Blanketing for winter?
I usually didnt blanket my horses, but one of them is older and we don’t want him losing any weight trying to keep warm over winter. The other one i ride everyday cold or hot and often times in the winter with his thick winter coat i’d be stuck with a cooler on him for hours. I have two questions.
Horse #1 – The older one. He can grow a nice winter coat, however we are going to blanket him. We won’t be riding him this summer, or this winter. Should we put a lightweight on for fall and then in winter put a heavier one underneath the lightweight?? Can i put a regular stable blanket under the waterproof lightweight??
horse #2 – I do not want any coat on him at all. Should i go the nine yards with a neck cover on the blanket aswell? What weight blanket should go on him in fall and winter???
i know its not natural to blanket, but i decided to last year after it got bad. So any info and links would be great. Anyone know of any good deals on blankets/coolers etc?
thank you both! I would take the not ride as hard into consideration, but i just sent him to training for a month and i want him to keep tuned all winter. i probably won’t clip him, just let him get that little fuzz.
thanks so much
Asked by:brlracer
I wouldn’t worry too much about your older horse if it’s growing good thick coat. Give it more hay if you’re worried. That is what helps keep them warm, the digesting of food and hay takes longer and produces more heat. Blanketing can cause problems. We’ve had it cause severe rain rot, because it wasn’t that cold and the horse would sweat a little and the warm moist environment under the blanket caused rain rot to form over his entire body. Also, our older horse couldn’t lift his tail as high because of the blanket and frequently had to have the **** cleaned from his legs. We won’t be blanketing next year unless it gets down to around 20. You can actually interfere with there natural heating system by blanketing too much. Their body is trying to warm their neck and legs and cool their torso. As for the other horse I would let him grow a coat and just keep it well groomed. This will prevent the need for blanketing. If you do shave him then you’ll need blanketing anywhere you’ve taken away his coat. I’d just not ride him as hard and let him cool down on the return ride. You’ll have a blanket on just as long or longer than a cooler and yet again the wet and warm can easily breed bacteria.
Horse #1 – don’t blanket him in the fall. Not sure what part of the country you’re from, but wait until the temperatures get below freezing before putting a blanket on him (around Christmas time in the southern PA area). If you start to blanket in the fall, he won’t grow his winter coat in. You have to let him go thorough a few chilly nights to stimulate the hair to grow. After you start blanketing, if the weather gets really nasty you can add stable blankets under the water proof one. Just make sure he isn’t getting hot.
Horse #2 – Yes, you should get a neck cover if you don’t want him growing a winter coat. In the fall, start him with a light stable blanket overnight when the weather gets cool. As it gets colder, start leaving the blanket on all day. Shift to a medium weight blanket when the weather starts to get nippy, and a heavy weight (or double blanket with the medium and a stable blanket) when the temperature drops below freezing. He is still going to get a bit fuzzy, so you can body clip him when he gets bad (January or February. Any later, and you’ll damage his summer coat). If you clip him, make sure you add an extra blanket afterwards.
I’m not sure if this will help you but if you bring your second horse in at night leave the lights on in his stall. Horses shed when the days get longer so leaving the lights on until later at night will cause him to loose his winter coat early. It’s funny but it works.
Horse #1. Absolutely you should blanket him. Horses use their calories to keep warm and older horses don’t metabolize that well so would end up losing weight in order to keep warm. However, since he does have a good coat, you don’t want to “overblanket” him. In late fall, you might want to put something lightweight on him at night only.
In the winter, you could use a heavier one. Because even in winter it gets warmer during the day, I typically keep the light weight on all day, but put the heavier one over it at night. If you are using a waterproof blanket, you’d want to put the lighter blanket on underneath to keep it dry. This can make it feel like you are always blanketing/unblanketing, but it’s best.
Finally, remember that the purpose of waterproof blankets is to keep water out – unfortunately, it also keeps the sweat in as it has no place to go. You need to check your horse and make sure he is not sweating under this blankets, especially since he does have some coat.
This first year will sort of be a “test”. Try blanketing like this and keep an eye on his weight. You can adjust your blanketing routine if you see he is dropping too mch weight. Also, you can feed more hay during the winter because eating hay also generates body heat.
Horse #2. Since you ride your horse often, you might want to consider some sort of a body clip of your horse’s hair. I’ve included a link below with the different body clips and maybe a light slip would help. However, if you choose to clip your horse, your will defintely have to blanket him, almost like horse #1.
You didn’t mention where you live or if your horse is indoors or out, but if Horse #2 is not old and is healthy and has a good coat, I don’t think you need to blanket at all, and definitely not something on the neck. However, something lightweight would be OK.
I love fleece coolers as blankets as they are lightweight, warm and absorb sweat. Check the online tack stores like StateLine Tack and Horse.com. There are others with good deals, too, or go to EBay or Craigslist and see if anyone is selling their blankets.