You wrote:
> Saturday evening I left my horses out in the pasture. Our pasture
> has no shelter, yet. Well it rained hard. <snip> Sunday morning I
>found my horses visibly shivering and shaking. It wasn't that cold -
> around 60 degrees or so. We live in Northern California, and this is a
> warmer storm.
>
> Question - sorry if it sounds stupid - when a horse is shivering
> visibly, does it indicate that the horse is cold?? or does it indicate
> another problem??
Yes, your horses <were> cold, and shivering is a method of
thermogenesis (warming themselves). Horses can accomodate more
extremes of weather than humans because of their increased body mass
to surface area ratio, their coats, etc. When mass/surface area,
coat, and behavior (rump to the wind/storm, seeking shelter) are not
enough, or when there are missing ingredients (poor condition/thin,
no shelter, ill) the horses will become cold.
The conditions sound mild - 50's or 60's and rain. If the water
coming down is cooled in the upper atmosphere, it can be quite cold
while the air temperature is warm. Water in the 70's F can cause
hypothermia if you are immersed. The rain can be much cooler yet.
While the horse is not immersed, he may still be exposed to wind if
there is no shelter available - ie. wind chill.
Many horses live outside year round and do well without confinement
to box stalls, but you will find that they all have access to shelter
of some sort. This may be a lean to or run in shed, a ravine, a stand
of trees, etc. Horses who are used to being pastured will <not> be
happy in a box stall, but given time and repetition they can be
acclimated to stalls. It is not a bad thing to do if you have access
to stalls. If the horse is injured in the future & must remain on
stall rest, it is better that he doesn't fret so much that he
exacerbates his injury. It's a lousy time to find out he doesn't
take to being in a stall. We consider it part of "basic training".
My husband & I work full time and cannot bring the horses in when bad
weather threatens. Our barn is fenced off from the pasture and like
you, we do not have a run in shed. If we anticipate cold rain,
sleet, etc., we will put a rain proof sheet or a new zealand rug on
them. We find their head & necks damp, but they don't come in
shivering. A good rule of thumb for us (esp. if we've body clipped) is:
If we are uncomfortable in the weather without extra layers, so are
the horses. I try to imagine standing in the rain & wind for 10
hours and plan accordingly. I ALWAYS bring them in if there is
freezing rain.
I'm sure those who live further north w/ pasture kept horses will say
I'm a softy, but this management works well for us.
Linda Flemmer
ABF Challenger ("Rocket") & Eternal Point ("Major")
Blue Wolf Ranch Chesapeake, Virginia, USA
"In case of emergency - Fur side up, steel side down!"