Winter Coat - In August - AND HE WAS RIGHT

[luvmytbs]

My 27 yo TB started on his winter coat two weeks ago while it was in the low 90's. NOT A GOOD SIGN!!!!

He always is my winter weather forecaster.

Checked with a friend of mine and two of her horses are starting theirs as well.

I am so not thrilled. :no:

[Ajierene]

Winter coat growth is due to changes in light conditions, not weather.

If he is growing his winter coat earlier this year than last, then you might want to have a vet pull blood - he might have a thyroid or other issue that is causing him to grow a coat.

[unicorndreams21]

Do you think your aged TB may have Cushings perhaps?

[luvmytbs]

Winter coat growth is due to changes in light conditions, not weather.



I am aware of that. ;)
But he has always been dead on in all the years I have had him.
Late coat = mild winter.
Early coat = nasty winter.

His two girlfriends are still nice and slick, the other two boys are "thinking about" starting their coats.

We have had the weirdest summer ever. Rollercoaster temps and more than usual rain.

[ddashaq]

Yup, my arab is thinking about sprouting his as well, especially after last weekend. I was at the barn early both days and all of the horses were fluffed for all they were worth. This is only my second summer in Kentucky and it is NOTHING like last year!

[Equilibrium]

Well I have to keep rugging up the mares due to horrible nasty cold rain and a summer that never was!

Terri

[DeeThbd]

Do you think your aged TB may have Cushings perhaps?

I'll second that idea - definitely worth exploring with your vet.
Dee

[equineartworks]

Katie started sporting some longer hairs last week and Paco is getting thicker as well....

[Wayside]

Yeah, my old gal (28 year old Arab) is getting hers in as well. She does have Cushings, but shed out this spring on Pergolide and according to her blood tests, her dose is correct, so I think it's just the longer days and the cool wet summer. And maybe she's tricked herself into thinking the days are even shorter since she likes to stand in the run in all the time :lol:

[LisaW-B]

Here in Arizona, it's still in the 100s, my horses don't have Cushings, and all three of them are starting to get the first itty-bitty hairs of their winter coats. It IS due to the beginning of the shorter days, not the temperature. For my palomino, in fact, it's like clockwork right around August 20th or so. I joke that the palomino, who turns into a bonafide woolly mammoth every winter, wants to be prepared when we get those freezing 95-degree days in September.

[LittleblackMorgan]

My morgan's coat hit full blow-out this week. It was a little sheddy here and there the past week, but 2 days ago it started coming out in TUFTS. He is usually a slow shedder for winter coats, but this is pretty drastic.

I just had a convo with a neighbor about this. I thought after the battering of once weekly 1ft+ storms last year, we might get a break this year...not looking so...

I've also heard about keeping an eye on squirrels in the fall. The fatter they are=the harder the winter coming.

[Chief2]

Most of my horses have reliably shed out their summer coats by the end of August. Because of El Nino this year, we are predicted to have a 'warm' winter up here. However, their coats doen't listen to the weather reports, so I am expecting woolly bears by October.

[lalahartma1]

Yes, my two are definately shedding out.

[JohnDeere]

We have a youngish mare whose coat looks like plush velvet-not smooth but fluffy and thick. This was 1 month ago. Its definately coming in already.

Boohoo.

[snkstacres]

Yup, my first inclination was to think cushings as well but........................we know the hair is due to lesser daylight hours but...................I am with the majority here. About three weeks ago, every single horse here started to lose the summer hair fuzzies and are now starting with there winter coats. I think mother nature knows something us foolish humans refuse to accept. An early winter, maybe a hard one, maybe even a good snowfall in GA. This is about a month earlier than normal for this farm.

[carp]

My mare is blowing out her summer coat now. Her native soil may well be destined for a hideous winter, but she doesn't live in North Dakota anymore. The first year I had her she spent all of September and October wringing wet from sweating into her 1 inch + winter coat. The next year was a bit better. Hopefully she's learned moderation by now.

[Ambrey]

Yep, silly pony. It was 100 degrees here today, and he's laying on coat for the winter!

[mypaintwattie]

Just noticed the beginning of fuzzyness today amidst 90+ degree temps... time to get the clippers and blankets ready!!!

[luvmytbs]

So do we believe our horses so far????? We had our first frost last night, something that doesn't happen in KY in October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JohnDeere]

If mine would only grow a coat!

[Kate66]

Well I have to keep rugging up the mares due to horrible nasty cold rain and a summer that never was!

Terri

You need to move! My parents have been gushing all summer long about what a fantastic summer they have been having in the north of Scotland!

[luvmytbs]

and I am sick and tired of it all. Two weeks with highs below freezing, lows in the single digits and four inches of snow last week.

[CB/TB]

Take heart! My 18 yo has started shedding! She ususally does in January, so I don't want to be TOO optimistic since we haven't had a day abpve freezing in I can't remember when! It looks like maybe Friday/Sat we MIGHT hit high 30s. Just remember this when it is August and the temps are 90 and so is the humidity1 I think that every year, but with each seasonal high or low i slap myself upside the head and say "What was I thinking?"

[JumpWithPanache]

Yeah, all the horses and cows on my farm started getting fluffy about two weeks earlier than normal, even my mare who barely grows a winter coat. Then things stayed mild for us until the end of November so we started to doubt that any harsh weather was coming. Low and behold it did, and it's stayed. Now the weatherman says we'll be doing a temperature yo-yo for weeks; 20s one day 50s the next. Sheesh.