ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Winter Coats

Re: Winter Coats

K S Swigart (katswig@deltanet.com)
Wed, 1 Oct 1997 21:20:44 -0700 (PDT)

Horses in Southern California (unless we are talking about in the
mountains where it snows), do not need to be blanketed (acutally, I am of
the opinion that the only horse that might "need" to be blanketed is one
that lives outside with absolutely no shelter from the wind or the
rain/snow--otherwise, the one that they grow is perfectly adequate for
keeping them warm...but that is beside the point).

Additionally, I cannot recommend clipping a Southern Californian horse.
Clipping will ruin your horse's natural coat, and it will take years for
the coat to recover (just like shaving your legs makes the hair on your
legs grow back faster and courser...the more often you shave, the more
often you have to shave).

I have found that there is no Arabian (or Thoroughbred...which is what I
have got) grows a long enough coat in the Southern California wintertime
that it needs to be clipped at all...even if you keep your horse in
regular work.

It just doesn't get that cold here.

I have competed through the winter with my horse's "winter" coat. I takes
a little longer to dry out, but I have found that if you keep the horse in
regular training, they do just fine wearing their winter coat all winter
and shedding it out naturally in the spring.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s. If your horse has already had its natural coat ruined by clipping,
this may be something that you will have to do forever....or go through
the years that it will take for the coat to recover.

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