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Well, I keep my horses home, I see them at least an hour a day, when not 
doing anything, they have a round bale in front of them all the time, they 
grow different variations of coats , my mare hardly any, just a little 
fuzzy, but still short like 1/2" (maybe she didn't get a "hair gene")my 
gelding has so much hair he has to be at least trace clipped or he is 
miserable on hot days. My colt gets a silky fairly long coat, sort of 
between the two, the tb gets a longerhaired coat, but it is not real dense. 
None are under any kind of artificial lights-- they get medium water 
turnouts at night under 40 or when it is cold rain under 50 degrees they 
also have rain sheets.
We live in the Se with milder winters, but we get alot of sudden changes, 
can be spring like to real cold  with roller coaster type temp changes, and 
lots of cold rainey days,So our horses really don't acclimate like  Northern 
horses.
 When I have not had sheets or blankets on them  they huddle around 
miserable,  shivering--and I leave my barn open and they also have a 
shed--even if they come inside ,if  they got soaked and it is under 45 , 
they will shiver--my mare is the worst.
  Just cold is ok with them, but not cold and rain.I think that person got 
the mixed up idea from the water insulating them in the summer when sponging 
or something.
  I also occasionally wash my horses with warm water over 50 degrees,  if I 
take too long to bathe and scrape, then cover with a cooler or two, they 
will begin to  shiver.
  Those are my observatins, I have also worked at 3 barns Pt.

> From: "Connie Owens" <koinsavvyup@xxxxxxx>
> To: "ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [RC]   Hose your horses in the cold?
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:19:07 -0600
>
> Hi List,
> I am in need of info, hope you sages can help! On another list which is pro 
> "all natural" horsekeeping, one poster is insisting that allowing horses to 
> get wet to the skin in cold weather actually creates a warm "wet suit" 
> effect. According to her logic, when a horse is in a cold rain and the 
> horse is getting wet through to the skin (not where the rain runs off the 
> long coat and the undercoat is dry), the horses body heat will warm the 
> cold rain through the coat and the horse will be insulated through a layer 
> of warm water, thus why you should not blanket your horse in cold wet 
> weather.
>
> Now I understood that as long as the horse is not wet to the skin then they 
> are still naturally insulated (provided lots of hay available for eating). 
> So is there any truth to this concept? Myself, I find it hard to believe.
>
> Connie
> CT region
> "There's only one King and it's not me"... Elvis Presley



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