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Permalink Reply by Marlene Thoms on January 25, 2012 at 8:32pm

I would say it depends. If you haven't been blanketing (so they are cold tolerant by now), they are in good condition (they have a good winter coat by now), they have free choice hay (hay heats better than other feeds), their water is not frozen, and the trees are a good size (or actually provide some wind break, shelter), the horses aren't too elderly, you have a chance to observe them to check how they seem to be managing, they aren't translplants from Florida, the freezing rain isn't lasting too many days in a row. My guy actually meets all these requirements (we are just north of you in the North Okanagan), and he has a shelter which he rarely uses to get out of rain or wind even in winter. I have a nice warm bed of hay in there he could lay on in a run in shelter, but he lays out in the snow or mud. Once I saw him go in the shed and actually lay down...it was to "escape" mosquitos that were driving him crazy. I like the shed so he at least has a clean dry place to access his hay and I don't have to feel too bad for him when the weather is crummy. He would be pretty disgusted and probably too hot if I put a blanket on him anyway. You know your girls, you can use your judgement.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Cochran on January 26, 2012 at 10:01am

I live in North Carolina.  I know this sounds like a warm and peaceful climate but when we get winter weather we get big ice storms, bitter winds, and sometimes temperatures below 0 F.  When I had horses I could find them in such weather-freezing rain, sleet, hail, etc., with icicles hanging from their winter coats at dawn, and shivering a LOT.  I fed them an extra flat or two of grass hay, and a handful or more of whole corn.

I also tried to make sure that their winter coats did not get all matted and loaded with fungus, figuring that if their winter coats could work well they would be warmer.  I ended up using a dog slicker tool (lots of little tiny wire teeth) to keep the fungus out and the coat working properly (without plastic on the ends of the wires.)  Some horses LOVED when I did this slicker brush vigoroulsy, with other horses I had to be real careful not to touch the skin with the slicker tool and to move real slow, but the slicker tool is the only grooming tool I found that seemed to keep the fungal mats from forming.  I could get away with using the slicker tool once or twice a week if their coats did not get soaked, though I tried to use it after every rain after the coat dried out.

I never blanketed, my horses just had trees as windbreaks and shelter, but during the ice storms we did not dare put the horses back in the trees for fear of falling branches.  These horses included my 33 year old gelding.

I hope this gives you some ideas about how to cope with your weather. 

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Permalink Reply by Sheila McNaughton on February 13, 2012 at 8:29pm

Lots of people blanket for lots of reasons.  Usually horses on their own if fed properly and provided with shelter don't need to be blanketed. As long as the horses are not shivering or losing weight they will be fine. I live in Ontario north of Toronto. I blanket my horses because it is convenience for me. I don't want them growing extra thick costs because they do get ridden. A longer coat increases the sweating while being ridden and longer cooling out time. 

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Permalink Reply by Sheila McNaughton on February 13, 2012 at 8:30pm

Lots of people blanket for lots of reasons.  Usually horses on their own if fed properly and provided with shelter don't need to be blanketed. As long as the horses are not shivering or losing weight they will be fine. I live in Ontario north of Toronto. I blanket my horses because it is convenience for me. I don't want them growing extra thick coats because they do get ridden. A longer coat increases the sweating while being ridden and longer cooling out time. 

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