Bad Weather-Should I Worry

[stellabella]

Hello,

So here in New England our weather took a strange turn. It has been a mild October: Mid 60s during the day low 40s at night. This is my first winter with my mini. She is growing her winter coat and It is already quite thick. It started raining last night. I wasn't too worried. It continued to rain all day today, and she decided to spend the day out grazing instead of in her run in with hay. So tonight it has dropped to freezing and we now have in inch of snow

I don't want to put her blanket on now because she is soaking wet, and I think that will just make matters worse.

Am I over analyzing this. I sorta feel like a new mom.

And I feel bad that she is wet and Its such a nasty wet cold night.

 

[stellabella]

Also---She is an easy keeper and probably a little on the chubby side. (Maybe that will help keep her warm)

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Is she shivering? If her coat is wet on top she may still be dry underneath. If she's cold she'll go in her shed.

 

[lucky lodge]

I AM so glad i live in australia couldnt handle the cold and snow

but as soon as your little guy is dry i would put a rug on him

 

[stellabella]

I know with her winter coat she can handle the cold. But I will deff pay much closer attention the the rain/snow and make sure she is blanketed before it starts. I don't think she is shivering and she can come into the barn, she usually does at night.

 

[targetsmom]

Ha, ha - I saw this and said to myself - I wonder where she lives, because the weather HERE is pretty bad!! Yep, same weather!! Ours all rolled after they got all wet so they look like chicken that has been "shake and baked"!! What I did was took a towel to them and tried to dry them off a bit so they weren't soaked. Most of them don't like this, but I did get the worst of the wet off and at least ruffled the fur so it offers some insulation. I also fed everyone plenty of hay and will check them again now. One was blanketed anyway - with a waterproof turnout - because she was clipped last month has has no coat. I don't plan to blanket anyone else unless they are shivering or look miserable. They have always been fine. IF one looks cold or is shivering, I will toss a blanket in the dryer first to get it nice and warm and then put it on. That is VERY rare that I need to do that.

 

[stellabella]

Yeah I think she will be fine for tonight. she is inside with plenty on hay. Were in NE Connecticut and have about an inch of snow. Its insane, Its still October. I like the blanket in the dryer idea. I will remember that trick for our goats as well.

 

[MajorClementine]

If she choose to stay out in the weather she is just fine. Stick your finger down through the wet outer coat and she should feel nice and warm and dry underneath. This was the hardest thing for me to accept when I moved to an area with cold wet winters. If she's shivering you can worry about her, if not then she will be fine. If it makes you feel better, keep an eye on the forcast and put her blanket on before any rain storms.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

As odd as it is i have my gelding so i can use a hair dryer on him incase something like this.. Im from wisconsin.. LUCKILY we havent had any snow yet but i agree if shes not shivering she should be fine... I totally understand where your comming from worring though lol im the same way

 

[Royal Crescent]

As long as she is not shivering I would not blanket her. With their winter coat, there is air trapped in the hair. That is part of what insulates against the cold. When you put a blanket on, it flattens out the coat and they loose that air layer. Mine were out through the Minnesota winter with temperature down to -20 to -30. They had a shelter and did fine. I would watch how she does with the rain followed by cold. That kind of weather I did try to bring them in. Make sure she is not getting soaked through her coat.

 

[Eagle]

Yes I understand cos we have had the same weather here in Italy, warm and sunny until last week and on Tuesday it snowed in the morning and then rained for the rest of the day . When I went to feed them in the evening the two girls were shaking so I put them in the stables and gave them loads of hay. I didn't want to put them in for at least another month but their coats just weren't ready for such low temperatures plus they were soaked. (they do have a shelter but didn't use it) Now the weather is better so i have put them back out.

 

[AnnaC]

All my girls live out and survive any weather thrown at them (the boys are stabled nights and out in the day, but I simply dont have barn space for 40 odd girls!) We do have lots of land and areas of woodland plus more shelter belts, so they do just fine, even last year when we had around 2 or 3 months of continuous snow and freezing temps - I do keep a supply of large round hay bales in front of them during the snowy weather.

I'm sure your little girl will be fine, just keep her at the slightly 'tubby' stage, keep plenty of hay in her run in (eating hay will warm a horse up) and just give her light 'brush overs' to keep her tidy - proper grooming will remove the natural oils in her coat and she needs them to keep her warm.

If she is looking good and is happy in herself, I wouldn't be rugging her at all. The trouble I have with rugging is not when to put the rug on, but when to take it off! As a human you would put a coat on to go out in the cold and rain.......rain stops, would you simply remove your coat? I dont think so because you would miss that comfortable 'wrapped up' feeling! You wouldn't remove the coat until you walked into the real warmth of your house. So when do you decide that the temperature has risen enough to remove the rug from your girl, plus her coat will be really flattened by the rug and it takes some really hard work to get it properly fluffed up again!

So just relax and enjoy your little one, I'm sure she will tell you whether she is happy or feeling a bit uncomfortable - she is lucky to have such a caring owner.

 

[mrsj]

All my girls live out and survive any weather thrown at them (the boys are stabled nights and out in the day, but I simply dont have barn space for 40 odd girls!) We do have lots of land and areas of woodland plus more shelter belts, so they do just fine, even last year when we had around 2 or 3 months of continuous snow and freezing temps - I do keep a supply of large round hay bales in front of them during the snowy weather.

I'm sure your little girl will be fine, just keep her at the slightly 'tubby' stage, keep plenty of hay in her run in (eating hay will warm a horse up) and just give her light 'brush overs' to keep her tidy - proper grooming will remove the natural oils in her coat and she needs them to keep her warm.

If she is looking good and is happy in herself, I wouldn't be rugging her at all. The trouble I have with rugging is not when to put the rug on, but when to take it off! As a human you would put a coat on to go out in the cold and rain.......rain stops, would you simply remove your coat? I dont think so because you would miss that comfortable 'wrapped up' feeling! You wouldn't remove the coat until you walked into the real warmth of your house. So when do you decide that the temperature has risen enough to remove the rug from your girl, plus her coat will be really flattened by the rug and it takes some really hard work to get it properly fluffed up again!

So just relax and enjoy your little one, I'm sure she will tell you whether she is happy or feeling a bit uncomfortable - she is lucky to have such a caring owner.

Totally agree with Anna, mine are always out as not shown at the moment and they will stay out in the middle of the field despite having a choice to use shelter! They love it and we live near Anna, so same conditions for us last year too. You can see some pics of mine on my site but I make sure they have plenty of water and hay in the freezing snow and they still come out of it tubby

You are as Anna says obviously a very caring owner

 

[LAminiatures]

I am in New England as well and I dried them off with towels just to get the heavy wet off them. They did get extra hay and everyone was fine. I have blankets on hand but rarely use them. We are getting 4-6 inches in Saturday they are saying. At least the horses love it.

 

[stellabella]

Oh boy.... I am certainly not ready for six inches of snow.

 

[stellabella]

Well they made it through the night fine. When I went out this morning she was still wet and now muddy. I put her hay out in the sun and started doing chores. Within about an hour she was drying off and warm. I will try to post some pictures later on today.

Thanks for all your help and support.

 

[Ashley]

I wouldnt blanket her. ONce you start you will probably have to continue through the year. The only horse I blanket here in MN is my 30 some year old gelding, and only because he is on the thin side.

 

[lucky seven]

I am in the adirondacks as well, don't like the forecast for sat with all the snow. If I give my boy extra hay to keep him warm and he puts on extra weight this winter, then I shouldn't worry too much about founder? I have a blanket that came with him but have never used it. He grows a thick, long coat.

 

[susanne]

I almost never blanket, and my horses are out 24/7 (with run-in shelters, of course).

I only worry when we have a nasty weather combo, such as wind and freezing rain, or sudden, extreme weather changes. Last fall, after a drenching rain, the temps plunged suddenly from 50 degrees to the mid teens -- plus wind. Since I had always heard not to blanket a wet horse, I searched the internet for ideas.

My favorite tip was to stuff hay or straw under the blanket. The hay/straw soaks up the moisture, keeps the blanket away from the skin and provides loft. I did this and it worked very well.

(I have also read that today's quality waterproof turnouts provide enough airflow to be less of a worry...I take that with a grain of salt, not knowing if our turnouts are deemed "quality.")

I still almost never blanket, but I feel a bit more prepared for the vagaries of our strange NW weather.

 

[Minimor]

I rarely blanket here either. However, if I had one that got wet and then was cold, I would blanket. I have no qualms about tossing one of my waterproof Kensington blankets onto a wet horse--I have done it. The one time it was pouring rain, and windy, and one little mare was soaking wet & really shivering as the rain was blowing into her shed so she couldn't get away from the wet. Rather than move her elsewhere I put the blanket on her. She went out in the rain once she was covered, and it was was POURING. When I checked on her a couple hours later she was completely dry under the blanket--the wetness of her coat got wicked away just as it is supposed to, and the blanket let the moisture out while keeping the rain out as well. Susanne--the Kensingtons are definitely quality waterproof blankets!

I've used straw under the blanket to dry off a wet horse, but only a couple times for the Morgans whom I didn't have waterproof blankets for. I'd put them in the barn, blanket them over top straw, then replace the straw once or twice until the horse was dry. Much nicer to have waterproof blankets that can go on a wet horse without any extra work!

Here if I do have to blanket for some reason, I don't have to continue blanketing for the entire winter. I just wait for a milder, sunny day--then the blanket comes off, the horse is out in the sun and the coat fluffs up again. The blanket can stay off then, even when the temperature drops again.