December Blog

To blanket….or not?

This month I am going to throw out a few ideas about blanketing.  I am going to state some of the issues with each, so you can make an informed decision that is best for you and your horse.

Nature intended horses to have a built in blanket.  Here in the Pacific NW, sometime in August, the gradual shortening of days tell the horse to start growing more hair to get ready for winter.  Horses live in many different situations, from large pasture to small stalls.  Each comes with their own challenges.

People blanket for many different reasons.  It can make the person feel better, thinking their  horse likes a snuggly coat on, cleanliness, health, convenience, etc.

Stalled horses.  Horses confined to stalls are generally unable to move around enough to keep themselves warm when the temperature starts to drop.  Horses are designed to move aprox. 20 miles a day at a walk, regulating their body temperature, and there is no way they can do that in a stall, so blanketing them is a kindness I feel in this situation,  with different thicknesses of blankets available for the different temps.

Pastured horses.  Depending on the acreage of the pasture and pasture mates, horses can and will move more than their stalled counterparts, lessening the need for a blanket, assuming the horse is healthy.  A horse with a pasture mate is more likely to move around more than if he was by himself.

Combo stall/pasture.  Oh yeah, now you get both worlds.  Warmer blanket for when they are standing in the stall, lighter weight for when they have turnout.

Hay.  Free choice hay in either situation is a good idea, and it should be kept in front of them at all times during the cold winter months.  Slow feeder hay bags are a great solution to those horses who stand and eat until all the hay is gone, or for the messy wasteful types.  Slow feeder bags feed as nature intended for horses to eat, slowly and over 18 hours a day.   They help the easy keeper cut down on calories, and and help the hard keeper put more weight on.  Heat is generated by the digestion of hay, and is what keeps them warm. A constant supply of food also helps prevent ulcers, and alleviate boredom.

Snow.  Horses in extreme cold, ie. Alaska, do fine in -30 degree weather as long as they have a place to be out of the wet and have a windbreak, as long as they have enough food, and have acclimated.  Dry snow can be insulating, so don’t brush it off.  Wet heavy snow....blah, make sure they have a covered area or blanket them until it is over.  :)

Clipping.  If you choose to clip your horse, blanketing is a must.  A mild trace clip would be the only clip you might be able to get away with not blanketing.  A trace clip removes the air along the high sweat areas that have major blood vessels.

Once you start the warm blanket cycle for the winter, you must continue it, for the horse will adapt by growing less hair, not enough to keep them warm should you remove the blanket for any amount of time.  Blankets will weaken the mini muscles that make their hair stand up to insulate them, reducing the ability for them to ‘fluff’ their hair for insulation against the cold. You will want to have more than one warm blanket and a variety of other thicknesses available as the weather changes, and washing.  For instance, a blanket for 30 degree weather will be too  heavy for a 50 degree day, and will cause them to sweat and be uncomfortable, possibly causing skin issues. Don’t forget to take the blankets off a few times a week to brush your horse and check for skin issues and for weight, your horse can develop rain rot or lose weight really quickly, and you might not notice if you leave the blanket on for long stretches.  

Wind and rain combined can also cause problems, as the horse gets soaked to the skin and can’t stay warm.  A temporary rainsheet for the unblanketed horse in this situation would be nice, as they would have to burn less calories to stay warm, cutting down on the feed bill.

Hopefully this article will help you choose what is best for your horse.