Turnout in Bad Weather (long...)

I posted this in Boarding but I'd like to know what the health implications are, if any...

I'd like to know what others would have done in yesterday's weather conditions... The place I currently board at (we're moving in a week so Noah will be close to home, yay!) will not blanket, period. This was my own stupidity (I've never known a barn that will not do blankets) and I never asked before I moved him in. I have every type of blanket he would need, turnout sheet, heavy blanket, stable sheet, coolers, scrim sheets, fly sheets, etc. Right after he moved in, I started explaining to the BO where his blankets are if he needs them and she cut me off to say that if I want him to have a blanket, I can put it on and take it off, but they don't do it. I started to say that I don't want him blanketed every day, but they are there if he needs them. Didn't matter.

Well, I went to see Noah last night, assuming that he had been stuck inside all day. It was in the upper 30s yesterday, with nasty hard rain and wind (it was even snowing for a while). Since there are no run-ins in the pastures, I figured the horses woulnd't have gotten turned out. Well, when I showed up at 6:30 last night, every horse in the barn was completely SOAKED. Noah was standing in the corner of his stall, head hanging, really wet and felt cold to the touch. I brought him out and gave him a "spa" night. Good body grooming, put his cooler on to help him dry a bit (I wish I would have had some towels with me), painted his feet, clipped his whiskers, washed his face, and lots of little beauty treatments. The entire time, he just stood there with this look on his face like "oh, god, thank you!" When it was time to leave, I took his cooler off but he was still extremely wet. I had no choice but to put him back in his stall as is. It was really cold and crappy last night, and I would have liked to put a blanket on him, but the BO will not do anything with blankets and I would have needed to drive back over this morning to take it off (can't get there before work in the mornings).

I was a little upset about it last night. If he's going to go out in weather like that, I wish they would at least put a sheet or blanket on him, especially since there is no shelter outside. I jokingly put a status on my Facebook page last night about poor Noah looking like a drowned rat so we gave him a spa night. My BO saw it and commented that the horses were only out in the am, before the rain started. That bothered me more, since I know there is absolutely no way those horses were not out in the rain. They were all dripping wet at 6:30 at night! It really bothers me to see him so cold at wet at his age.

When I moved him there a few weeks ago, I talked to them about this specifically. One of my big concerns was him being out in bad weather without shelter. They told me then that they do not leave the horses out in any bad weather. A few sketchy things have happened, like the day I showed up while he was in quarantine (they kept him in their round pen for a week), and his water trough was bone dry. I freaked out because it was really warm out that day and he was nosing the empty bucket. They assured me that he had half a trough of water that morning and were just coming to check on it again. When they did fill it, he actually put his head in it while the hose was spashing on him. I've never seen him so desperate for water. He's also getting the bottom of the shavings bag in his stall. No actually wood chips, just this super fine dust that puffs into a cloud every time he moves, which makes me concerned about his respitory system along with the rest of the horses in the barn. He has one more week to get through, then he's moving to a new barn closer to home on the 25th. I really worry with the unusually bad weather we're having for the next couple of days.

So, my question is to the other boarding facility owners... Do you turn horses out w/o shelter when the weather is that bad? To those who board, would you be upset with this? Am I being overly sensitive? I don't want to be a barn diva, but I want to make damn sure my horse is well taken care of!

First off, that is really sad to hear about the water bucket thing when you first got him to this barn!! =( Poor boy! And he is around 30 right? Is this the same barn owner that said ( I can't remember exactly what you said? ) 'I didnt know horses could live that long' when you told her he was 30? If so, I am SO happy for you, that you are moving him!! This place doesnt sound all that good!

As for the blanketing in the bad weather, my BO DOES blanket the horses. However I think its like an extra 10$ a month. Maybe not even that much? But she does! The only thing you have to do, is have your blankets hanging on the stall door, or near is somewhere.

For your boy being as old as he is, I think she should have made an exception. Or atleast contacted you and said something like ' there is really bad weather coming, would you like to come out and blanket him, I think it would be better for him to be blanketed' ect.

LOL! No, this isn't the one who said "i didn't know horses lived that long!" That was someone who responded to an email when I was looking for a new place! :)

I understand that he's at a large facility and they can't do everything for everyone, but a little common sense would be helpful. There is actually a 34 yr old TB in the same barn, who was also soaking wet last night. I would GLADLY pay extra for someone to blanket him when needed. There is not a single horse at the entire facilty that gets blanketed. I wish I had known this ahead if time! It's not something I would have ever thought to ask, because I've never known of any place that won't put your blankets on at all!

Yeah, same here! I live in NY, so you're not that far away living in PA, and we get some bad COLD winters here! You would think BO's just automatically did it in the winter!

There are around 30 horses at my barn, and my BO will make sure to get up early just to blanket horses.

I certainly would have a problem with their lack of care - I'd be looking elsewhere for boarding.
Sorry he had to go through that.

I drove out to check on him during my lunch hour (it takes 25 mins to get there if I do 80 mph the whole way so I only have 10 mins with him!). They were all inside today. The rest of the horses had that awful air dried look to their coats, but Noah was handsome and happy to see me! I felt better checking on him, just to be sure he was ok last night.

Has anyone else ever moved to a new area and found a completely different "horse world"? I grew up riding a few counties south of my current location, and rode in NJ a few times when I lived there over the last couple of years. Since I moved to this area, it just seems as though there is a general lack of horse care knowledge. Nobody seems to want to learn anything other than what they have figured out for themselves. The difference in care up here, compared to other places that I've lived is HUGE! One of the biggest selling points about the new barn is that the BO grew up riding and showing in the same area that I did. At least I know she was exposed to the same things I was, and runs her barn the way I'm used to having things done. Only one more week!

At my barn they never do blankets...if you know the weather is going to be bad you put your own blanket on the night before...its really not that big of a deal. Most barns I know around here wont blanket & I have never been to a barn that has. We also don't have shelters outside [for horses on stall board] but theyre totally fine.

No offense or anything, but if I had a 30yo horse & I knew it was starting to get colder I would be more on top of getting out either during the day or the night before & getting a blanket on him. I mean they said they didnt do blankets, what did you expect ?

Well, when I'm paying for full board, I expect full board services. To most people, that means that the daily care needed is taken care of. Most people who are paying for full board are doing so because they cannot get there every single day. See, lots of people actually have to work for a living to pay for their horses. That means that you need to rely on other to help you take care of him. And that's why you PAY people for board!

I really don't appreciate the knock on me and what I'm trying to do for this horse. He was sold to me as much younger than he actually is. I am shelling out money left and right to do what is best for him, and have spent every night and weekend trying to find the best place to help me take care of him. Sorry to be rude, but you seriously just pissed me off.

sorry I pissed you off....

But if you know your barn doesnt blanket, they don't be pissed when they don't blanket your horse.

I understand people have to work for a living, I work hard to pay my board & my barn is over 30min away from my house. No one said it was easy to get out to the barn everyday, but you gotta do what you gotta do. When I rode a blanketed horse I would wake up before school & go out if I needed to, or go out very late at night. Maybe if you can't make it out one day you could call someone you know from your barn and ask them to put the blanket on.

I'm the only boarder that goes out during the week. The other boarders will show up for an occasional Saturday. It is not possible for me to afford to drive to the barn twice a day! It's 50 miles round trip. I can't put a tank of gas in the car every other day! I go out about 5 days a week, three hours a day. If they don't want to blanket, that's fine. But don't put the horses outside, with no run-in, when it's 35 degrees and pouring rain all day.