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Winter Woes - It ’ s Coming To a Barn Near You
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 easythe 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 8 • Walking On 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 .