cooling out routines...

So, my question is: I've read that when it's cold and your horse gets sweaty, you should hand walk said horse until the sweat has dried, does that still hold true if you are blanketing said horse?

Lacey grows a mammoth of a winter coat and she's been sweating like a beast, even in cooler weather (today it was in the mid-fifties for our 45 minute walking ride and she was really sweaty afterwards) so I'm mildly concerned about how she's going to get dry when she has 4 inches of hair if she continues sweating like this when it's "really" cold. I could clip her, but I don't have clippers so that would be a giant production to get some etc. However, I might look into getting some because if she continues sweating like this, I sure as heck don't have the time necessary to cool her out until she's dry.

I would say if you are blanketing her, I would at the least make sure she is cool, and mostly dry, and then blanket and let her go. If you have too, use a heavier blanket that night, so she doesn't get chilly as she dries.

I have put a fleece cooler type blanket on mine, along with their normal blanket, as the fleece absorbs the wetness; leave it on them for a few hours and then go back out and strip that one off, refluff and brush her coat, and reblanket as usual. I just don't like leaving them 'wet', but that's personal opinion.

In the winter my horse is clipped save the belly, the legs and as much of his head as he refuses to let me get near. He still does get sweaty and I walk for about 15 minutes after every ride anyways to cool everything else out. I have a quarter sheet I will put on during this. After he gets to the barn I put a holey sheet on him and if it's a bit nippy in the barn, a cooler on top. The holeys let all the moisture escape, but don't let it near the skin, so they dry faster. I blanket him then with a cotton sheet or cotton lined stable blanket for inside and then he'll get a combo of winter blankets for outside. He never goes outside wet no matter what amount of blankets are on him. If he is damp and it is warm I will blanket the bejeesus out of him and then turn him out, but otherwise he stays indoors until dry. Which is why I ride after turn-in, but even then he doesn't go into his stall wet.
If you're going to ride during the winter, then it is your responsibility to make sure the horse is comfy and healthy, despite what your time restrictions are. You took the time and energy to ride, you can take the time and energy to take care of your horse too.

If you ride until she is sweaty AND you already blanket, you really ought to think about at least a trace clip. If they are wet and they cool too fast, you are risking hypothermia.

I had a wet horse that I had to trailer back from the hunt one winter. She was fully blanketed and in a fully enclosed trailer. When she got into the barn, she was shivering uncontrollably. I had to put her under heat lamps or else....luckily we had them.

You can use a blow dryer on her, if she will permit it.

Thanks for all the tips!
I guess I'll seriously start looking into getting her clipped, maybe just a trace clip, then. I'd hate for her to get sick because she was a put away damp.

If I were to buy clippers, would I need to get ones that were expressly marketed for body clipping? Or since I would only be doing a little clip, would ones that talk about touch ups be ok?

A blow dryer is a good idea! She is totally fine with basically anything I throw at her so I'm sure she'd be fine with that too.

If you are going to clip the body, you should really invest in a pair of clippers that are designed for body clipping. Mine that I have are spot clippers and they tend to get hot if I run them for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time. As for blanketing, I'm no help there since I never rug anything LOL.

Folks, it's hijacking in some way, but... What is "trace clipping"?

Clipping areas that heat/sweat the most on a horse. Most people do a modified trace clip, also called a hunter clip.

If you google or bing - horse trace clip photos - a ton of options come up.

Oh, thanks! I never heard a term before - thought may be it's "forum-made".