When do you blanket a horse

To Blanket or Not to Blanket Winter is here! How a horse stays warm: Horses have developed very efficient means of staying warm, even in very cold temperatures.

How much winter hair will my horse get? What role does nutrition play? How much cold can a horse tolerate? How to blanket properly: Proper fit is essential to keep your horse warm and safe. TEVApedia Articles. What do I do for an equine runny nose? What is it? How do I treat it? Equine First Aid. What do I need?

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To determine the temperature difference, place one thermometer inside the barn and one outside. Check them late at night or early in the morning. When your horse is in a pasture, does he have access to a shelter to get out of the wind, rain and snow? Fair enough, but how can you tell if your horse is cold?

A shivering horse also burns more calories so is at risk of weight loss. Another way to tell if your horse is cold is to feel his nose and ears with your bare hand. If they are cold to the touch, the rest of him probably is, too. If your horse begins to sweat under his blanket, he can overheat or, if wet hair traps the moisture against his body for too long, he could get chilled. Just place your bare hand on his shoulder inside the blanket. Turn him out with the clothes he needs for the majority of the day.

Breed and type of horse may play a factor in blanketing decisions because some horses naturally run hot or cold. For instance, Thoroughbreds often carry less body weight and grow less coat, so they tend to get colder more easily than heavier breeds. But there are exceptions to every rule.

He always wore one less rug than everybody else. If he decided he was hot, he would take his clothes off in the middle of the night. As a horse metabolizes forage, his digestive system generates heat and helps keep him warm. During winter, when grass is scarce or there is frost or snow on the ground, provide plenty of good-quality hay, both inside the barn and out in the field, whether your horse is wearing a blanket or not.

Age can affect how well horses keep themselves warm. Older horses metabolize food less efficiently and may have a harder time keeping on weight. Some may also have less muscle and grow a thinner winter coat, although this varies from horse to horse. Again, Max says, the best practice is to know your horse. An year-old horse might get cold more easily than one who is It all depends on the individual and his overall health.

In California, you may not blanket until November. The same guideline serves in reverse when it's time to put the blankets away in the spring.

Most owners begin weaning their horses of their layers during the daytime and ultimately celebrate the end of blanketing once nighttime temperatures remain above 50 degrees. In northern or mountainous regions, that may not occur until midsummer. A: Evaluating a blanket's fit is a combination of measuring, testing and "eyeballing. Horse with different body types and shapes may require different styles and brands of blankets.

Proper adjustment of the fasteners is critical to blanket safety. Adjust the surcingle so that you can slide your flat hand between it and your horse's belly. To prevent the leg straps from rubbing the gaskins and to make the blanket more secure, either loop the leg straps through one another before fastening them on the same side or crisscross them by clipping them to the opposite sides of the blanket. A: Shoulder rubs are not necessarily a sign of an ill-fitting blanket.

Just light pressure and friction affect the haircoat, which acts as a buffer to protect the skin from this sort of wear. For some horses, sufficient rubbing may occur in a day's time to change the look of the hair, and irreversible damage for that season's coat can occur almost before you notice.

Typically, in the early stages, patches of hair look roughed up or dull, and once the hair shafts are injured, there's nothing that will mend them. Covering the horse's neck and shoulders with a stretchy "undergarment"--almost like an equine sports bra--absorbs the friction created by the blanket.

Another solution is to line the blanket with a buffer layer. Fleece may also be sewn into the front of the blanket as a permanent modification.

The simplest approach is a daily spritz of silicone grooming spray on the inside of the blanket to decrease the friction against the hair. If a horse gets chafed by his blanket, the marks remain until he sheds. Says Peters, "Some people use vitamin E, aloe vera or other creams and ointments [to encourage hair growth], but I'm not sure that any of them helps.

A: The ideal blanket is lightweight; it "breathes" by allowing the passage of air; it's waterproof; it's insulated to hold heat close to the horse; it resists tears and stains and repels dirt. The more of these qualities a blanket has, the better, but these features come at a cost—hundreds of dollars for designs incorporating the same high-tech fabrics and fabrication techniques used in high-end outdoor wear for people.

Horse owners who choose the new over the traditional justify the higher purchase prices because of the reduced costs for blanket repairs and replacement garments. They are also easier to clean. A: Sweating is the most obvious sign that a horse is overheated, and a blanketed horse sweats first beneath the material, then along the neck and behind the ears. Overheating typically occurs in horses turned out during warming daytime weather in the same heavy blankets needed for still-cold nights.

When temperatures rise from early morning teens to midday 50s, horses in heavy turnout rugs are likely to sweat. Blanketed horses who go on a romp or fear-driven run may also work up a sweat, which then turns clammy and cool under their blankets as they resume standing around in the cold air. On days of significant temperature swings from chilly to warm, err on the side of less turnout clothing.

Horses can raise their temperature to the comfort zone by moving around or basking in a sheltered, sunny spot, but when blanketed they have no cooling alternative other than sweating. Cold horses reveal their discomfort by shivering, which is a reflexive action of the muscles generating more body heat. Clipped horses who are insufficiently blanketed for the current weather conditions can become thoroughly chilled, particularly when they are unable to move around at will.

Heavily covered horses can become chilled if their own sweatiness or rain-soaked blankets press their hair flat and hold the moisture against their skin. Shivering for an hour isn't a health risk, but over several hours, the horse is sapped of energy, his core body temperature begins to drop, and he becomes increasingly vulnerable to infectious or opportunistic diseases. Blankets alone are not adequate protection for outdoor horses through periods of bleak weather and are no substitute for physical shelter against wind and rain, such as sheds and windbreaks.

A: It's best to blanket your horse only after he has cooled down and his hair is dried. Unless the blanket is permeable, it will trap the moisture closer to his skin, slowing the drying period and lengthening the time it takes for a hot horse to return to normal body temperature.

To speed up the drying process you can rub him down with a dry towel. Another tactic is to cover the cooling horse as you walk him with a wool or acrylic cooler, the equine version of a sweatshirt that draws moisture away from the horse's hair and into the fabric, where it then evaporates. You can make do with a blanket of unbreathable material by stuffing a layer of soft straw or hay under the blanket to allow air to pass over the damp coat.

A: A degree temperature change is not cause to pile on more layers or change blankets, particularly when horses are stabled or have outdoor shelter. In times and locales with significant temperature fluctuations--from 15 to 55 degrees in a single day, for example, or in climates where wintertime lows range from 32 degrees to below zero--you'll need several blankets of varying thickness if you're going to keep the horses comfortably covered throughout the season.

Even if a single medium-weight blanket is all your stabled horse needs for the winter, you'll probably find it handy to have an alternate cover in case the primary blanket gets damaged, dirtied or thoroughly soaked.

Greater complexity of blanketing routines--layering formulas and frequent changes--produces management benefits when the horses' comfort and well-being are the guiding principles. At the Hunterdon barn, based in Pittstown, New Jersey, all of the some horses are blanketed except for the turned-out retirees.