By Ron Petracek
For some horse owners, it is time to pull out the blankets and start getting them repaired for another winter. For others, they had to pull them out a long time ago because they have already seen snow!
For some of us, we will be watching our horses grow a thick and wooly winter coat. This topic brings up an interesting question, is it better to blanket or better for horses to blanket themselves? Well, for some horse owners this question is easy-the horses have to rough it! For others, their precious babies will be wrapped from head to toe.
The fact of the matter is, whatever you decide, you will want to stick with it. If you begin blanketing your horses, you will want to keep them blanketed on days that are around thirty or below. Leaving a blanket on a horse during a warm winter day may make him get too hot. Many horse owners' will pull the blanket off during the day and put it on at night. Also, if you decide to blanket you may need to invest in an extra blanket. The reason for the extra blanket is because if you get a heavy rain and the blanket gets soaked, you are going to need a spare while the other one dries out.
For those horses that are going to have to rough it, they will be just fine too. Horses grow a thick and wooly winter coat for a reason. In the wild they didn't get blankets, so they grew a thick winter coat. This winter coat will fluff up on the cold days, which provides a layer of heat all over the horse's body. Even when it snows, the horse will be okay. The snow will actually make an extra layer of insulation and the horse will be nice and warm underneath the snow layer. The only time you may have some concern for these horses is when the temperature drops below eighteen degrees Fahrenheit. This is when the horse has a harder time keeping himself warm.
You should be concerned for both horses if you have a hard pelting rain. The horse with the wet blanket will need a new one and the horse with a wooly coat may loose some insulation. The coat of the horse may become saturated and he may need to dry out in a warm barn for a while. The horse with the blanket will need a new blanket as the wet blanket will lie his hair down and allow the cold water to make contact with the skin.
Either method you choose, your horses will be just fine. Even weanlings and yearlings will be warm with their own wooly winter coat. You may be concerned for the foals that were born late in the year and they may benefit from a foal blanket and a well-ventilated barn.
Don't forget to keep water troughs broken up if you don't have heaters in them. You will want to insure that your horses have access to plenty of fresh water, as they tend to drink less when it is cold. If you do have heaters in your water troughs, you will want to check them and ensure that there are not any shorts, which may cause them to malfunction. Horses with slightly warm water are more likely to drink more as well.
Stop on by our horse forum at horsechitchat.com and let us know how you solve the winter woes at your place. Or just follow the link in our resource box below. Go ahead new friends are just a click away.
| Ron Petracek - Raised in southern Idaho, Ron loves horses and the outdoors. If you would like to join in and learn from the vast resources at our equine forum please visit http://www.horsechitchat.com Looking to buy, sell or trade something equine realted? Just visit our huge network and get 12 sites for Free! Click here => http://www.Click4equine.com |
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