OK, what's your thoughts?

[workinggirl]

OK, so if you blanket your horse, does it keep him from getting a thick coat? Or is the blanket just aid in keeping them warm after a clip? If you clip and blanket, does the hair still grow? Isn't it just natural, the length of the day and the temp? Just a debate we got going on!

[Cloverbarley]

All of my horses are blanketed during winter. All of them still grow very long fluffy coats. What I do find, which is a nice side-effect though, is that when I eventually take their blankets off in the Spring, they shed out incredibly quickly compared to the couple of horses here who are not blanketed over winter. None of the horses here are clipped.

[JB]

Daylight hours is the biggest factor. This is why lights are used for big show barns where a short, slick coat is necessary.

But temperature does play a small role. You're much less likely to find a Wooly Mammoth in Phoenix, AZ than in Greensboro NC, where the temps are different enough but the distance from the equator is similar (neighborhood of 3*).

Mostly, keeping a blanket on just keeps the hair flattened, making it look less dense. It is, to some degree, but mostly it's just look and feel.

[Foxtrot's]

When I sold a BC raised horse to California, they joked because he grew such a thick coat the first couple of winters. Mostly I think blanketing is cosmetic.
The coat still grows.

[Donkey]

I blanket because my horse (while partially clipped) has a very fine coat and gets cold in the cooler/damp and cold weather and will lose weight if not kept warm via blanket and/or exta food.

[RougeEmpire]

Blanketing does not effect coat growth. Day light hours do. You have two options to deal with winter hair. 1)put the horse under a summer time light schedual, this must be done gradually BEFORE the winter coat starts to come it, you start manual lighting changes in the early fall. This requires blanketing the horse to keep it from getting cold. Its the norm at most big show barns especially breed show barns. 2) wait until the FULL winter coat comes in then shave it off. Blanket as required, lights are not.

Some coat growth is genetics and it goes both ways. My Anglo-Arabs turns into a wooly cob complete with LONG silky feathers in the winter. My Mustang also grows an over kill quality coat. They live where it almost NEVER drops below 40 degrees even in the dead of winter. Most horses will grow the same coat regardless of where they are living. Its also a misnomer that some breeds have predisposition to lesser winter hair coats. I know TBs, Arabs and Warmbloods that winter outdoors with no blankets at below zero and are Wooley Mammoths come winter. They all grow the same coat any QH, Mustang or Morgan.

[stoicfish]

I asked about blanketing my 3 month old because he has yet to get his winter coat (I am in Canada) and the responses were to be careful not to discourage his natural coat?

Found the answer
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=393

[deltawave]

What JB said. :)