Showing questions.

[heavensminis]

My question is for people who show in March, April & May. When it is still cold out during the day and evening. What are some of the things you do to ensure that your horses are warm enough in the evenings. Do you ever have problems during the day with them being cold and if so how do you handle that.

I know how I would handle these things but its always good to hear others with more experience.

Thanks

 

[disneyhorse]

Just be sure you blanket according to the temperatures. Thicker blankets or more layers when it is colder, and lighter sheets when it is warmer.

If you can use box stalls or stalls that have sides for a wind break, that will help dramatically too.

Bedding the stall thicker (I use pelleted bedding normally but when they are first shaved short I often use fluffier pine shavings) helps too when they lie down to sleep.

Andrea

 

[Magic]

Here, it's just flat too cold in March and April to body clip a horse, so we don't show until May. We *can* get nice days but you can bet the temps are still going to be below freezing a lot of the time. Even with Kalglo heaters in the barn I'm not going to clip any horses-- I've seen some clipped that time of year around here and they are miserable even with layers of blankets on. And it's no fun for a horse to have to wear blankets 24/7.

If your climate isn't as severe as ours, then you may be fine to clip.

Spring looks a LONG ways away at this point, with yet another snow storm heading in. My horses all have lovely warm winter coats though and so do I, so we won't complain (much!) lol!

 

[minih]

We live in Arkansas so the weather in the spring is most of the time very fluctuating, warm one day and cold the next....we usually have a show the end of April that we go to. What we do is what has been mentioned above, I put their slinkies on underneath with a blanket over the top. Hoodies and all. I also put fluffy pine shavings down in their stall and the show horses are up in the barn with runs attached. We just make sure the doors are shut and they are out of the wind as good as we can get them. The main problem I have are the hoodies, if they get to rubbing they are bad to pull the sides over to their eye and it makes their eye sore and could possibly cause an ulcer, so I usually tie the middle together between the eyes in a small knot to help hold the hoody out of the eyes. Make sure all blankets and hoods fit well or you will have one twisted up horse when you go to check on them.

 

[skanzler]

We are located in Central Washington state. Our show horses get thier heads and necks clipped in Mid to end of February so that we can start conditioning for the show season. We use a 7-10 blade. We place polarfleece hoods, plus neck covers on them in the evenings and when the days are going to be cold. We leave the hair on thier muzzles and ears.... looks funny, but they stay warmer. By mid March the body hair comes off, but we leave the leg hair on, as this remains exposed. We still use the 7-10 blade. We then blanket with polar fleece warmer, and at least two layers of blankets or more. We are committed to making sure we blanket and unblanket according to the weather conditions. By the middle of April the leg hair comes off and we do the first full body clip in the 15 and 30 blades for the first show. which is the end of April.

All of our horses are in a show barn with plenty of fluffy shavings.

 

[sedeh]

My first show isn't until the end of April.....still can be cold/wet then and I definately blanket and stall them. We have a schooling show in March.....but I'll just clip up their heads and leave them pretty shaggy for that!

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

We actually just had a show here last weekend! Personally, I'd rather they moved it a bit farther in the year, but it's the Stock show and it's always held this time of year.

My guys are stabled and wear blankets/hoods/neck sweats to keep warm. Plus I give plenty of hay!

Lucy

 

[minih]

but it's the Stock show and it's always held this time of year

We bought a mare at the sale that is held there along with the show couple of years ago, not fun keeping her all blanketed from January until spring. It is just waaaay too cold and tooo long to keep one in short hair at that time for me.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

but it's the Stock show and it's always held this time of year

We bought a mare at the sale that is held there along with the show couple of years ago, not fun keeping her all blanketed from January until spring. It is just waaaay too cold and tooo long to keep one in short hair at that time for me.

There weren't very many entries- I have the feeling if it doesn't get more entries they won't hold it anymore. I don't think there were more than 30 horses entered.

It took less than five hours to complete the WHOLE show.

Lucy

 

[Keri]

Oh! I wouldn't even dream of shaving them that soon. Our club holds early shows, but they are always just performance shows and dont't require shaving. Those are the best kind!

I would say, just blanket them good and keep them in a stall where they are away from the wind. I live where the wind blows ALL the time. So I wouldn't even think about it even with a blanket.

 

[ruffian]

No way - We don't show before late May. Yesterday we had 40 - 50 MPH winds, -12 deg. 4-8 inches of snow tonight.