Anyone wearing blankets in your barn?

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Marty

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It's been 12 degrees up here this week during the night.

Good grief!

Sonny the weenie is wearing his blanket of course.

Timmy most definately is wearing one of his. The one pictured here is the kind I sell. He's having himself a fit wearing it too, but that' too bad. He needs it. I have been test driving another kind that I thought I might sell, but boy oh boy it has issues and flunked my test real quick.

I like the material and it's a good heavy blanket, but my oh my, it's his size alright but he can take that blanket off in less than 30 seconds flat. It's cut way to low in the front and he can just climb right out the neck hole. Then it has the back leg straps and that is let's just say, less than joyous to work with on goosey young foals and no tail piece. The third kind I have here has a wide belly band but it rolls around, won't stay in place, so I guess we are sticking with this kind.

It's been warming up during the day, so I've been taking the blankets off so they can get some nice sunshine on their backs.

Here's Timmy having a fit about this whole blanket thing.

Anyone else wearing a blanket in your barn?

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No blankets here. We are still having very mild weather, almost 60 in the day and about 30 at night.

Edited to add

Your Timmy sure looks good in his blanket, well he actually looks good anytime
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I don't think he likes it though
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C'mon Mom take it off NOW
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We are friends but on this we shall have to agree to disagree. I never blanket regardless of the temperature . They do not grow coats like woolly mammoths for nothing. Even in -30 degree weather I have seen them standing munching hay with a foot of snow on their backs. When I drive in the winter and they are warmed up from exercise and we stop for some reason (go into a store or stop for a visit and a coffee someplace) I put a blanket on to prevent a chill from evaporation of perspiration . I do not clip them at all once they begin growing their winter coats other than fetlocks and bridle path.

I have had an occasional guest horse or temporary border who "required" blankets due to trimmed coats or wimpy owners and its a real hassle. Some horses are real slobs about laying in all of the available "organic" matter they can find. In order to keep a reasonably clean blanket on them required several changes per week. thats alot of blankets and from my own experience they do not launder well in your household washing machine. In the long run my personal opinion is unless they are clipped - no blanket.
 
Marty,

We've had temps down to MINUS THREE at night a couple of times and then level out to single digits (above zero) but our minis are all outside with either access to the main part of the barn or shelters......none with blankets. They all are allowed to move around at will or get into shelter or barn to huddle if they prefer. We also feed them lots of additional hay at night which provides "fuel" from within.

Now, if I were stalling any of them? Yes, I probably would blanket because they wouldn't have the space to move around to keep warm....or the other horses for body warmth.

One thing about blankets, though.... it presses down on their natural coats and messes up the natural insulation they have for warmth. So it's kind of a catch-22.

I will often go around and feel in their "arm-pits" to see if they are warm enough. And if I actually see a horse shivering they come inside, get blanketted and/or put under a heat lamp. Pronto! (Have had to do that with one of our "big" horses!)

MA
 
Vic- Marty clipped Timmy- Marty I love you dearly but I have to say......

*[SIZE=8pt]i told you so....[/SIZE]* (I'm whispering!!!)

If you had not clipped you would not have to rug. My baby Yaks are leaping around in sub zero temps with access to, but no intention of using , a shed.

The blanket looks great though- how small do they go as I am looking for something like that for newborns- they would have to be about 14" along the back (I find that is the easiest way of measuring for foals!!)
 
LOTS of blankets here, all purple, of course, and all cleaned and folded and waiting on show season. I have not ever blanketed horses in the winter and it's been very cold here. Mine have buildings and trees for shelter but no blankets, yet... I plan to clip them early on parts of their bodies so I can start working them w/o them being soaked in sweat. At that point, I will need to blanket but not right now.
 
My big horses have been blanketed for nearly a month now. They just don't grow the hair that my shetlands do. I don't put hoods on them though. I do have one shetty mare that just has a different type of coat, long but kind of thin, definitely not wooly. I occasionally will blanket her if I find she is shivering or dropping weight. I've blanketed her about 3 nights this year so far.

I like the looks of that blanket that Timmy is wearing. I do wish it was easier to find blankets made to fit the little ones well (esp. with shorter drops) but with open fronts. I also like the look of, oh I can't remember the name now, but they come up a little higher on the neck. Not hood high, but like a 1/4 hood. My shetties blankets are handmade heavy cotton sheets I found on ebay. They are well made, but not cut quite right for the little ones (neck opening is a bit big and they have really long drops). I do have one small BMB which is cut just right, but somehow I mismeasured and it's too small for the shetlands. I really like the BMB blankets, but they can get spendy.

Edited to finish my post. Too early for me.
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I have blankets, about one of each size, but, only use them for a sick, or a very young baby born during not so warm weather.

I really do believe their natural coat does a better job. Although at this point, can't recall when you did clip Timmy. Sophie was clipped for Nationals, not wearing a blanket. Yesterday was the first time in weeks we hit the freezing mark, for a high, it has been rediculously cold for a December. Our nights have hit single digits a many a time the past few weeks.

I'm thinking Opie is as small as Timmy, he is 7 months and 23". He doesn't wear a blanket, nor does he need one. He is a very happy camper out there playing naked in the snow and cold.

Marnie lives where it is cold most of the time. I can't imagine her blanketing all of hers. By the time she got the last blanket on, it would be time to take them all back off again.

Nature is a great protector,,,,,as well as you are!!!
 
He looks so cute in the blanket.

Nope no blankets here today going up to 76 deg.
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I can handle that!
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Been sort of nice here!!

Joyce
 
Sorry Marty, I live just down the mountain from you and it has been down to

19 F here and no blankets. I'm with the others. If I had a sick horse with hypothermia I might blanket...I do keep them in case and if I have a foal born in cold weather I put on for a short period but get it off as quickly as possible. I use the Kalgo heater instead on the newborns and they find the heated area to lay down. But if Timmy has been clipped then you definately need to keep him warm.
 
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I didn't have to blanket the minis this year. My poor horse Daisy unfortunately was put under 24 hour lights at one barn, unbeknownst to me until the damage was done, so she didn't put on any coat this year at all albeit some jowl hair and foot feathers. Other than that she's as slick as any horse in mid summer. During our recent cold snap she wore two of her heaviest winter blankets.

Sorry Timmy hates his blanket. He can comiserate with Triggy anytime about it, he hates his too, I mean HATES it. When I blanketed him would rip it off at every opportunity, stomp on it and leave a big poo or pee on it just to illustrate his disgust.
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No blankets on any of our babies and we have been to 3 degrees in the thumb area of Michigan. All are weanlings foals are doing fine even the foal that was born in the middle of August.
 
Sorry Marty Girl,

No Blankies here...its been very cold here...with a low of 5 the other day- with all the snow here too...its been like the polar express...no blankies though...their hair coat is HUGE. But, I will also say...when its bitter...he-he they are tucked in the cozy barn with Christmas music playing...if I could give them hot cocoa I sure would...but, can't---hot tea maybe
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ok, I just have to settle with bringing them warm water when its really CHILLY!!!!

But, I will say...that Timmy looks so CUTE in his winter jammies!!!!!!!

lis
 
Yep, I blanket. Not until it goes below freezing and stays but then I blanket. Last year my yearling was from Florida and was clipped late so he had to be and well into the winter as the nights got to single digits my old guy (17) was shivering. So neither one of them object to blankets! Our new filly is from Florida also but her coat is in good. However, with all the scary stories on here about 5 &6 mo. old foals being suddenly gone overnight she's learned to put up with her blanket too.

My newest ones buckle in front but the one that I really like is from Schneider's. It has a velcro front and a wide belly band with velcro. Goes on easy and stays in place good. They all have leg straps but even the filly is pretty calm about them. She is just some sort of Hodini and she's always out of hers in the morning with them dangling on the back side still fastened.
 
Another thought on blanketing is I own a beautifully colored near leopard appy mare. When I bought her in March of 2004, her prior owner had been blanketing her that winter and in previous winters, too. Her coat was "nice" but WOW was it nice this past season and I think that letting her be natural and not covering up her coat was a factor.
 
the average temperature this month in south central wisconsin has been 10.4 degrees F...lets you know how cold it has been at night....

only 2 are in at night. the other 30+ horses are outside. they do have run in sheds of course! no blankets tho we do have them in a tub up in the rafters....

jennifer
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I blanket. Let me explain why!!! Our one baby is clipped... late in season... so he really needs to be blanketed. Second reason is that our equine vet blankets. If the horses can run around, they can bring up their body temp if they get cold.... if they are in a stall, they don't have that option of running around to warm up. I found that if I blanket, they love a night turn out to run and play... (I keep them in front of the house, so I can see them all at night when I'm laying in bed... ). If I stall them (which they don't seem to like as much), they can't run and have more of a tendency to shiver.

I always put my hands between the blanket and their bodies, to check and see if they feel comfortable or not. We had cordura blankets with no tail flaps and they were the same temp on the neck as they were under the blankets. Our new blankets that are waterproof vs water resistant and much warmer, and they feel the same temp they are when they lay in the sun. The blankets were very inexpensive at $25.00s a piece and we don't have anyone that can get out of them. They have double buckles in the front, a latch buckle on the belly, and two leg bands, (which I do have some issues with on our shorter minis.

We have our black mini Magic and we have our black QH.. and those get stalled in the daytime a large portion of the year. In the winter, they still like their nightly turnouts and well, I blanket. I always get a nicker of approval when I blanket and I get them standing on our front steps if I even wait until late at night to blanket.

I find, if I blanket, I have less to clip in the spring, better black on the horses, and less mess in the barn. My rule of thumb is... if it's under 40 degrees the blankets go on, if it's over 40.. the blankets come off. We have weatherbug installed on the laptop, so it alerts me to when I need to come running with blankets or not.

Our QH mare has always been blanketed and hasn't grown any winter coat, except a few wiskers. I always get nice comments on how black she looks and how nice she looks. So for me... it's an easy decision to blanket. Our Florida horses aren't used to temps in the 20's and 30's. I think the easiest time for them to get sick is when it's below 40 at night and goes up to the mid 70's during the day. I worry most when the range of temp is 30 to 40 degrees difference.

JMHO

God Bless,

Lynn W
 
I know all you northerners chuckle when you read about us Floridians blanketing, but I'm with Black Magic. Everything here, including horses with natural coats, get blankets when it's in the 30s or less. We have a "wet" cold here, not the dry colds that are more common in the north. My clipped horses get blankets in the 50s and double-blankets as the temperature approaches 40. My barn is the typical open, southern barn, more suited to our 9 months out of the year heat waves, so in the winter, when that north wind comes through, it's a big shock to these little guys. I hay the horses every night between 10-11 p.m. so have the opportunity to check on everybody's comfort. A weanling filly who was clipped last September has a moderate coat, but gets 2 blankets during our cold snaps. Last night SHE WAS SHIVERING already and we hadn't even reached our low of 29 degrees. Thankfully she was able to fit into what I call my "nuclear reactor" blanket which has extra insulation. Within a few minutes she was comfortable again. I wouldn't have been able to sleep that night if I thought she was that cold!!!! In addition to blankets I dole out plenty of grass hay for overnight, even to the horses who are outside on what is now pretty meager pasture. Gives them extra fuel for those cold, overnight hours.

Robin C
 
Prancers don't wear winter blankets. They have plenty of hair. But Sonny does cause he's not a Prancer and he doesn't get very thick hair ever and he's older and gets cold. He usually stays quite slick. But I do keep sheets on hand for the minis and they can wear them out if it's muddy to help keep them clean, but I really don't bother with that either unless it's very bad muddy.

Please don't hurt me!
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Yes Timmy was clipped back in October. Now before you all whip me with a wet noodle, I'll explain that one.

It was still very hot and he had all his baby fuzz on him, very thick and he was sweating to death under it. Well he began to itch and scratch himself all over. Then it got worse, and he started to violently thrash himself into the fences rubbing himself raw. He was really hurting himself. He finally tore a big place in his shoulder, hip and butt and I had blood. So I had to clip him to see what the heck was going on under that and get it treated. He got clipped up with a #5 blade. It did not take down much hair and left plenty. Then I hunted through all that was left trying to find the cause, maybe lice or something I thought.

The next day I noticed he was all broke out under there in places, a real mess, but I think it was from too rich feed and hay, causing him those nasty little things that I call protein bumps, therefore: the itching. I was able to get in there and treat his little itchy body and heal him all up in about a week's time. I got him back off the Omelene 300, dropped it back down to Omelene 200 and stopped the alfalfa hay, replaced it with orchard grass and the itching stopped. It was most likely the combination of the high protein in the hay and grain, and the heat just set him off.

Anyhow, that's why the blanket. Most of the hair came right back quickly, but I wanted to just be sure he wasn't getting too cold. I stick my hands under it to be sure he's not sweating. He's a holy terror with or without the blanket.
 
Yep... I double blanketed last night... fleece under neath, blanket on top. When we get ice on top of the hay... it worries me to sleep without taking the horses fresh hay from the house. If someone is shivering.. I put the fleece in the dryer and get it nice and warm for them and then put it on them... then put the heavy blanket on top.... the shivering usually stops pretty quick and when I check on them an hour later, they are sleeping .. and no more shivering.

And a shout out to Robin C
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