itâs important to check your horse every day in cold weather - and I always feel his ears As long as they are reasonably warm (and they usually are, even at 40 below), I know he has heat enough.
I just got back from feeding at the barn. Itâs 16 degrees and snowing hard. All day itâs been snowing, sometimes on the verge of rain.
All three horses were outside. They all have icicles hanging from their blankets and from their forelocks. No one wanted to come into the barn.
I leave them out with plenty of hay and access to shelter. Since we started doing that the horses are happier and I know they always have access to water (big heated tank). It doesnât seem to bother them.
I do blanket, but thatâs because I also trace clip. Mine is in a heavy weight Rambo tonight and seems happy as a clam.
Well my guys are out 24/7 with access to their bedded stalls so they can come in and go out as they please. They are blanketed tonight because its supposed to go down to 16 with winds gusting up to 40 mph and a wind chill of 0. The wind is going to be blowing from the west and will be blowing into their stalls. Part of me wants to close their stall doors and leave them in because of the wind chill but the other part of me knows that they will get out of the wind and be fine just the way they are. I wont be fine, but they will be.
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what helps solve the blanket-or-no-blanket question is this: since the insulator is trapped air, it is the loft that determines how warm your horseâs coat is. How much loft does he have when his coat is fluffed up? Does the blanket offer more loft? If so, the blanket will keep him warmer than his own coat, especially when there is wind which blows the warm trapped air out of his coat but wonât penetrate a thick blanket.
Coldest we get here is about -18 and then with a wind chill on top straight from Siberia!!!
Rather than cold being a problem though, its when itâs wet. If itâs a dry but cold day then mine much prefer to be out and about. Fortunately here we tend to get a lot of days with no cloud cover at all. So the sky is the brightest blue and itâs freezing cold and a very hard frost because thereâs no cloud. That is never a problem for the horses or any of the other stock.
However when the prevailing wind changes thatâs when I get cloud and though it is slightly warmer itâs when I get snow and rain and persistent freezing rain leads to VERY unhappy stock.
Thatâs when I bring the horses in and they start to have warm hard feed to supplement forage.
Mine arenât rugged though.
Other thing I donât like for horses is when the ground is just sheet ice and again we get a lot of days like that. Itâs absolutely lethal to walk on ⊠even in the fields. So dayâs like that theyâre in a smaller area thatâs salted and gritted so they stay upright!
itâs -20 here with the windchills this am and Dumplin is happily inside his stall with his neighbors the ducks. Normally I would let them come and go out of the barn as they please but the winds are blowing the snow into the barn. The winds are just out of control the past day or twoâŠcoming from every directionâŠcrazy.
What to do in Florida
I live in Florida, I have seen similar situations of excess gear for 30-40 degree weather. I would like to ask you opinion on something. I board my horse and they feed about 6-7pm or so I upped my hay to 2 flakes, but I think they go about 12 to 16 until the next feeding. What can I do to help my horse in this colder weather. I do not blanket for only 30-40 degrees. Should I leave a full bale in the stall with her for the nights???
They are fed at 7pm and not fed again for 12 to 16 hours, or until noon the next day? Really?
Horses can only eat so many lbs of feed at a time. Their stomachs are small, so they eat a while, rest a while, eat a while, get a drink, stand around, eat a whileâŠ
It is likely that there is very little time when they donât have âanythingâ to munch on.
I would wonder aboout why they are not fed until noon everyday, though.
