What blanket to use for -25F windchills.. AND 38F actual?!

[sublimequine]

So it's supposed to be -25F with windchill tomorrow night. Three days later, it's supposed to be 38F actual, and drizzly/icy. I only get to the barn once a week because I'm actually away visiting family right now, and the barn is 2 hours away.

Normally, I'd double blanket tomorrow night, then change blankets accordingly as it warmed up. But I can't do that; no one will change blankets for me at my barn, so I need to blanket with the entire week in mind.

What shall I do, COTH? She's in a midweight blanket right now. I have TO sheets, stable sheets, midweights, and heavyweights. She lives outside 24/7, has a shelter but occasionally gets bullied out of it. She gets grass/alf mix hay 2 or 3x a day, not free range.

I don't want her to be cold tomorrow night, but I don't want her baking alive later in the week. :confused::confused::confused:

[Daydream Believer]

I'd put a heavyweight on her and not double up in that case. Is there no one who would help you with her? Who's feeding her?

[sublimequine]

I'd put a heavyweight on her and not double up in that case. Is there no one who would help you with her? Who's feeding her?

I'm afraid she may be too warm in the heavyweight later in the week, though.

There's really no one to change the blankets, no. The BO won't change them, and the stable guy has a hard time handling my mare sometimes, so I don't wanna ask him (she's a little flightly at times, and I don't want him out there in -20F windchills fighting my mare to get another blanket on or off).

[Daydream Believer]

Well, if you don't put a heavy enough blanket on her for that extreme of cold, you are doing more harm than good as she will not be able to use her own haircoat to fluff up and insulate her from that wind. That is the downside to blanketing. You basically are replacing their coat with the one you put on them. The upside's are obvious for a horse working in the winter but you have to be able to adjust...more blankets when colder, less when not so cold, etc...I guess I'd rather she was a bit warmer than too cold in that extreme weather. Can she stand in the shade later in the week if it warms up?

Gosh...your BO sounds a bit less than ideal if she won't help someone with blankets over the holidays or when you are on vacation. I do blanketing for pasture boarded horses as needed as part of my board. Can you offer to pay her a tip to do it over the holidays for you?

[sublimequine]

Well, if you don't put a heavy enough blanket on her for that extreme of cold, you are doing more harm than good as she will not be able to use her own haircoat to fluff up and insulate her from that wind. That is the downside to blanketing. You basically are replacing their coat with the one you put on them. The upside's are obvious for a horse working in the winter but you have to be able to adjust...more blankets when colder, less when not so cold, etc...I guess I'd rather she was a bit warmer than too cold in that extreme weather. Can she stand in the shade later in the week if it warms up?

Gosh...your BO sounds a bit less than ideal if she won't help someone with blankets over the holidays or when you are on vacation. I do blanketing for pasture boarded horses as needed as part of my board. Can you offer to pay her a tip to do it over the holidays for you?

BO is pretty strict on his "I don't blanket" policy. I don't blame him though really.. if he does it for me, he has to do it for the whole barn. And he just doesn't have the time for that.

I may put her in the heavyweight, and ask her pasturemate's owner to check on her for me later in the week to make sure she doesn't get hot. Her pasturemate's owner is out there every day, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

[sublimequine]

Anybody else? :)

[deltawave]

Anything that effectively blocks wind is going to pretty much negate windchill. If the horse has any means of getting out of the worst of the wind (that might mean a tree, a line of brush like in my paddock, or just turning tail) then windchill isn't going to be a huge factor, as long as the horse isn't wet. Just my opinion and observations--as long as I'm decently covered for the ambient temperature, windchill pretty much only affects the uncovered bits like face and nose. I daresay it's much the same for horses. :)

[Simkie]

I don't think there is any way to blanket the horse for both temps. I would definitely ask another boarder to check on her, and perhaps pay $20 or whatever to swap out blankets when the temp changes.

[deltawave]

If the 38-degree day forecast is drizzly/icy, the horse will probably not roast. I find my horses are WAY more unhappy and seem colder on days like those than dry, super-cold days, even with a lot of wind.

I'd go with the heavyweight; she won't be too warm on a sub-40 day if there's precipitation.

[jn4jenny]

I don't think there is any way to blanket the horse for both temps. I would definitely ask another boarder to check on her, and perhaps pay $20 or whatever to swap out blankets when the temp changes.

Agreed. While leaving a horse in a heavyweight in 38 degrees isn't ideal, you'd be surprised how much the breathable nylon linings help. I once went running out to the barn on a work break, absolutely convinced that my horse would be sweating under his heavyweight in 35-degree weather (he would normally be wearing a turnout sheet with no fill at 35 degrees). Nope, he was totally fine. There was a very little bit of moisture IN the blanket where it had been wicked away from his skin, but he was dry as a bone.

[SquishTheBunny]

My pasture horse right now (about 15F) wears a fleece sheet, heavyweight blanket liner (550g) + heavyweight rambo (420g), plus hoods. I think because the blankets are breathable, he doesnt overheat in the warmer weather.

He wears these anywhere from the 20F range, to 5F, then if it drops below 5 he gets another blanket liner.

He is on the thinner side, so I would rather have him warm. I am in Canada, and its friggin cold here. My outdoor horse is bundled up just as much as I would want to be!! I have NEVER seen him overheat under the blankets.

[ivy62]

My fall back is a WOOL blanket and a turnout sheet over if it help keep it from the elements. Wool naturally will not only heat your horse but dry them also...It also will insulate even when wet....I use a wool blanket as a cooler for I clip my horse to work in the winter and he still sweats in spots, I only trace clip,...I use a heavyweight when the temps are really cold but the breathable part is true but if the sun is out he will get warm not hot just warm...
Sounds like in your case a heavyweight would be okay, Can the B/O throw some hay in a seperate pile for your mare?

[sublimequine]

A2; I only double blanket when the windchills and even actual temps are getting to the extreme like this. For central IL, we don't get sub-zero actual temps all THAT often. We kinda meander around single digits most of the time. I can count on one hand the number of days my mare is double blanketed per year.

I think what I will do, as it seems a general consensus is get somebody to check on her once it's warmer, is I'll put her heavyweight on tonight, and then drop a note to her pasturemate's owner and ask her to make sure my mare isn't sweating later in the week. I don't THINK she is going to get too hot, as the 38F day is supposed to also come with icey freezing rain and 18-20MPH winds. But I will leave her midweight blanket at the barn, just in case a change needs to happen.

Also, all her blankets are breathable. She is not clipped, but does not grow a very impressive coat. She does grow SOME, but not a whole lot.

Her heavyweight blanket is also 300g fill, so not a super duper heavyweight with like 400+g fill. The blanket she has on right now, the midweight, is 200g.

[sublimequine]

My fall back is a WOOL blanket and a turnout sheet over if it help keep it from the elements. Wool naturally will not only heat your horse but dry them also...It also will insulate even when wet....I use a wool blanket as a cooler for I clip my horse to work in the winter and he still sweats in spots, I only trace clip,...I use a heavyweight when the temps are really cold but the breathable part is true but if the sun is out he will get warm not hot just warm...
Sounds like in your case a heavyweight would be okay, Can the B/O throw some hay in a seperate pile for your mare?

She gets her fair share of hay, as she's only pastured with one other horse, and they eat out of a rectangular feeder, so they each have their "side" to eat from. It's not free range, but considering they're fed a mix hay, and not pure grass hay, I wouldn't want her getting free range mix hay anyways. She's tubby enough as is. :lol:

[ivy62]

She gets her fair share of hay, as she's only pastured with one other horse, and they eat out of a rectangular feeder, so they each have their "side" to eat from. It's not free range, but considering they're fed a mix hay, and not pure grass hay, I wouldn't want her getting free range mix hay anyways. She's tubby enough as is. :lol:

If she is tubby then she is not cold either. They will burn calories to stay warm first and foremost. I think she will be fine as long as she is not cold AND wet......
Good luck

[Pookah]

Move south! :-) In NC, we are fortunately not faced with these types of decisions--38 is pretty cold in my book! And, it depends very much on the horse, mine would be wearing a heavyweight at 38 and probably about 4 blankets at anything below 15 degrees if it got that cold here. At -25 he would demand to be brought into the house :-). So keeping in mind that I have a very Southern perspective, I would think that your horse probably won't bake at 38 degrees. But, if my sense of temps is off, and you really think it will be too hot, I would beg or pay the barn owner or a friend to just change the blanket. Frankly, it's not worth ruining the time with your family by stressing over the blanket.

[deltawave]

True, if the horse is fat, cold weather is a great diet plan. I partially clip my Shetland in the fall for just that reason. She can munch all the hay she likes, and I still have at least a reasonably slim pony in the spring time. :)

[LuvMyTB]

sublime, I feel your pain! :yes:

I deal with this every winter. I also have a BO/BM who strictly does NOT change blankets, and in the winter the barn is often practically deserted so there's no one to pay to change blankets for me. So aggravating.

I have learned over the last few years that my best bet is to leave her heavyweight on her, no other layers, and just let her be. Like your mare, mine is an OTTB/former jumper who was clipped for many years and does not grow a very decent winter coat.

The heavyweight keeps her warm on the coldest days, and I have never found her to be too warm when the temps warm up a bit--even on Sundays, when the barn doesn't turn out and she's in a barn aisle that holds around 30-35 degrees when it's closed up tight.

This very issue literally caused me to lose sleep the first few winters I owned my horse. I have FINALLY--like, just this year LOL--learned to let it go and figure out that she'll be fine. Your girl will be too!

[sublimequine]

UPDATE! :)

Well I went out there last night, and while my mum and I were bundled up to the nines and had those hand warmers in our gloves and STILL got cold, we went out there to see my mare standing OUTSIDE her shelter, looking over at us like, "Well what're you guys shiverin for?!" :lol:

It looks like the BO threw them extra hay, and I tossed them an additional flake as well. Like I said, it's mix hay, so having extra of it I'm sure really kept em toasty. :eek:

After I dislodged the ice from the hinges of the gate, I went in and ran my hand under her blanket. Warm n snug as a bug in a rug! :)

So all this worrying for nothing. I didn't even HAVE to change blankets. The midweight was doing just fine.

I guess I just need to stop worrying.. :lol:

[Penthilisea]

My two cents? A waterproof sheet over a midweight blanket.

A wet horse is a cold horse, period. If she sweats in a heavy weight she will end up colder on the "warm" day then she was on the lower temp days with windchills. If anything ask the BO to throw her some extra hay on the colder days- forage keeps a horse warm!

:)

[goodgal]

I must say, this is the ONLY time of year that I am glad I live in Florida. Here I am shivering at 48 degrees tonight and blanketing my horses, worried if they are cold! :lol:

[Mariequi]

Dublin just has her midweight Rambo on below 40, even with the -3 to -10 of last night, which is the coldest it's been here in 2 years. It's 15 years old and still waterproof. Every year I know I'm going to feel wet horse after the first good rain and still no. She's in a pasture where she can go to the bottom of the hill and get out of a wind. Also a run-in (that they rarely use). I would like a rainsheet with hood for the winter wet we get here sometimes to put over the MW and also to be lite enough to be her only cover for the just cold/wet enough times. She's not clipped, but not overly furry either. She also comes in about 7 hours a day and has plenty of hay. Is an easykeeper and keeps amoving. Bless her. I feel okay with the MW, but if we had a lot of this minus stuff, I'd be looking for a HW.

[whbar158]

I don't even own a heavyweight here in NC, and thats with my horse clipped all year! Usually in december/jan/feb/march what I do to help out my BO since my horse is usually the only one who gets clipped all winter is I have a wool blanket that he will wear all the time and get his midweight and sheet changed over it. He also rarely goes out in the wet because he doesn't have shelter in his paddock so he goes out in the indoor if its raining, and is in at night. Personally I think the BO over blankets and causes herself a lot of trouble doing so. Its a lesson barn and most of the horses have blankets and some of them are heavy! And some of these horses are very hairy and would do fine pretty much all winter with nothing. She does want to keep them covered to help them stay cleaner (it gets really really muddy at her place), personally I think she could do TO sheets for most of them and they would be happy. My horse tries to take off his blankets if hes hot, and hes quite beefy so even clipped we try not to over blanket him, helps shed some pounds!

[GallopGal]

I have a fleece lined blanket that is water proof. I use this blanket for a very wide range of temps. It keeps him warm enough but he hardly sweats in it ever.

[twofatponies]

This discussion answered my question, too! I am taking care of the horses at the boarding barn this week, and while it was below zero the last couple days, tomorrow it will be in the 40s, but windy and rainy. One woman's big draft cross didn't wear a blanket until the cold snap, but I worried about taking it off and leaving him with nothing on tomorrow, when he would end up soaking wet. His blanket is just a midweight and that's all he has, so I am now thinking to just leave it on through the windy rainy spell, and then take it off after that when the weather settles down. My own horses have lights, mids and heavies, so I'll switch them to mids tomorrow morning.

[secretariat]

In response to original question:

1. Best blanket -- hair, and time to adapt to the local environment if moved.
2. Wind chill -- Deltawave said it well, block the damned wind. We have run-in sheds with the closed side upwind to normal direction.
3. Rain/sleet -- worst possible. Our horses appear happy in even the coldest temperatures. It's when they're wet, particularly if there's a wind, that they can be in danger. Need roof/stall/run-in shed for protection even at 40oF.

I understand the BO's position. I personally will NOT blanket either. IMO, unless a horse is body clipped the blanket is for the owner, not the horse.

But there must be someone knowledgeable on any facility, and that person must be able/willing to take action when red alerts (IDLH -- immediately dangerous to life and health) occur. If the horse is shivering, action must be taken.

[sublimequine]

In response to original question:

1. Best blanket -- hair, and time to adapt to the local environment if moved.
2. Wind chill -- Deltawave said it well, block the damned wind. We have run-in sheds with the closed side upwind to normal direction.
3. Rain/sleet -- worst possible. Our horses appear happy in even the coldest temperatures. It's when they're wet, particularly if there's a wind, that they can be in danger. Need roof/stall/run-in shed for protection even at 40oF.

I understand the BO's position. I personally will NOT blanket either. IMO, unless a horse is body clipped the blanket is for the owner, not the horse.

But there must be someone knowledgeable on any facility, and that person must be able/willing to take action when red alerts (IDLH -- immediately dangerous to life and health) occur. If the horse is shivering, action must be taken.

Blanketing my mare is NOT for me. It IS for my mare. If I don't blanket her, she WILL shiver. You yourself said if the horse is shivering, action must be taken. :rolleyes:

If I could save the money I spend on all her blankets, I would. But I won't have my horse out in the cold, the wind, and the wet just because I don't "believe in blanketing", or any of that nonsense. She doesn't always get in the shelter if the other horse bullies her, and I live in central IL; 30MPH winds here are an everyday occurance.

[deltawave]

Even if she's bullied out of the run-in, she can still stand in its lee side and get out of the wind, right?

I went out to stand in front of the thick brush where my horses spend a large portion of their days today--it was 15 degrees with a moderate wind (20mph) and the difference was HUGE. They definitely prefer this spot for a reason! They still get snowed on hugely, but the windbreak is what they prefer over standing under a roof where it's drier but windier. :yes:

[sublimequine]

Even if she's bullied out of the run-in, she can still stand in its lee side and get out of the wind, right?

I went out to stand in front of the thick brush where my horses spend a large portion of their days today--it was 15 degrees with a moderate wind (20mph) and the difference was HUGE. They definitely prefer this spot for a reason! They still get snowed on hugely, but the windbreak is what they prefer over standing under a roof where it's drier but windier. :yes:

No, she can't. Basically the only part of the shelter that is open to her is the inside of it. It's kinda flush with the fencing. Like this:

____| |____

With the horizontal lines being the fencing, and the vertical lines being the shelter walls. It's not the greatest designed paddock ever, but it does drain extremely well at least.

[deltawave]

That's a bummer. :(

[sublimequine]

That's a bummer. :(

Totally. I agree with you too, in other pasture setups where the shelter is TOTALLY in the field, the shelter itself is empty and all the horses are standing next to it.

Ah well I suppose. She gets in the shelter when she REALLY wants to, as I've seen her do it. I guess she just doesn't wanna bother pressing the issue all the time, only when the wind is REALLY howling or it's raining REALLY hard. I just wish she'd assert herself a little more! :lol:

[sublimequine]

And NOW I have yet ANOTHER blanketing quandry. This next week is going from supposedly high 40s, even low 50s.. to the low teens and maybe even one night back into the single digits. Man, I hate this weather. :lol:

I'm thinking TO sheet for the next week, as it's supposed to be in the 30s and 20s the majority of the time. Perhaps TO sheet with fleece sheet underneath? Oh, I don't know. :lol:

[ivy62]

My best suggestion is invest in a WOOL blanket they are amazing and use a waterproof breatheable t/o sheet over it. Wool has some amazing qualities that all the new stuff dosen't do...I love mine....

[sublimequine]

My best suggestion is invest in a WOOL blanket they are amazing and use a waterproof breatheable t/o sheet over it. Wool has some amazing qualities that all the new stuff dosen't do...I love mine....

You know, I've been looking around for a wool blanket, and haven't had much luck finding one under like, $200. Am I missing something, or are they just really expensive? :confused:

[ivy62]

2 years ago I bought them on ebay for 42 dollars and they real blankets not coolers...or look for someone selling an old Newmarket one as long as there are no moth holes in it...Keep looking. what size do you need just in case I come across one? I love mine!

[sublimequine]

2 years ago I bought them on ebay for 42 dollars and they real blankets not coolers...or look for someone selling an old Newmarket one as long as there are no moth holes in it...Keep looking. what size do you need just in case I come across one? I love mine!

An 81 or 82. If ya find anything, let me know! :)

[ivy62]

just checked ebay: let me know if it comes through check with the item number....

100% WOOL WINTER HORSE BLAZER BLANKET RUG HEAVY RED 82" Item number: 250346635044

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Product Type : Horse Blankets, Sheets Accessory Type : Care & Grooming
Size : 82 in. Color : Black/Red
Sport : Equestrian