Spinoff: What is too cold for a horse to work in?

[*JumpIt*]

I know that a horse shouldn't work in extremely cold conditions because it is bad for them to breath in the cold air. What is the general temp that is too cold? Specifically for horses that are stalled at night with a low of 23 degrees and high of 50 degees.


Thanks!

[appychik]

Well....

Years ago, before our heated indoor arena was built at my old barn (now the barn where I lesson), we used to stop riding during January because it just got too cold. Nowadays, we stop having lessons when it hits zero degress as a high... as the arena is heated to a nice, balmy 40*.

Personally? Well, my boys are pasture boarded now and I have no access to any arenas, whatsoever. So, I probably will ride to around 10 or so above. I've got enough layers to keep warm, but when riding when it's that cold? I really only do that to give Gus a bit more exercise so his arthritic joints don't lock up entirely. That being said, I've been a wuss. I've only riden twice (I think) since like the beginning of November. Uggh. It stinks.

[amastrike]

Horses are cold weather animals. It's too cold for you before it's too cold for them.

[onelanerode]

When it gets into the 20s I start chickening out ... but we don't have an indoor.

[Big_Tag]

Really and truly, I have never seen a racetrack close for "cold" weather..and as far as I can tell, none of ours have suffered ill effects.
That being said, when it comes to riding..I'm much more of a wimp and don't care to ride below 20 ;)

[Gry2Yng]

I don't ride if it is below 20.

[CatOnLap]

What is too cold for the horse to work in?
having grown up in the central Canadian Prairies, it gets plenty cold- minus forty is not uncommon. You acclimatize and dress for it- special boots, insulated snow wear, scarves, hats, layered mitts. And I grew up before snowmobiles became the thundering herd they are today, so part of winter fun was horse related for many people- hay rides, sleigh rides, were common weekend past-times even in very cold weather in December.

And we would trail ride there, appropriately dressed, even with temps in the well below freezing range on either temperature scale. It was a lot of fun with all of us dressed like Michelin Men. on shetlands...

Around -20 F or -30C it is really too cold for man or beast to do anything unless one has to, and even then the wind chill from your own movement can cause frost bite if you do more than walk. I don't think it harms horses to breathe slowly and normally in very cold temperatures, as in trail riding at a walk. Horses living outside in that climatre ( with shelters or stalled part time) had normal lifespans and I don't recall any enormous amount of heaves or other respiratory complaints in the population. But breathing fast in the cold air, especially if coming from a wamr envirnment of an enclosed or heated stable- that may be harmful to the large lungs and delicate airway tissue. The throat and bronchi cannot adequately warm the air and moisturize it if working at speed and I would not school dressage or other sports in extreme cold. I wouldn't want to anyway!

Nowadays though, we often have heated barns and arenas- what a blessing. I agree the limitation is not how cold the horse can work, but how cold the human is willing to work. Outside I am comfortable, if working, to about 20 F or -6 C. Any time it's below freezing, I like a foldaway quarter sheet that I can put over my legs while warming up, cooling out so I don't get chilled.

The horse would probably be happy and safe doing his full schooling session even in -5 F. The draft horses on the hay rides often worked in those temps without ill effect.

[sk_pacer]

Really and truly, I have never seen a racetrack close for "cold" weather..and as far as I can tell, none of ours have suffered ill effects.
That being said, when it comes to riding..I'm much more of a wimp and don't care to ride below 20 ;)

Actually, they DO close for cold and/or inclement winter weather. The lost a weekend at Edmonton Northlands because the daily high was colder than the Ag Canada guideline of -25°C air temp - they were around -30°C with horrible windchills. If one looks through the results over Canada and the northern States, you will find the odd one saying Cancelled - Cold, but more often it is Cancelled - Weather, Poor Track, and sometimes you will see track conditions listed as Fr (Frozen).

I have driven and ridden in much colder temps than -25°C, have chased jail breaking cows in -40, taken hay rides around -20°F (before the great switch of temp scales), hauled away cow crap on a stoneboat and brought back a load of straw in -40...so it is really how much the human can stand. The only thing to watch is speed work in that kind of cold - it can damage lungs.

[Thomas_1]

Coincidence you posted this question. It's something I've been talking about earlier today.

We've had quite a bit of snow this past fortnight and I've not had a customer anywhere near the premises since 17th December. Temperatures have been between a heady and warm -2C to a protect your brass monkeys -16C yesterday afternoon with a wind chill factor too! I said to Susan that it was blowing a blizzard straight from Siberia!

So today a car pulled in. I've a lady who's a diplomat in Moscow who has been coming for about 5 years with her daughters to go riding when she's on holiday. I told her we were solid ice everywhere so it was too dangerous to ride and she laughed at me ! Seemingly it's a little colder there!

I joked to her though that they're a bunch of wimps because they've got an indoor arena and I haven't and their horses are all inside.

Your day time temperatures though are positively barmy and wouldn't trouble me or any horse whatsoever. It's mainly going to be footing that you've to be careful of..... presuming you are actually thinking about going out riding rather than working in an indoor arena.

[Lone]

For a light hack or trail ride, I think it's fine to ride in pretty much any temp provided the horse isn't getting too cold (aka, if he normally wears a blanket, he needs to at least have on a sheet or something)

For harder work, where they're breathing heavier I only do that when it's 20+

[Big_Tag]

Actually, they DO close for cold and/or inclement winter weather. The lost a weekend at Edmonton Northlands because the daily high was colder than the Ag Canada guideline of -25°C air temp - they were around -30°C with horrible windchills. If one looks through the results over Canada and the northern States, you will find the odd one saying Cancelled - Cold, but more often it is Cancelled - Weather, Poor Track, and sometimes you will see track conditions listed as Fr (Frozen).

I have driven and ridden in much colder temps than -25°C, have chased jail breaking cows in -40, taken hay rides around -20°F (before the great switch of temp scales), hauled away cow crap on a stoneboat and brought back a load of straw in -40...so it is really how much the human can stand. The only thing to watch is speed work in that kind of cold - it can damage lungs.


True, I've seen them close for weather-related things and I think it gets colder where you are than here. I remember we had FRIGID temps maybe two winters ago (for here. so probably hovering around 0 or 5 degrees with windchills lower) and they raced every night bc it was dry. The track was HARD though. Some scratched. I don't think we had any in.

[mp]

I know that a horse shouldn't work in extremely cold conditions because it is bad for them to breath in the cold air. What is the general temp that is too cold? Specifically for horses that are stalled at night with a low of 23 degrees and high of 50 degees.


Thanks!

Horses have to breathe, no matter how cold it is. ;) How hard you work them is the key, I think.

I enjoyed a nice 40-minute or so ride yesterday (in the indoor) with the temp ~10. Long warm-up at the walk (neither mare nor I qualify as spring chickens), then some trotting and lateral stuff, and a little bit of canter (mare offered, so I took it). I was well bundled and it seems we both enjoyed it -- she hasn't been getting her customary amount of turnout because of the holidays and ongoing snow. And I haven't been getting my customary amount of riding.

Outdoors, I'll ride when it's ~20 or so, provided there's not much wind.

[buck22]

at my very first barn we had a big indoor and lots of people exercised their horses at night after their workday. It was well lit shelter but not heated by any stretch of the imagination :). It was customary not to do any fast work if it was in the mid 20's or below. Riders mainly ambled around and chatted with each other, or we'd do drill team stuff, etc., basically work at a walk with some trotting. If it was cold and someone went off cantering around madly they got the stink eye from everyone else riding... :)

so, I basically keep to this, nothing faster than a walk with some intermittent trotting below mid 20's, but a good long brisk walk is certainly fine, certainly my horses are out frolicing around in the cold weather themselves.

[starrunner]

I haven't ridden as much in this cold weather, not because it's cold, but just due to time constraints, but have been bringing my little mare in and lunging and doing ground stuff.

I often turn her loose in the indoor and she loves rocketing around, despite the frigid Wisconsin temperatures. I figure the footing must feel nice to her, so I let her enjoy herself and always take time to cool her out afterwards.

I don't think she'd enjoy blowing off so much steam if it was uncomfortable to her and in addition, I think the average human freezes before it's cold enough to cause damage to the average pleasure horse enjoying a basic training session or easy ride.

[Kolsh]

I should preface this by saying that I think 30F to 40F is the ideal temperature in which to ride.

I'll ride down to 0F, but not below zero. It might mean that I don't ride for a week here and there during the winter, but for the most part it gets above 0F daily.

[Fharoah]

I become a wimp at freezing, although out mucking in any temperature.

[sedaistable]

Wow,thats weird your tracks dont close.I live in michigan and our tracks ALWAYS close for the entire winter.I think we race from March til September or something like that.

And theres no way Im riding if its below 30F! Way too wimpy!

[slp2]

I actually think it's better to keep them moving in cold weather. Sometimes when the footing outside gets icy or frozen underneath, they stop moving around much in turnout. They usually love coming into the indoor where they can MOVE normally and not worry about slipping. After I ride, they always head for the water bucket and take a long drink. The indoor is usually warmer than outside because it cuts the wind. When it is 20 degrees outside, I am taking off layers halfway through my ride because I'm too warm. My horses don't get clipped, but they are blanketed, and neither of them grow much winter coat (Tb & Tb/Trak cross). At 10-20 degrees--I will use a quarter sheet when riding. *My* cut-off is usually under 10 degrees, mainly because I can't figure out a way to dress that keeps me warm enough and isn't too bulky to ride in.

[Beasmom]

I'll do anything I normally do till about 30 F. Then I'll plan a longer walking warm-up and mostly long, low, loose trotting. Little else till we're both well warmed-up. Usually around here, if it's 20 F in the indoor, we don't ride, but I think it could be done -- just don't ask for collection or lateral work below that.

This'll sound wimpy, I'm sure, but the coldest I've EVER been was one November when we started out for the fall gather at the ranch. At 5 AM, when we saddled up, it was -5 F, with a breeze. No idea what the wind chill was. It did warm up that day a little; still a miserable day on horseback.

Glad we sold the cattle. Cowmen deserve every cent they make!

[Guin]

Thomas, your "minus 2" is our 30 degrees. Balmy, indeed, close to tropical!

Our barn suspends lessons when it gets below 20 (Fahrenheit.)

[saultgirl]

We do regular riding, including lessons, until -25C (about -14F). This is in an indoor arena.

[Showbizz]

I ride down to about 10-15F. If I'm outdoors, that includes the wind chill. I'm a runner, and I run outside during the winter as much as possible (hate the treadmill), and once warmed up, I don't have problems running in temps down to the single digits. The air usually feels thicker initially, but you acclimate.

[Huntertwo]

I'll ride at any temperature. Don't the wild horses out west run in any temperatures? ;)

I used to board at a place that had a huge huge pasture. The horses would tear arse around no matter what the temps. with no ill effects.

[Guilherme]

Single digits would be my "bottom line." Horses can handle normal living below that, but hauling me around and doing work will increase respiration and require larger volumes of this very air.

Also there's the risks of overheating the horse, causing sweat, and then drying out the horse prior to putting it up. While the problem is hardly insoluable it does make the job a lot more important and difficult.

G.

[ReSomething]

20 degrees, that's my cutoff point, although I've ridden in the teens, 20 is just a good easy to remember number. It's breathing that very cold air that gets me more than anything else. I had to keep pulling my hood up over my face because my nose was freezing today at 15 degrees, I have no idea how you subzero people can do it.

[Mary in Area 1]

We have an indoor, but it's not heated. We ride nearly everyday, and I mean 45 minutes of WORK. The only time I wimp out is if it's below zero Farenheit with whipping winds. Then I'll wait a day.

[buck22]

found this, thought I'd share:

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=5665&src=EM


Cold Air and Lung Health
by: Melissa Sykes
April 08 2005, Article # 5665
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Researchers at Oklahoma State University (OSU) recently completed a study on airway cooling and mucosal injury during cold weather exercise. Using the Thoroughbred racehorse as a model, scientists found that even cantering in sub-freezing temperatures can induce airway obstruction (bronchoconstriction, or airway contraction). The research appeared in the February issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Human subjects that routinely perform strenuous exercise in cold conditions have a higher prevalence of chronic airway inflammation and hyperactivity (often referred to as "ski asthma" because its effects are often found in cross-country skiers). The scientists set out to determine whether exercise while breathing cold air could cause chronic airway disease in the equine athlete.

Previous studies in both humans and horses have confirmed that when exercising in subfreezing temperatures with low humidity, the upper airways fail to fully warm the inhaled air, leading to considerable loss of heat and water from the lower airways. These studies also confirmed that this stimulus is associated with airway mucosal damage.

"Our data show that exercising in cold air can provoke airway changes in otherwise healthy horses and may in fact be a part of the cause of the eventual development of chronic airway disease in equine athletes," explained lead researcher Michael S. Davis, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM.

The effects were seen in horses exposed to exercise/cold air during a single challenge (five minutes of easy cantering).

"We intentionally ran the horses at a slow canter to avoid airway bleeding and, as a result, had to reduce the temperature of the inhaled air to compensate," said Davis. "We published an earlier study (in a supplement to the Equine Veterinary Journal in 2002) in which we demonstrated that a similar challenge will be delivered at a fast canter or gallop with air temperatures above freezing. Thus, this is not just an issue for horses running way up north or in the dead of winter. Part of our previous study was done on horses training at Pimlico (Baltimore, Md.) in late March and early April."

Once the challenge was over, the airways returned to normal, but, "We don't know how long it took as we allowed them a minimum of two weeks before we tried anything else,"

Davis added. "The reality is that horses that experience one challenge are likely to experience repeated challenges three to four times a week while training. The time it takes these cumulative challenges to resolve is probably quite a bit longer.

"We've done similar studies in sled dogs and found that it takes more than four months to resolve," he said. "We are considering studies in both horses and sled dogs to see if they perform better if and when we make the airway inflammation go away."

Researchers feel the effects of cold weather exercise might inhibit the immune response.

But, Davis stressed, these studies do not demonstrate conclusively that the horse's immune system is suppressed, "Only that they might have trouble responding to certain types of infection."

"We're currently developing those studies (on the immune response)," added Davis.

"Obviously, the results would potentially apply to humans since the cold and flu season seems to be in the winter."

[PortPonies]

When I managed a lesson barn, we usually called off lessons when the high for the day was under 15 degrees -- more for the riders' sake than the horses', since many students just did not have sufficient cold weather garb to stay warm AND be comfortable on the horse. (Cheap, puffy gloves and snow suits just don't work well in the saddle!)

Nowadays, I live in a climate where whole months may pass without it getting over 15-20 degrees during the day. I rode yesterday morning, when it was -10 F. My horse worked beautifully and seemed totally comfortable (we walk, trot & canter, but I do lots of walk stretches and slow lateral work in between, and he rarely raises a sweat or heavy breathing). However, my feet were frozen by the end of the ride.

I guess -10 F just might be too cold...for humans :)

[mojo7777]

I'll ride in the indoor when it's 10F, but we take it easy and avoid breaking much of a sweat. It doesn't seem to hurt, and around here waiting for warmer weather can take a long time.

[SarahandSam]

One barn I rode at cancelled lessons if the temp went under 20F, one barn under 15F. My current lesson barn doesn't have a set policy, but if it gets really frigid, lessons are cancelled or become horsekeeping lessons in the slightly heated barn. (:

My rule is that if it hurts a little when I breathe, I'm definitely not working my horse in it. Below freezing I will usually limit myself to a lot of walking and stretches of trot. I will get on and walk a little in the teens, and wouldn't mind trail riding if the trails are safe, but I wouldn't do a real workout once it gets under 20 degrees.

[pday09]

I know that a horse shouldn't work in extremely cold conditions because it is bad for them to breath in the cold air. What is the general temp that is too cold? Specifically for horses that are stalled at night with a low of 23 degrees and high of 50 degees.

A low of 23 is fine. I'm experiencing my first winter at college with my horse in MA and we ride when it's a high of 23, but our indoor stays pretty warm. But yeah, it sucks. ;) We "stop riding" when its in the single digits. Personally, I'd give up before then lol!

[thatsnotme]

with my work schedule, I ride at 8 am. In the winter, that can be as low as 16 degrees. I don't board at an indoor, so as long as the ground isn't frozen, we ride. I'm careful with rugs to keep the cold at bay, but if we want to work, thats the program.

[saultgirl]

found this, thought I'd share:

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=5665&src=EM

If I didn't ride when it was "sub-freezing" I would probably lose a solid 4 months out of the year.

Let's all keep in mind, we also put horses in barns and feed them hay and those can both cause airway problems in a lot of cases.

[Kolsh]

If I didn't ride when it was "sub-freezing" I would probably lose a solid 4 months out of the year.

Let's all keep in mind, we also put horses in barns and feed them hay and those can both cause airway problems in a lot of cases.

Exactly. I live in a similar climate and with all due respect for the researchers, I'm just not seeing real life consequences in the horses I come in contact with on a daily basis.

IIRC the recommendation for Olympic athletes regarding "ski asthma" is that they cut their outdoor training to no more than 20 hours a week. Not sure how that would relate exactly to horses, but I certainly don't work mine more than 20 hours a week.

[winfieldfarm]

that article is interesting. would like to see more of the same to substantiate. I have always wondered in the individual horse's physical fitness and condition had any bearing. the article sounds like they pushed the animals a lot harder than most of us riders would push. Makes me wonder if a fit animal can handle the cold air better than a pudgy pasture puff just starting a conditioning program.

[spaceagejuliet]

I haven't ridden as much in this cold weather, not because it's cold, but just due to time constraints, but have been bringing my little mare in and lunging and doing ground stuff.

I often turn her loose in the indoor and she loves rocketing around, despite the frigid Wisconsin temperatures. I figure the footing must feel nice to her, so I let her enjoy herself and always take time to cool her out afterwards.

I don't think she'd enjoy blowing off so much steam if it was uncomfortable to her and in addition, I think the average human freezes before it's cold enough to cause damage to the average pleasure horse enjoying a basic training session or easy ride.

I'm a BIG proponent of this!
I think even though my boys are turned out daily, if the ground is frozen they don't go rip roaring around. So I try to let them out in the indoor and they really enjoy rolling (several times) and romping around for a bit in the nice footing.

[x-rab]

Back when I was younger, my husband and I would ride in the teens. Then we moved up to the 20s, then 30s, now it is 40s. Of course, when we rode in the lower temps, both humans and horses, were a lot younger. We don't have access to an indoor facility, but the boys are turned out all day and brought in at night. The sliding scale might be adjusted upward as both species age.

[STABLESWOT]

Does anybody think horses switch sleeping times? I am amazed by many of you on how you soldier on in the cold. I am from florida so i have little experience with cold weather.

down here i have noticed horses inverting the daily pattern of sleep times. They sleep during the sunnyest time of day and this often coincides with our choice of riding time. Maybe this causing some sleep deprivation, along with being in a barn with hay and cold impairing the lung tissue combine to lower immunity.

i think an ice cold wind can affect a horses back negatively for work even in the 30 * F temp range. Quarter sheets and coolers help. many horses cannot grow a true winter coat but i think this helps them cool out when working hard. i am a blonde from florida so what do i know of cold weather really lol