Blanketing Your Horse In Winter

Horses that alive outside all year adjust their own hair growth by means of daylight and temperature. But few horses regularly ridden do live outside all year. If your horse lives in a stall, he is going to need some extra attention to his "physical plant" in order to stay happy and healthy until spring. Particularly important is what you decide to do about blanketing and clipping.

What Weight Blanket Should I Buy?

Some owners blanket their horse too much. If you body clip your horse (a subject dealt with below), you'll need more blankets than you would for a natural horse. Here are some rules of thumb:

• If you live in the upper Midwestern or Northeastern US, or similar climate, where winter temperatures can get really frigid, a natural horse will need at least one heavyweight blanket.
• If he's older, or ill, or your local temperatures are extreme, you might need a blanket liner as well. If your horse has been clipped, you will almost certainly need a heavyweight blanket and liner.
• If you live in the Mid-Atlantic states or lower Midwest or similar climate, drop back to a medium-weight blanket for winter for an unclipped horse.
• For an aged, ill, or clipped horse, you'll need to move up to a heavyweight blanket. Or, buy a medium weight and a liner so you can fine-tune your horse's comfort level.

Warning: In general, it is better to slightly underblanket than overblanket. If the sun comes out, or your horse plays hard outside, he might sweat. The sweat won't dry quickly under a blanket, so he'll be damp and uncomfortable at the very least. At worst, the temperature problems he cannot cure - particularly the dampness - may cause respiratory problems, or, worse, the discomfort could cause a colic.

To Clip or Not to Clip?

If you are showing your horse in the winter, you will probably have to body clip him completely to present him at his best. If you are riding your horse in a hunt, you will want to give him a trace or hunter clip. This type of clip means that the body is virtually cleared of furry growth, but hair is left long on the legs to prevent scratching by bushes and dried grasses in the hunt field. If you ride your horse a lot in an indoor arena in winter, consider clipping him so he won't get too hot and will cool down more quickly before you groom and put him into his stall, or reblanket and put him out.

Choosing Between Types of Blankets

Many riders still use a stable blanket and a turnout rug. The stable blanket has fewer straps and may not be waterproof. The turnout rug has more straps, and more sturdy ones, and is waterproof.

These days, many boarding barns charge each time they take off or put on a blanket. So, many owners have decided to buy just one blanket - a turnout rug - and leave it on 24/7 except when they are riding. This saves expenses if the barn does charge for this service. If you decide to do this, however, for the health of your horse's skin, be prepared to come to the barn on one of the warmest winter days, remove the blanket/rug and take it immediately to a laundromat with BIG machines. Clean it and dry it and return to the barn immediately and put it back on your horse.

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