When it's -20 below outside (-40 with the wind chill factor)

[Sanny]

YES it is that cold here in Minnesota. Just watched the news and we have a windchill advisory in effect until midnight on Monday. If you are outside longer than 10 minutes any exposed skin will start to freeze.

Today I turned the horses out with blankets on and as much hay as they could eat but they were more than ready to come inside early and they all had icicles hanging from their eye lashes and nostrils.

I know many people say their horses are just fine in the cold weather as long as they have a run in shelter, but I honestly can't imagine them being out in this cold 24/7.

Tomorrow is supposed to be our coldest day in three years and I think I am going to keep all the horses in all day. Our barn is fully enclosed and insulated so it stays above freezing if all the horses are inside and all the doors are closed.

When you have a cold spell like this what do you do that is different from your usual routine?

Mainly we feed a lot more hay - pretty much whatever they will eat, so free choice and I will keep them in stalls more. Normally I'd still turn them out for a few hours in the daytime to exercise but tomorrow I think I'll only let them out long enough to clean stalls. I add extra bedding to the stalls too, so am going through a lot of shavings.

I blanketed everyone today while they were turned out but I took the blankets off when I brought them in the barn because they'd have gotten too warm inside with them on. OH....and I check waters outside frequently because our tank heaters can't even keep up with this cold weather. All the water tanks keep icing up.

 

[Doobie]

We too are having the cold spell of -40 wind chill (-26 out of the wind)

I dont do a whole lot different for them here ... they are use to this living in Northern Ontario.

I would not put them in the barn more than I do now because our barn is not insulated and so can sometimes be colder than outside.

They have lots of hay, bush to hide in ... and beet pulp mash waiting for them when they come in for bed!

 

[Wiggy]

Nothing. I dont even have the option of keeping them in a nice warm barn when it gets that cold. They have a run-in, there is a heater in the water, and I give them extra hay inside the shelter. I'd certainly never blanket and take away their natural defense against the cold.

I love seeing how their coats puff up extra big in the cold... but have to watch my one gelding as he gets bad ice chunks on his eyes sometimes.

 

[Mona]

Well, we have been having this cold stuff too. This morning at 8:30 when I went out to feed, it was still -28F and that was WITHOUT the windchill. It "warmed up" to a balmy -17F by the time I went out at 4:00pm to do the even feeding.

I do not do anything special for them aside from feeding them out of the wind, and feeding extra hay. I also like to make sure they have straw in the shelters to lay on, but otherwise, that is it. They do just fine. But yes, I DO feel sorry for them being out in that day after day after day.

 

[susanne]

I now offically qualify as a whiner for complaining about temps in the low 20s...my only excuse is that it's all relative...

But even in our relatively mild winter, we make certain they always have hay in front of them. Their beet pulp is extra soupy in case they don't drink enough, and probably more for my benefit, they get it served warm..

I feel as if we are constantly de-icing tje water trough, and have transferred my big mesh kitchen colander to slush removal duty...it has saved my fingers.

 

[runaway ranch]

In addition to all the hay and water they want, I have been giving mine warm, soaked beet pulp twice a day. they like it and it makes me feel better to watch them eat the steaming mash.

 

[Rachel]

VERY cold here too!

We have a 28-year-old QH that we've been putting in for the night here just because he doesn't have nearly the weight on him as the other horses do. Other than that, we do the same as everyone else has said - lots of extra hay and frequent water checks. They seem to be doing just fine, much better than us that's for sure!

 

[Matt73]

I kept the girls in today. It was just too windy. For me, as long as the wind is down (regardless of the temp.), I'm comfortable turning them out. When that wind picks up, the girly girls are in. The barn is downright toasty compared to out there right now! I've been giving a bit extra hay, but not much. The filly gets just a bit more than usual. My preggers one gets enough to last throughout the night anyway.

 

[FoRebel]

Since all of ours are big sissys (even the big horses are!) and as soon as you turn them out in this weather they want to come back in, IF you can get them to step on hoof out the barn door, we let them stay in their tosty stalls! They get extra hay since they are in all day and we try our best to keep the buckets unfroze and filled (our big horses have been going through 3-4 buckets a day and the minis at least 2 buckets a day!).

Honestly, not joking... I bought a new heavy blanket for my arab mare so that she'd be warmer since she has little winter coat so I took off the yearling adjustable Stateline Tack one she was wearing and she completely turned in to a *^$#(! The look she gave me in the 2 seconds it took for me to get the new WARM (it was in the truck which had been VERY WARM for 45+ minutes) blaket on her could've killed me :nono: ! SHE WAS MAD! She did like the new one though and was happy with me once I got it on her!

:

That just goes to show how SPOILED our horses get during the winter!

:

 

[calico5]

We have had a really hard winter here with more snow than I have ever seen in my life. The snow in the pasture is still 2 ft. deep all over except where we dug some walking space for the horses. The first time we let them out of their runs they were pretty miffed at having been kept from their beloved pasture time for 2 weeks. They plunged into the snow and kept running through it like little rabbits until they figured out it wasn't going to get any better unless they stayed in the little dug out place. Now I don't think I could get them to wander out of that space! And where they had run looked like giant rabbit tracks. They really test out new white stuff before they step in now.

Our neighbor came and got some hay to feed the deer, they are having a really tough time with the snow so deep.

It's pretty cold here too. They have heated water, our pump froze yesterday - the first time that's ever happened. I give them extra hay, no blankets - I also feel that would be defeating their natural defense and possibly make them even colder. I know that is somewhat controversial.

The cold weather here doesn't feel as cold as places with humidity. We have very little humidity.

Stay warm!!! Here's to hoping all God's creatures stay warm and get enough food to eat.

 

[Marty]

And to think I was born a Connecticut Yankee

How did I ever survive is beyond me.

Sanny, Everyone, insullate your barns. It's so darn cheap and easy that I even could afford it and by gosh, I am so happy about it. It has saved my bacon this winter. I promise you, insullation is the answer and the way to go

I did most of the insullation by myself too and trust me, I'm lame. Just a knife and a staple gun. Simple as that.

It was SIX degrees here the other morning and it was thirty eight in my barn

My prancers were so comfy, you couldn't beleive it and so happy to. My poor old Sonny, he didn't have to even have his blanket on

 

[SHANA]

Well here in Quebec, it has been really cold the last few weeks. Monday is supposed to be -28. I keep my minis indoors on these really cold days. My barn is nice and warm as we have jerseys milking cows on the other side. There is a wall inbetween them but it still is pretty warm in there. The 3 arabians here stay outside 24/7 with a huge run in shed and we have a fan in there that blows the warm air from inside the barn into their shed and I have been in there on cold days and it is pretty cozy in there. They do have blankets on though. The water bowls inside don't freeze but the water troughs outside do freeze, good thing we have hot water in the barn as we just dump a pail in to unthaw it so we can dump the ice out and then we put luke warm water in the tubs. :bgrin

 

[Jill]

Well, it never really gets that cold in Virginia. When it is unusually cold, "all" we do is give them extra hay. They all have tremendous fur suits on, heated water, and run in sheds or opened stalls bedded with sawdust to get out of the wind if they choose. It works great for us and them, but like I said, we really don't ever have temps as low as yours here.

 

[LaVern]

Another cold morning. Everyone seems to be in agreement about the extra hay. Me too. For an example. The one big group of mares, usually goes through two 2000 lb bales of hay evey four days. Lately they have been cleaning up two in two days. Guess they know what they need.

 

[Marnie]

I did find this on Gotdonkeys.com this morning and I have to admit, I always thought the same as this person, this is a donkey but alot of mini horse people have donkeys so I decided to share this with you guys.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Reminder! With the ongoing extreme cold weather we are having here in the midwest, please remember to take extra care with your animals! I've always been told that equine get their warmth from their food, hay, and plenty of water. However, we learned the hard way yesterday, that that isn't totally true! We've never locked our animals up for just the cold. We lost our 6 month old foal, Jack in the Box, yesterday. He was a beautiful show quality foal. He would've been wonderful in the show ring some day, however, he froze to death yesterday. Not the way we wanted to start our weekend! We were devistated! So please, make sure your animals are warm and snug in the sub zero temperatures!! www.donkeyfever.com Iowa

 

[ChrystalPaths]

This morning at 7:30 in NY it was -10 without the windchill. The barn is 18 :aktion033: . Ours is a metal barn with the foam pink insulation then wood walls and concrete floors. Thera (palomino) usually is shivering by now but I went out last nite (35mph winds :new_shocked: ) and gave them each a full flake of hay and this is after they has their Strategy and split a flake at 5pm. I also use heated buckets for water. This morning there was still hay laying around the stall, :aktion033:but I gave them each another flake each this morning and left them inside. Now "maybe" if the wind dies down, I'll let them out in a while. I hate this doggone cold spell but it won't last but a few days here....I hope

: .

Halley has a coat to die for all thick and fluffy...Thera's never gets quite as full so she does have a nice fleece blanket I made her 2 yrs ago just in case.

 

[kaykay]

i have always fed more hay when it gets bitter cold. but i was told by the equine surgeon at osu that that is a big mistake. he says this is the main cause of colic in winter. he says the smart thing would to be to feed a little less hay when its bitter cold as there is less for the horse to digest when they arent drinking as much water as normal.

I just dont know?? For years i have been told to feed more hay in the winter

: One part of me thinks what hes saying makes sense and what part doesnt

just some food for thought.

 

[HaazeMinis]

Since all of ours are big sissys (even the big horses are!) and as soon as you turn them out in this weather they want to come back in, IF you can get them to step on hoof out the barn door, we let them stay in their tosty stalls! They get extra hay since they are in all day and we try our best to keep the buckets unfroze and filled (our big horses have been going through 3-4 buckets a day and the minis at least 2 buckets a day!).

Honestly, not joking... I bought a new heavy blanket for my arab mare so that she'd be warmer since she has little winter coat so I took off the yearling adjustable Stateline Tack one she was wearing and she completely turned in to a *^$#(! The look she gave me in the 2 seconds it took for me to get the new WARM (it was in the truck which had been VERY WARM for 45+ minutes) blaket on her could've killed me :nono: ! SHE WAS MAD! She did like the new one though and was happy with me once I got it on her!

:

That just goes to show how SPOILED our horses get during the winter!

:

:lol: Same here Tiffani minus the blankets. Mine are MAJOR SISSYS! :lol: It is VERY VERY COLD HERE! I do have have blankets on hand for ALL of them including my late 06 colts and the new 07 colt Dreamer.

: But I prefer not to blanket unless I have to. With the exception of the new foal Dreamer since he has not or was not born with a thick coat! :new_shocked: He is a month old almost and he still is not as thick as some of the ones I have seen posted here!

We are going on the 2nd day of BITTER WINDCHILLS -35 YESTERDAY and thank goodness for heated water buckets. We keep hay in front of them 24/7 and have bedded the foaling stall housing Dreamer and his Mom with nice soft grass hay for extra warmth and our very small barn is insulated so it has kept everyone warmer then being outside.

We did not turn anyone out at all yesterday even for stall cleaning! :no: It is a pain to try to clean stalls while everyone is in there, but oh well. We have no run in shelters outside except if we leave our barn open which is not an option right now with the new foal. :no:

Jeri

 

[flamingstar]

sorry, new to the board, but not new to cold temps lol. I live up in Muskoka in Ontario, where actually alot of you are near. My large horses stay out in all kinds of weather except for really snowy or frigid weather. My barn is not insulated. but it is small and stays not really warm, but comfortable. That way when you open the door to let them out in the morn, they are not sticking to the back wall cause they are cold HEHE.

My mini stays in a small barn with two goats and an emu, and they are fine. The goats shiver a little but Rascal has so much fur that he is fine, and the emu just snuggles down into the bedding we have in there.

I give beet pulp to the horses, and yes I make it warm, and I really do think they enjoy the mash I make with the mixed chop and pulp, it sticks like oatmeal to the ribs. I don't even own a horse blanket, and for me my guys have been fine. They do have access to their barns 24/7 and lots of tree copses to hide in if they are chilly, but they get those big fuzzy coats, so I've never had reason to blanket them.

Vicki

 

[Amoreminiatures]

This morning it was -3 here in Allenton Michigan, the sun is shining but the temps are bitter outside, inside the barn is a toasty 28 degrees and everyone is happily enjoying their cozy fluffy stall and their heated water buckets ALL 18 of them, I have changed only the way I give their hay, they are now getting hay four times a day to keep their inner furnace's going.. Seems everyone is enjoying the plan

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Keep Warm & Toasty

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