Blanketing rant!

[Draftmare]

For being a draft cross, my mare is a prima-donna. She HATES being cold, and will let you know her displeasure with plenty of body language. I can't imagine turning her out without some kind of sheet once the weather starts to dip below 40. Sometimes even below 50 if it is raining. Even though she has shelter, she much rather stand out in the rain to graze, even when shivering, than stand in her shelter!

[SugarCubes]

What is the app called?

I've had horses fluffy enough that they were just fine naked in Indiana winters. I have two paint geldings, one is 'average' with a thin coat and one is a very easy keeper with a shetland pony coat. Both get sheets/blankets, the one 'needs' them and the other is pretty much for my convenience and ease of mind.

The app is SmartBlanket....it's a good guideline but some days it makes me wonder. For example, tonight's low is 34 with 5mph wind and no precipitation and it says to throw a medium weight on the clipped horse. Makes sense. Tomorrow night's forecast is IDENTICAL (same wind, precip, temp) and it says I only need a sheet. Regardless, it's a good guideline and I like to double check what it suggests versus what I personally feel they need to be wearing.

[Abbie.S]

findeight, I have zero issue with the product. But posters were talking about not judging others' choices in their horse's care...which I agree with until someone uses the fact that their horse must have a blanket as an excuse to put the horse in a poorly fitted blanket. At that point, the horse might very well be better off with no blanket as poorly fitted blankets can cause a whole host of problems.

"Not knowing" is not an excuse: none of us know anything when we first start out, but that doesn't make us any less responsible for our animals once they come under our care.

[Angela Freda]

Well, it's true, the vast majority of horses don't need blankets to survive.

The key operative word there is "survive".

I have to believe that most people know their horses best. I see plenty of horses in VT, even with our long, cold winters, who go blanket-less and do just fine. And there are many that wouldn't, for a plethora of reasons.

I do think people need to keep in mind that just because YOU are cold does not mean your HORSE is. Horses are designed to withstand the cold. People are designed for warmer climates. Learn the signs of a horse that is comfortable in the cold versus one that is not and you'll be just fine.

However, if you are going to blanket your horse, just like you would get tack that fits, get GD blankets that fit your horse. You stand to do a lot more damage to a horse with poorly fitted blankets that pull on his shoulders, create painful pressure points on his withers and cause situations where he can get caught up in a myriad of straps than you do by leaving your horse naked and having him get a bit chilly. If you put crappy-fitted blankets on your horse because Dobbin NEEEDZ a blanket...I'm going to judge you hard.

Thank you. When you have a horse who has chronic loose manure and you insist on getting him blankets WAY too big, you will end up with a blanket with the hindquarters hanging halfway down to his hock and he will poo all over them, and even though you insist there is, there really is NO mystery as to why this is happening... your horses' blanket/sheet is WAY too BIG for your horse!

[Jumping31]

What is the app called?

I've had horses fluffy enough that they were just fine naked in Indiana winters. I have two paint geldings, one is 'average' with a thin coat and one is a very easy keeper with a shetland pony coat. Both get sheets/blankets, the one 'needs' them and the other is pretty much for my convenience and ease of mind.

It's called SmartBlanket. If you search smartpak in the app store it should be the first one to show up. It does a pretty good job for me. It takes in the horses condition, weight, age, weather, etc. any relatable info and even gives you suggestions for what specific type of blanket or sheet would be good. But I would also go on your personal feel

[Spotless]

Jumping31 SugarCubes thank you both!

[AltersAreUs]

I'll admit, I always feel somewhat sorry for the horses of those "never blanket, not ever" people. Not that I think they're necessarily being neglected, just that the chances of them going cold due to their owner's ingrained opinions are pretty high. Like someone else said, eventually, if you keep with it long enough, you'll have a horse that'll blow your absolutes out of the water and I doubt the "never, never" folks will notice/change before their horse goes through some misery.

I used to never blanket my arab since she grew a coat like a hibernating bear every winter ... until the one year she didn't. Barn owner politely told me that she was cold, as in actively shivering, icecube ears cold, and I was left scrambling. I literally had no blankets for her because she'd never needed them. But that winter was a switch ... she never grew that wicked thick coat again and now she's a complete wuss about her blankets. She'll start pretend shivering, complete with trembling lower lip, the moment you start unbuckling them if it's less than 25 degrees out.

Pony likes being toasty, so pony gets to be toasty.

[WBmare]

It really depends on the horse. I knew a TB who grew the wimpiest little winter coat. But don't let that fool you. He would overheat so easily. I also see a lot of horse's whos blankets don't fit and the have lameness issues or turn nasty when you try to put the blankets on. I knew one that was an absolute snake when the blankets came out. Do you think owner listened to the horse? Nope. Poor thing always had something on him and was usually double blanketed with ill-fitting blankets with hoods. No wonder he had so many shoulder problems.

My two are pretty hardy and fluffy and are mostly left naked unless it dips below freezing.

[quietann]

Mine has a wardrobe I *do* envy my fellow Morgan owners whose horses grow yak coats every winter; mine just doesn't. She gets a little plushy and that's it. OTOH I do not have to clip her to keep her in work.

I know horses who do great with no blankets, horses who have a few for particularly cold/rainy weather, horses who get layers and layers... I guess the last group I do feel a bit sorry for!

And agree 100% on well-fitted blankets (though the mare's Rambos are a bit long on her.) I've learned to read the comments to figure out whether a blanket will work for her. If folks are complaining that the sides are too short and the neck opening is too small, on a blanket generally made for stock horses, that's likely to be a good fit.

[MojitoMare]

All the horses are blanketed in our barn, because they are all clipped. I guess I thought it was kind of common practice to clip and blanket in the winter...but reading this thread has me rethinking that.

[Wayside]

It's exceedingly rare for me to blanket any of my horses, but I still have blankets for every single one of them, just in case. Even the horses who don't normally need one can easily get a chill if they get sick or colicky.

[lifeishorsesarelove]

I blanket because as much as I enjoy looking at winter fuzzies, I don't like riding them. My mare gets clipped because she sweats like a pig, and I plan to clip the evil appy pony this year... if he lets me. I don't have 3 hours to cool and dry them out after every ride.

[peedin]

I didn't blanket my gelding until the last year of his life (age 28). I blanket my mare because she's used to it. It all depends on the horse and the weather. It's a very individual decision.

[EmilyM]

I'm a heavy blanketer, and I am not ashamed. Actually, i blanket or not based on the individual horse.

I have horses that are clipped, some that literally run cold (normal temp is below "normal" horse range), some that run hot, and I had one shivering the other day when it was 40 and just a little damp in the air (not even precipitating). She's not clipped, and does't grow much coat. Some are retired and furry. They all have hay 24/7.

My cold horse has an elaborate wardrobe so that I can mix and match layers. He actually supplies another horse's wardrobe for the most part.

Remember when we used new zealand rugs, and we didn't have all these fancy blankets for turnout? Perish the thought!

[Garnet_Z]

As the weather gets colder, I'm seeing more and more Facebook posts on blanketing, what blanket at what temperature, etc. One boarder at my barn probably posts an article regarding blanketing once every two days - always about how your horse doesn't need one.

Almost every comment on these posts says that if
your horse has food and a wind break they do not need a blanket ever.

I'm pretty sure if I didn't blanket the thoroughbred he'd freeze to death (slight exaggeration, but only slight ), and yes, he does have hay 24/7 with shelter.

I get so irrationally irritated with with these posts! I don't know why they just irk me to no end. I know, I know, it doesn't matter, not my circus not my monkeys, just keep scrolling, etc, I just had to vent. Roll your eyes at me and carry on.

I've seen a few of those too and they are annoying. A lot of horses out there likely don't need blankets, but I do blanket my horse in winter because I live in Fort McMurray and it gets damn cold up here...sometimes down to - 40 C. My horse is middle aged and has Cushing's disease so I figure it can't hurt to blanket him when it's very cold. He has a light blanket for those days when I can't decide if he needs a blanket or not, and a thick one for ridiculously cold days. I never find him shivering or sweating so I'm sure he's fine.

It's true that wild horses or other wild ungulates don't get blankets but I don't use that as a reason not to blanket a horse who may need it (extreme cold, older horse, horse is clipped, etc). For one thing, if my horse were a wild animal, he'd be long dead because his Cushing's symptoms would have made him very prone to predation. Winter is also a hard time for ungulates and a lot of them do die during winter. My horse is a pet, and I see no reason not to make his life as nice as possible. I don't want him to have to shiver to keep warm.

[BeeHoney]

Personally, FB posts about blanketing don't rattle me. There are many reasonable approaches to blanketing--or not blanketing. I start getting twitchy when clients give me printed out blanketing charts with 10 degree temperature increments and various combinations of blankets. Do you really think that the Spanish speaking grooms have a clue what your chart means? Where do you think your barn is planning to store the 5-6 blankets, sheets, liners and stable rugs that accompany your plan? Do you know that 5 blankets per horse in a 30 stall barn is 150 blankets? Do you think that your BM has time to review 30 individual blanketing plans twice a day every day? And layer blankets? On unclipped horses? Do you know the weather often changes 30 degrees in any 12 hour period with accompanying drastic changes in wind and precipitation?

While I'm not in the "no blanketing" camp for sure, I think that articles explaining that many horses can survive just fine without any blanket are helpful as they help many humans with anthropomorphic views of horses understand that dressing a horse isn't like dressing a person--at all. If your horse isn't clipped, blanketing should be a very simple endeavor involving a well fitted blanket (and maybe a sheet) and some common sense.