Overblanketing???

[SquishTheBunny]

So its going to be -25F with the windchill this week. I have one horse who lives outside, one inside.

Outdoor Horse:
Double weight fleece liner +
350g Stable Blanket +
300g Bucas Stable Blanket +
420g Rambo Supreme +
100g hood

Indoor Horse:
Heavy weight, fleece lined baker +
400g Rambo Duo + 100g hood
300g High neck turnout (added to above for outside turnout)

Is this overblanketing them? The outdoor boy isnt clipped, but doesnt have a thick coat as he is in regular work. The indoor horse is practiclly naked.

I have ALWAYS blanketed on the heavy side (always turnout, on top of stableblankets), but in hindsight, wonder if LESS is more?? Want to keep them warm and toasty, without allowing too much fur growth. Obviously I cant just rip of layeres now (they are used to lots!) but for next year, should I change my practice? Average Jan/Feb is around 0 to -5 here, but nights drop to -20F or more with the windchill

[fordtraktor]

They should let you know if they are comfortable. I use the following signs -- If they feel "humid," not necessarily damp, under the blankets, you are overblanketing. If their ears are cold, you are underblanketing.

That does sound like a lot of blanket. I wonder if you are getting the full benefit of the insulation, as the other blankets are probably weighing down the fluff, where warmth happens. You might be able to get the same warmth from fewer blankets if that's so.

[sublimequine]

Holy cow, my mare wouldn't even be able to MOVE with that much stuff on. :eek:

Yeah, I'd say waaaaay overblanketing. Even if the horses aren't hot, that's just too much stuff on them.

[TB Fan]

Please tell me you have your two looked at by a chiropracter on a regular basis. That much weight and restriction can do a number on their spine. A friend of mine is an equine masseuse and one of her clients is a higher end show barn. She said most of the horses are so sore probably from all the layering of blankets. That is way more blanket than I would use. My two are nekkid and I live in the NE. The both grow crazt good winter coats though.

[BoysNightOut]

Wow, that seems like wayyyyy to much heavy blanketing to me.

I'd rather have my horse a little too cold than too warm. What you have listed seems like overkill, and the makings of an uncomfortable horse.

[ThoroughbredFancy]

If it were that cold outside it would probably be about 10-20°F in our insulated barn.

For my decently fuzzy TB I would just put him in a stable sheet with his mid-weight on top of it, plop a pile of hay in front of him and call it a day.

I think that is over-blanketing. For the one that is inside I would put on a sheet and a heavy-weight. If he is clipped then he can wear a hood.

For the one living outside I would put on a heavy-weight and a turn-out blanket over it.

I don't think any horse should ever have to wear 4+ items of clothing. :eek:

Just think about how uncomfortable that is for them.


Also, feeling their ears is not always a good indicator of temperature (unless they have a high fever) . I have heard between the hind leg area is better for accessing if they are cold or not. My TB just wears a mid-weight in the barn and when I stick my hand anywhere under that blanket it is quite toasty.

Also, if I blanketed him that much, he would surely get hot and get sick since he is a living barometer. :lol:

[Maybeapril]

I'm picturing the kid in a Christmas Story who couldn't put his arms down after his mom dressed him to go outside.:lol:

[Auventera Two]

Squish - you're nuts girlfriend! :eek: Just put a single heavyweight on and leave it at that. The same temps are coming to WI tomorrow, and my two ponies will be wearing a single midweight, and the arab will wear a single heavyweight.

You've posted before about layering your horse with 1,000+ grams of insulation and you got a couple pages of posts telling you not to do it. Please take the advice.

As for removing layers now in the middle of winter - YES YOU CAN. Your poor beast is probably so miserable that he'd stand on his hind legs and give you a hug and a kiss if you removed a few hundred grams of insulation from the load he has to carry. I can't imagine how sore that horse's withers must be.

[Auventera Two]

I'm picturing the kid in a Christmas Story who couldn't put his arms down after his mom dressed him to go outside.:lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I love that whiny squealing kid, "I can't put my ARMS down!!!"

[vteventer]

and I thought a 400g Heavyweight was too much in Vermont! :eek:

[Simkie]

Yes, you are over blanketing.

[merrygoround]

Squish - you're nuts girlfriend! :eek: Just put a single heavyweight on and leave it at that. The same temps are coming to WI tomorrow, and my two ponies will be wearing a single midweight, and the arab will wear a single heavyweight.

You've posted before about layering your horse with 1,000+ grams of insulation and you got a couple pages of posts telling you not to do it. Please take the advice.

As for removing layers now in the middle of winter - YES YOU CAN. Your poor beast is probably so miserable that he'd stand on his hind legs and give you a hug and a kiss if you removed a few hundred grams of insulation from the load he has to carry. I can't imagine how sore that horse's withers must be.

Your routine isn't fair either.

When horses are cold and dry, they loft their hair coats,(make the hairs stand on end). When you blanket them the hair can no longer stand up. So now you have a horse in a light covering that flattens his hair coat, and he no longer can self-regulate. A wet horse is another scenario, that's why run in sheds are so useful.

And :sigh: a clipped horse is a big headache. :yes:

[vxf111]

I think that's overkill. Even *if* the horses aren't hot under all those layers, the layers have to be impeding movement, and movement is good for the horses (helps their circulation, soundness, temperature regulation, and comfort).

The very most I would ever layer is a single mediumweight and a heavyweight, and I think I probably wouldn't do that except on a clipped horse in truly extrodinary conditions. I think more than 2 layers is a whole lot of bulk and rubbing and probably very uncomfortable.

[Auventera Two]

Your routine isn't fair either.

When horses are cold and dry, they loft their hair coats,(make the hairs stand on end). When you blanket them the hair can no longer stand up. So now you have a horse in a light covering that flattens his hair coat, and he no longer can self-regulate. A wet horse is another scenario, that's why run in sheds are so useful.

And :sigh: a clipped horse is a big headache. :yes:

Bullcrap. I don't believe for a minute that a horse is warmer standing naked in -25 windchill than wearing a midweight blanket with a couple hundred grams of fill. Why do I know this? Because we frequently get -25 windchills, and if I DON'T put the midweights on, my two girls shiver and shake. Put the midweights on and even their ears are warm.

Loft means nothing if the wind is so fierce that it cuts right through their hair coat.

[touchstone-]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I don't put much stock in the windchill. If your horses are inside or wearing windproof turnouts (which it sounds like yours are), the windchill won't affect them much. I'd blanket for the actual air temperature.

If it's a useful point of reference, we're going into the single digits this week and my clipped horse will wear a Rambo heavyweight with a hood and my unclipped horse will wear a Wug-like Dover heavyweight (less fill). Depending on how it goes, I may add a liner for my clipped horse, but I have a feeling he's going to be plenty warm.

[JB]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I don't put much stock in the windchill. If your horses are inside or wearing windproof turnouts (which it sounds like yours are), the windchill won't affect them much. I'd blanket for the actual air temperature.
Agree. Blanket for the air temp if it's the wind chill that has you blanketing in the first place. And even then it depends on the temps and the wind chill. If the horse is fine at a calm -10*F, then given that it doesn't take a whole lot of wind to make the calculated WC down to, say, -30, the horse may not even need a blanket at all. It does depend on the coat though - a short but very dense coat isn't likely to give up much heat at all, but a long, though sparse coat will not hold heat well at all in the lightest breeze.

Squish, omg, really? The combinations you list are good for about temps of Absolute Zero :lol::lol: Your described temps need a heavy blanket, max, and that's for the turned out horse ;) Or, maybe a medium weight with a lightweight on top, which can help trap a bit more warm air inbetween those. The indoor horse doesn't need more than the 300gm blanket, and doesn't need a hood.

Now, if either horse is old or thin or has a terrible coat or is clipped or is injured, then something heavier might (might!) be warranted.

Honestly, a healthy, well-coated horse can stay perfectly warm well below zero if he has enough hay.

what are your actual temps going to be during the -25 wind chill times?

[JB]

Bullcrap. I don't believe for a minute that a horse is warmer standing naked in -25 windchill than wearing a midweight blanket with a couple hundred grams of fill. Why do I know this? Because we frequently get -25 windchills, and if I DON'T put the midweights on, my two girls shiver and shake. Put the midweights on and even their ears are warm.

Loft means nothing if the wind is so fierce that it cuts right through their hair coat.

Agree, and it does depend on the horse. Yes, by putting a blanket on, you're laying the hair down some. But really, even a medium weight blanket is QUITE warm. That is all I put on my guys when we get into the 20's with wind chills in the singles, and I only do that because we just don't often get that cold, so they don't ever really acclimate to it. They probably don't even NEED that, but it does make me sleep better at night, just in case. The OTTB mare probably would need it at those temps, as she just has no body fat. But, as she gets really psycho when she gets cold, I really don't want to take a chance.

[Auventera Two]

Agree. Blanket for the air temp if it's the wind chill that has you blanketing in the first place. And even then it depends on the temps and the wind chill. If the horse is fine at a calm -10*F, then given that it doesn't take a whole lot of wind to make the calculated WC down to, say, -30, the horse may not even need a blanket at all. It does depend on the coat though - a short but very dense coat isn't likely to give up much heat at all, but a long, though sparse coat will not hold heat well at all in the lightest breeze.

Squish, omg, really? The combinations you list are good for about temps of Absolute Zero :lol::lol: Your described temps need a heavy blanket, max, and that's for the turned out horse ;) Or, maybe a medium weight with a lightweight on top, which can help trap a bit more warm air inbetween those. The indoor horse doesn't need more than the 300gm blanket, and doesn't need a hood.

Now, if either horse is old or thin or has a terrible coat or is clipped or is injured, then something heavier might (might!) be warranted.

Honestly, a healthy, well-coated horse can stay perfectly warm well below zero if he has enough hay.

what are your actual temps going to be during the -25 wind chill times?

Of course windchill only affects you if you're actually in the wind. ;) :lol: But I thought that's what we were talking about. The horse being outside......

Our actuals are supposed to be 0 to single digits. Not uncommon for WI at all. Many mornings I wake up and the digital thermometer outside says it's -1 or -3. When it's really damned cold, it's like -17 to -20, actual. That doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's brutal. Couple that with windchills and horses MUST wear blankets, regardless of their fluffy thick coats.

[Rhonda]

Squish
I'm east of you and the most any of the horses wear is one mid weight and a heavy weight on top and he's completely clipped. The rest have on a stable sheet or light blanket and a good waterproof mid or heavy depending on wether the owner has done any clipping. The broodmares (2 grow decent coats, one not so much) are all wearing mid weight blankets just to help cut the wind and honestly more to make the humans feel good ;). They spend the cold days in front of their sheds soaking in the sun and eating hay.

I'll check the one that doesn't grow a good coat and if I have to will add just a light rain style sheet but she probably will be fine. The 4 nekkid kids will just fluff their wooly mammoth coats and eat their heads off like normal. Now me I'm going to need a million layers and if I fall I won't be getting up without some help. ;)

Oh and JB it's supposed to be about a -30 C (-22 F) windchill on Thursday with a temperature of -18 (around 0 F). Still got a room for me and a few fatties??? :winkgrin:

[JB]

Oh and JB it's supposed to be about a -30 C (-22 F) windchill on Thursday with a temperature of -18 (around 0 F). Still got a room for me and a few fatties??? :winkgrin:

any time! :D

Our cold snap this week, high in the upper 20's, will probably feel balmy to you :lol:

[Rhonda]

I'm leaving tomorrow! :yes: I know Otie would be appreciative with her sparse little pathetic coat. :lol:

[LuvMyTB]

Yikes. PLEASE take some of those blankets off. I've never heard of so many layers on a single horse. :eek:

My unclipped but not very furry TB mare is outside 8 hrs a day right now. She's wearing a heavyweight Baker. I will most likely add a polarfleece liner tomorrow to add some extra warmth--she's really sensitive to the cold.

That's it.

[SquishTheBunny]

Thats what I thought!!! People around here are absolutley insane with blanketing. I came from a show barn that seriously had horses bundled up inside like you wouldnt believe.

NORMALLY, the outdoor horse (who is a hard keeper) wears a stable blanket + rambo supreme. So, not too much weight on his back. But, he does feel the cold. Last year I had him JUST in a rambo supreme and he dropped SO much weight (free fed hay, grained with buckeye 2x per day) and it was because he was cold. I think a hood would have made a difference last year too, maybe he didnt like having a wet cold neck.

However, the indoor horse I could lighten up a lot. He is clipped and when outside does nothing but stand at the gate wanting to come in. But, he can suck it up, and go run around to warm up!!

I will definately lighten up on the indoor horse, and maybe take the outdoor guy down to just a stable + turnout?? I just dont want him to drop weight like he did last year, he is already a hard keeper.

[didgery]

I have an outside horse with a run-in, sparse coat. He was wearing a med. weight until we had temps dropping into the 0 degree F range, at which point we added a second med. weight under the first. If I had a single heavyweight I'd use that instead. I'm going to take off the second layer today, as temps are finally warmer and this driving cold rain has slowed.

[Ibex]

I think it's really going to depend on the horse, and how damp it is! (Although yes, it seems like you may have a little too much on your guys :lol: )

We blanket here (lower mainland BC) almost as heavily as we did in Ontario. It's not as cold per say, but everyone, including the horses, seem to feel it a lot more. When we had a cold snap before Xmas I had mine in a 400gm stable blanket, with a 400gm turnout over top. One night I added a fleece cooler as well. :eek:

Usually this time of year it's either a single turnout with a light liner, or right now I have her in the 400gm stable blanket with a lined 3-season turnout over top (no fluffy insulation, but it does have a heavier liner).

[betsyk]

I"m on my way out to play Barbie-horse right now... we're going to have the same weather as A2, hoping it might break 0F during the day by Friday. Thursday night is supposed to be the worst, at least -15 before windchill. The two young guys who are outside without any manmade shelter are going to be in their heavies and midweights (2 layers, both windproof) and the older guys who get stalls at night will have heavies with light liners and rainsheets over top (why the rainsheets? their heavies are missing tail flaps and some hardware...). The elderly Arab who wears a blanket in September is bundled up beyond belief but he's the outlier - he'd prefer I just move him to a heated stable and let him stay indoors til spring, but it's not an option! I'll probably keep him in some of the days so he won't blow through so many calories. He can't wear enough blankets to break even when it's really cold.