Blanket question

Not sure if this belongs here or in the tack area, but i'll ask it here.
Is a blanket really nessecary on a pony in the winter months? Where I live it gets bitter cold, in the teens and single digits at times, and Samson doesnt get all that thick of a coat, I was just wondering about this? And also is it smart to use a blanket on a horse when you do groundwork with them, if its that bitter cold with snow on the ground?
Someone please educate me on this :)
Thanks :)

Everyone has their own opinion on blanketing, but if it was getting that cold and my horse didn't have a heavy coat, I would definitely be blanketing. Is he outside 24/7? Does he have shelter? As for blanketing during groundwork, it depends on what you're doing. I keep a lightweight fleece blanket on him while grooming, and use a quarter sheet at the beginning and end of our workouts to keep his muscles warm.

In PA, it's averaging in the 30s at night, and low 50s during the day. Zee is out from about 8:00 am - 3:00 pm. He gets a stable blanket at night, and a light turnout sheet during the day. Once it stays in the 40s during the day, he'll go into a medium weight turnout blanket during the day. However, Zee is 21 and doesn't have an extremely heavy coat. A lot depends on your particular horse and his living situation.

Thanks for answering! :)
He is basically out 24/7 but we have a safe but open barn area for him to go in if he needs to. Im thinking of getting him a blanket I can use for workouts and also a turnout one for the bitter coldness, he has a coat but its none too thick or heavy. Of course hay helps him warm himself but I don't want my baby to freeze, lol

We get cold on the South Dakota prairie. I don't ever blanket our horses as it smashes down their guard hairs. They do have shelter to go in.

With the temperatures you are talking about with him not getting much of a coat as you say I would definitely recommend a blanket.

Does he ever shiver? Does he look content or all cold and miserable?

I blanket my horse whenever the temperature drops below 30. But he is never grows a good winter coat

I blanket all mine :)

In my opinion, if I'm freezing my tush off, shaking, and I'm wearing 87 layers and a jacket, I'm going to blanket my horse. I've been blanketing him most nights since late october. I say blanket him if he's out 24/7 and is lacking a thick coat.

Some horses naturally run hotter than other horses so it will really depend on the horse. I do blanket all it's in the 40-30's here. My fully clipped tb is in a sleazy hood with a 200 fill blanket, my unclipped ones are both still in sheets (though, will probably increase to 300's for the clipped ones and 200's for the unclipped ones soon). All the fuzzy at my barn have fairly thin winter coats.

Horses in full hard work will run a little bit hotter than those that are in light/no work.