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Oh, I am familiar with weather extremes (from recently been living in Fairbanks, Alaska) and the hunt regime of blanketing (grew up in the midwest in the hunt and dressage worlds).

Frankly, I stick wiith blanketing; especially during extreme weather.  Horses are mammals and the physiological effects of cold/wind occur in them as well as any other mammal.

Further, blanketing helps to reduce, at least some, calories needed during extreme weather too.  I'd rather buy a blanket that I can use over and over again then having to buy more feed and hay in order to sustain the horse through bad weather.

And horses start to lose body heat around freezing temps and even slightly higher temps if there is wind/rain etc.

 

So, blanketing can and does make sense; physiologically and economically.

And that's my 2 cents worth!

 

jackier

(back to lurking :)

Flora Hillman <auriga79@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I figured I might raise some eyebrows on Ridecamp with my blanket regime ...
> but ... I come from many decades in dressage and eventing and foxhunting,
> and old habits die hard! 
>
> Yes, I was talking about 35 degrees F; however, because I use my ponies all
> winter long for riding or driving -- two for foxhunting (and soon a third),
> and my pair for driving -- their emerging winter coats are clipped early in
> the fall, then 1 or 2 or 3 more times as winter moves in. I like my ponies
> to retain a summer-short coat all winter long, no matter how cold it gets.
> I actually have 6 blankets per pony, including full body fly sheets for the
> summer. Par for the course in my neighborhood -- nobody lives roughed out!
> They are all rugged up to their eyeballs, even in 50 degree F.
>  weather.
>
> If your horses were mine -- we'd all be wintering in Florida!!! Frankly,
> the closest I'd ever want to be to your brand of Canadian cold is
> ....watching it on the Nature Channel. :-) 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ***********
>
> Read the post from Flora Hillman - Sorry, but I just had to laugh! We live
> in central Canada where the winter temps this year have been worse than
> normal. If our temps were anywhere near 35 degrees right now, (and I am
> assuming you mean +35 degrees F?, we'd practically be out riding in shorts
> and t-shirts! :)
>
> I was laughing thinking that if your horses are double and triple blanketed,
> what would you do with our horses at -47 c (that was with windchill factored
> in, but nonetheless, it was the real-feel temperature on too many occasions
> this winter)?
>
> -- 
> Evelyn Allen
>
>
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