Winter Horse Care FAQs
Its finally getting cold outside and youre bundled up possibly with a hot cup of cocoa or coffee in hand. But how does your horse handle the chill of winter? Lets take a look at some answers to commonly asked questions about cold weather horse care.
1. How do horses cope with cold?
An adult horses comfort zone is lower than most people think. An acclimated healthy adult horse can remain reasonably comfortable in temperatures that dip into the 20s Fahrenheit and below as long as the horse stays dry and can escape wind.
Another factor in fighting the chill is the horses unique digestive system. The microbial fermentation of fibrous feeds taking place in a horses colon creates enough internal heat that your horses gut acts as a type of furnace to keep him warm.
Although a horses natural winter coat is meant to trap warm air against his skin placing a blanket on top of this hair does not negate the warmth. Instead a blanket acts as an added physical layer of insulation.
While blankets do indeed physically flatten a horses hair their layers take the place of the horses natural coat. Air trapped between a horse and the layers of blanket now act as insulation.
If you want to feel for yourself how this insulation works pay a visit to your horse in the pasture one winter day and place your bare hand between his shoulder and the blanket to get a sense of the heat trapped in
There are however other aspects to consider when choosing to blanket your horse. Blankets are necessary for horses that are thin sick or older these animals typically struggle to maintain a core body temperature in the face of harsh environmental elements. Horses that have been clipped in the winter will need some level of blanketing as well. All other adult horses may or may not need a blanket the blanketing debate rages on because it depends heavily on the individual horse and his immediate external environment.
If youre questioning whether to blanket your horse in the winter consider his physical characteristics
