Winter coat growth

[Savannah_KP]

My Oldenburg has already grown a pretty good starter coat and am wondering why my QH is not starting…

We bought QH in April, previous owner said she had clipped him for the winter (lived in Massachusetts) so he came to us with a short coat. We live in Vermont and our nights are currently ranging from 30-50 degrees. My mare started her coat about a month+ ago, but this guy doesn’t seem to want to start growing. He has packed on a couple pounds during the summer, so I am wondering if fat horses will delay winter coat growth because they are so fat and warm they just don’t need it yet? Or maybe I just have one of those horses that won’t grow a thick winter coat and I need to start blanket shopping?

I should mention he’s (best guess) around 17years. Doesn’t get grain, he is on a mineral/vitamin supplement, full grass turnout during summer and hay as needed. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable with the cold nights we are starting to get.

What’s your experience? Thanks!

[S1969]

Coat growth is just like hoof quality. Some horses grow lots of hair, others grow less. None of my horses grow the same coat, even though more than one of them is on the fat side. I just blanket them for their own needs - TB mare blanketed all winter starting about <40F overnight; WB mare blanketed when below 10-15F, APHA mare blanketed only when below -20F. Mini and Cushingoid pony own blankets but have only worn them a handful of times in extreme conditions.

[fjordmom]

I had what might be a similar experience when I started leasing my 2nd Fjord 2 1/2 yrs ago. Moved from southern Michigan to northern Michigan in April (similar climates as MA to VT move; getting snow pellets right now.). He had not been clipped or blanketed. Had a decent coat of summer hair, but didn’t grow much of a winter coat the first 2 winters.

He is an extremely easy keeper and a bit of a “chunky monkey.” Similar management to your QH: daytime turnout on full grass, with a muzzle though, as his weight must be managed. Hay, in slow feed net, in stall at night and during winter turnout. No grain just ration balancer and flax along with some supplements.

This year for the first time, he is growing a bit of a winter coat, although he was much slower to start than my other Fjord who is already a yak.

Two maybe important things:
First, I think the added flax has helped the quality of his hair coat in general (beautiful and glossy this summer), Second, this past spring we discovered he has a low thyroid hormone level and is now on a low dose of Thyro-L. I wonder if this influenced his coat growth. This guy also has sweet itch and although we have been able to combat that better and better each year, this summer he took a huge jump in seeing symptoms reduced. When he did have flares, he recovered from the skin lesions MUCH faster.

Given your horse’s age, you may want to start testing some hormone levels. My guy is early teens. Vet and I decided to test thyroid since we were monitoring my 23 yr old, who is IR, pre-cushings, and also low thyroid. Given the breed propensity for some of these issues, we were just looking for a baseline when we discovered the low thyroid.

Unless he is truly shivering or looking/acting like he is cold, I wouldn’t worry too much. Mine take some pretty brutal winter weather without blankets and don’t seem to care one bit. Biggest reason I would (and only occasionally do) use a sheet/blanket is to keep them dry when we get that really nasty cold sleet during the transition months (mostly November and March). Soaking wet and cold more of a problem than just dry cold. They can use the sheds to get out of the wind or snow, but rarely do.

Leaving him without a blanket is probably more likely to entice his body to grow a thicker coat, but really it’s day-length regulated, not so much temperature sensitive.

[Savannah_KP]

@fjordmom, thanks! I have been thinking of getting some baseline testing on him after watching him balloon up over the summer - in particular IR. He is my boyfriend’s horse and I wanted to get him a grazing muzzle, but the bf claims he doesn’t need it and claims he is just not exercised enough. Some hormone tests (and doctor’s orders) will help my case, I believe.

[Guilherme]

Regarding hair growth, we have one Marchador horse that was born in Brazil (about 1300 miles from the Equator) and she hairs up like a Yak. My senior mare, born in Ocala of imported parents, grows a short but reasonably dense and water resistant coat. Her two offspring in the pasture with her grow somewhat less dense coats but still have some water resistance in the coat.

Between roughly +15F and +60F a normal, healthy horse will have a neutral heat budget. Outside that range they need some help, but wind breaks and shade are usually enough. For places where cold or heat is more extreme then more aggressive management will likely be required. If rainfall is heavy then more aggressive management may be required, particularly if heavy rain is followed by a sharp drop in temperature.

In horses, who evolved on the short grass steppe, heat is a bigger enemy than cold. Excessive blanketing can cause more problems than the cold, itself, will cause.

If the human removes the protective qualities of the horse’s coat (by clipping, excessive bathing, etc.) then the human must supply an artificial protection to replace the natural one they removed. But even if this is done the horse is still an essentially cold weather creature and the replacement should be consistent with the horse and the climate the horse lives in.

In this, as in most things equine, deal with the horse in front of you, not the one in a book or video or slick ad for horse rugs.

G.

[2DogsFarm]

I operate on the @S1969 Theory - horses let me know when/if they need blanketing & no 2 grow Winter coats on the same schedule.

Mini started his yakcoat about a month ago.
Hackney Pony & TWH just plushed up this week when nighttime temps went below 40F.

I had a WB - bred & spent his 1st 15yrs in Florida-like climates - came to me showslick in the Midwest (December 1) & never grew more than a short,plushy coat.
Never showed a need for a blanket either.

[S1969]

@2DogsFarm

I operate on the @S1969 Theory - horses let me know when/if they need blanketing & no 2 grow Winter coats on the same schedule.

Mini started his yakcoat about a month ago.
Hackney Pony & TWH just plushed up this week when nighttime temps went below 40F.

I had a WB - bred & spent his 1st 15yrs in Florida-like climates - came to me showslick in the Midwest (December 1) & never grew more than a short,plushy coat.
Never showed a need for a blanket either.

My WB grows the same type of coat. It’s dense but not long. Plushy is a good descriptive term.

Interestingly (or perhaps not a surprise) - my mare that doesn’t grow a thick coat also needs shoes for protection, even in retirement. The others are barefoot.

[mmeqcenter]

They’re all different, I wouldn’t be concerned.
My 20-year old gelding hasn’t started growing a winter coat yet, and that’s pretty standard for him. He doesn’t get a heavy winter coat, period. The hair gets longer, but doesn’t get much thicker.
My 9-year old mare is already fairly fluffy, which is a bit early for her but not super abnormal. I’ll be clipping her soon. She gets more “fluffy” or “plushy” than long, typically.
I have a generous blanket schedule and I’ve never had one of my horses be overheated or sweaty, but they sure do shiver if I stray from it. My horses are weenies, I guess.
If you don’t want to blanket, great. If you do, great. To each their own.

[warriorhorse]

My quarter horse gelding is still pretty much slick and i live in the far northern state. Highs have been 40 lows, low 30s to high 20s. Horse is just fine never has shivered yet ,pretty much has his summer coat. Other horse’s around here are hairy yays already.

[Cynical25]

My Arab is already a fluff ball (and will become a wooly mammoth despite Texas warmth) and my QH is currently sleek and will barely grow any coat - this is the norm for my two.