Early Cool Temperatures Have Me Mixed Up On Blanketing My Hard Keeper

[Dressage.For.Life.]

It’s gotten really cold really fast here in IN :( and it has me mixed up on when to toss a sheet / blanket on my very hard keeper (Thoroughbred). He’s out 24/7 with a couple of other horses (in a grass pasture) and they almost always have hay.

He’s only had his waterproof sheet on one night so far this fall, as I wanted him to get as good of a winter coat as he can get, but I also don’t want him losing any weight- he’s a very hard keeper so could actually still use quite a bit of weight.

At what temperature would you put a sheet on him? At what temperature when it’s raining? At what point should I add a cotton sheet underneath his sheet / put his mid-heavyweight blanket on him?

It’s currently mid-high 50s (highs in the lower 60s today) with some rain. Lows in the upper 40s tonight with some rain.

I’m usually fine with dealing with this, but the very early cool temperatures have me all mixed up :lol:

[JB]

For a horse like that, assuming his feed is already at a safe max, I'd start sooner rather than later - he needs all the help he can get. I'm ok, unless the horse says otherwise, not even sheeting above 45 or so as long as its dry. But a foggy/misty day raises that to the low 50's, and solid rain that's not just passing through raises that to the low 60's.

Temps 5-10* below the above weather conditions means a medium weight blanket.

It’s currently mid-high 50s (highs in the lower 60s today) with some rain. Lows in the upper 40s tonight with some rain.
*I* would have a med-weight blanket on for tonight, given those conditions. I'd be afraid a sheet wouldn't be warm enough to compensate for smooshing down his hair.

[Dressage.For.Life.]

Thanks for replying. Yes, he gets a lot of grain too (still a safe amount though). Currently dealing with some mysterious lameness issues with him so I have to ride another horse at another barn today and then have a vet calling at 6:30 tonight about my horse but I will still try to get something on him.

[LauraKY]

I second JB. I would add a high fat supplement to his diet, if you haven't already. It's really hard, if not impossible, to put weight on in the winter.

[Dressage.For.Life.]

Thanks. The only supplement he's on now is a joint supplement- what high fat supplement would you recommend? Yeah, he's always weighed about the same as he does now and even so, he could still use quite a bit more but mainly I just don't want him losing any weight.

[LauraKY]

Well, you can try corn oil (my guys won't eat it) Cocasoya (I've heard good things, but again, my guys won't eat it). We use Empower by Nutrena. It's 22% fat. We start adding 1 cup per feed and increase in 1/2 cup increments every 3 to 6 days. We usually stop at about a pound a day and hold there for a while to see if there's weight gain. If not, keep adding. For a really hard keeper, we've added up to 2 lbs/feed three times a day (6lbs/day). That was for a boarder horse and they were paying the bill. We suspected he had ulcers, but they didn't want to have the vet scope him. It's not cheap ($30 for 30lbs) but, the most we've had to feed our hard keeping TBs was 2 lbs per day for a short period of time. Then, when they're at a good weight, start backing off the supplementation. Sometimes it takes a while. Over the years, we've tried a lot, Weight builder, beet pulp, etc. but this is the only thing that they will eat and that will pack the weight on that we've found.