Another Blanket Question

Sorry, I read through some other blanket threads, but didn't find the answers I need, so I'm posting one too.

My horse lives outdoors where she can go under the barn overhang to get out of the weather (I wish it was better, but it's the best I can do right now). I live where, in winter, it occasionally gets below 0 degrees fahrenheit, and 35 degrees is a warm day. I also ride 2-3 times a week in the winter.

I used to put a thick waterproof blanket on her in late fall and leave it on until it warms up in the spring. However, I've had some people tell me that blanketing a horse is wrong. By blanketing a horse, they don't develop their full winter coats. They tell me that they're warmer in their own winter coats than in a blanket.

Is that true? I want to do whatever is best for my horse. Would I be better off
A) Never blanketing her
B) Keeping her blanketed always
C) Only blanketing her one rare EXTRA cold occasions

If I don't blanket her, do I still ride her when she's wet? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just really confused now, and would really appreciate your comments. Thanks.

I have never blanketed a horse. Most horses are plenty warm without a blanket. The only exception would be if the horse is sick or you are trailering on a particularly cold day. I have had horses for almost 30 years and never had a blanket on one overnight. Treat your horse like a horse would want to be treated not how a human would like to be treated. They are fine with thier natural coat and giving them the option of going under a shelter or staying out makes for a happy horse in my opinion. You will be suprised at how little time your horse spends under the shelter.

If you intend on riding her then you are going to have to blanket her, and possibly clip her if you do enough work to warrent it.

I live in the UK where last winter at home we got down to -12 Celcius, All my ponies were rugged then, some even double or tripple rugged. Even my native ponies who live out mostly without rugs had a nice thick turnout on.

Yes your pony wont grow as thick a coat as she would without the rug, but that's what the rug is there for, to provide the warmth that the coat doesnt.

Reeco my baby pony has had a turnout on for a couple of weeks as I'm trying to see if I can keep his summer coat for the winter show season. So he will be rugged to the eyeballs.

Here in Nothern Utah it gets down to 10-15 degrees below freezing every winter. I ride all winter long and sometimes quite hard with the horse working up a good sweat. I use an old towel to dry them off then I turn them out. As long as the horse is well fed and has some shelter from the wind it doesn't need to be clipped or blanketed.

^^
This.

I vowed never to blanket my horse after working at a horse rescue where they blanketed all their horses and the majority of them developed skin issues under those blankets.

It is not good to put a saddle on a wet back, can cause rubbing and pinching from the saddle and certainly when doing up a girth on a wet/muddy horse you run the risk of causeing girth gauls by trapping mud or dirt under the girth.

I would never saddle a wet horse (thats what a hairdryer is for), and I certainly would not put a sweaty one back out untill it is entirely dry. A horse will dry quicker when clipped, even if it is just a trace or bib clip

Sorry but that is horrificly bad horse care and not how rugs shoudl be used.

A rug should be removed and the horse groomed twice a day and the rug hopefully changed occassionaly (when it gets soaking wet for extended periods of time for example).

My ponies are in at night and they have a rug for in the stable and a rug for in the field (or sometimes several rugs)

Most of the horses at the rescue are outside 24/7 with sheds in their pastures. They don't get groomed. They get basic horse care only. The rescue runs on donations.

My own horse stays out and prefers to stay out. Most days she's out of the shelter even in snow storms.

I find it very strange that this is a questionable thing to do!!


Here in Aus everyone rugs its common practice if your cold outside then so shall a horse be! I triple rug my paint mare during winter but have the amount adjusted in and mornings and at night to suit the weather!
In summer she wears a cotton combo rug to stop her coat for getting sun burnt as well as preventing cancer to her white pigment skin...
This is just common practice in Aus infact the horse rug industry is probably the most lucrative business here.. I can't see why people think there would be a problem you should have no skin problems if you wash the rugs often and make sure you adjust them with the weather..
If you like your mare to be comfortable' prefer a clean horse and one that wont grow a mass fury coat then you should probably rug especially if that's what she's used to. And after horses are worked there blood is up and they temperature also so if you turn that horse stright out sweaty with a long coat that takes a long time to dry into the cold they develop chill's and im sure a cold I can't see how this benefits a horse in any way.
You will find keeping weight on a hell of a lot easier with a warm horse that doesn't have to constantly use its body fat to stay warm...


Just my opinion and it seems most of Australia ha ha

The horse rug industry over here (in the UK) is HUGE as well.
Reeco has at least 8 rugs to his name already and I've only owned him 6 weeks!