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What to do for 5 days of SOLID cold rain? Help!

3K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  GhostwindAppaloosa 
#1 ·
I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this subject question. We have at least 5 days of solid cold rain fall predicted with no stopping. So far my BO is having the horses out in the rain during the day and in at night. Spirit looked wet and muddy but didn't seem cold by the looks of her.

Other than extra hay, is their something I should be doing differently? She has a blanket but I read that wearing a wet blanket is as bad as wearing no blanket. She's got a little extra weight on her too which helps. The situation that also that concerns me is that there is no supervision of the horses other than at morning and evening feeding times since the BO is on vacation and I live 30 mins away. I check on her during the day but there is not much I can do with her if it's pouring down rain...right? Never owned a horse during a storm so any advice or comments to make me quit worrying are appreciated. :?
 
#4 ·
Just pour the hay to them.

They're coming in at night, so have plenty of chance to dry out and warm up. As long as none of the horses are dealing with health issues and/or old age, they should come thru better than their Owners who getting gray from worry:)

That being said, I hope the BO is watching for shivering, tucked tails, and sucked in flanks. Also signs of cold.

The BO needs to be sure everyone is drinking their normal amount of water; sometimes major/sudden changes in weather can disrupt the drinking routine. My alpha horse and second in command are like that, horses #3 & #4 are not.
 
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#5 ·
I just did the blanket debate with myself, and decided against using one. I don't want something that can get snagged or caught on something when the storm hits.

As long as it's a quality blanket though, it getting wet wouldn't be an issue.

Your horse should have access to some kind of shelter/lean to so it can get out of the weather but other than that, there's not much you can do.
 
#6 ·
The BO has them out during the day where they cannot get back into the barn and there is no run-in/lean to. They are literally standing in the rain. No trees. They come in at night and get turned back out during the day.

Can you over feed hay at night? My tendency is to give Spirit a lot of it and if she's hungry she'll eat it.

That's the bad thing walkinthewalk, the BO is out of town. No one is at the barn other than me, except at morning and night feeding times. The horses are for the most part of the day/night...unsupervised. I check on Spirit daily. She seems warm although, muddy and wet.
 
#9 ·
Our horses live in the pasture 24/7 except during ice or sleet storms. They actually avoid the run-ins and stand out in the rain by choice!! As long as they have access to hay, your horses should be ok. Most horses these days are blanketed WAY too much. I guarantee you that if you keep them coddled: blanketed and stalled, you will end up with much bigger vet bills than if you just let them live like horses.
 
#10 · (Edited)
As long as you're feeding grass hay, you can up their night time hay without hurting them. Depending how long they're shut in, I might up it by 1/3; if it doesn't get eaten, cut it back the next night.

Saturday was drizzly windy, cold and miserable. Sunday wasn't much better. Today the sun is out full but the wind's just about blowing everyone's tails around to their ears:shock: I don't think we reached 50 today, so the wind chill's a zippy one.

Because of my two mid-20's Fellas, one has serious health issues, I wrestled each of these days with the blanket issue.

In the end, all four have been out every day with NO blankets. I said "guys, get out there and grow your winter hair. If you get cold, I'm watching and I will bring you in".

To add insult to injury, it frosted last night -- warm sun this AM, albeit very windy. I HAD to put the muzzle on my IR horse. Ask me how I liked that:(

Nobody stood with their head down and tail tucked, nobody came to the barn. But, make no mistake, as soon as it gets dark, they will be done being horses for this day and will want their jammies & clean shavings:lol::lol:
 
#11 ·
Lol I am having this same discussion with my no at the moment. He's like your horse is getting soaked. And I just replied if he gets to wet he'll go in the run in. My horse is a really bad pacer when kept in a stall and isn't eating. And frankly I'm sure he'd just love to roll in the mud a couple of times just to make me oh so happy to see him alive after this storm. ;)
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#12 ·
Thanks guys. Reading these responses has really helped me calm my nerves. I appreciate the time you guys took to respond. Tonight she is in and she has a clean stall with lots of hay! Same with the other horses.

Winds are now (9:00 p.m.) at 55 mph gusts, all day rain and temp is at 35 degrees. The next two days should be the worst of it. Spirit was hungry when I went to see her at 4:00 because she did not have enough hay (as where the other horses). I put a small bale in her stall so I wouldn't worry about her running out. We'll see what is left in the morning.

Thanks again!!:D:D
 
#17 ·
Rain rain rain is pretty much the norm in the UK where every horse owner owns about 10 rugs/blankets and is always browsing the sale rails for more :lol:

If your horse is used to being rugged, then the following applies:

Good rug on when out in the day, make sure it's not getting soaked through - if it is, it's not good enough.

Put that rug to dry overnight when your horse is in, with horse wearing a stable blanket. Put on dry rug the next day.

If your horses isn't used to being rugged, then if he's rugged and hardy and has some shelter, he'll survive anyway. As someone else said, he won't melt!

Very important to have plenty ie ad-lib hay at night to help keep them warm, particularly if they did get wet.
 
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#19 ·
I'm on it! My stress level went from really bad to calm so THANK YOU! At least now I can get a good nights rest and be fresh for the morning stall hours. I am taking precautions for myself and sleeping downstairs instead of in my room upstairs. That way if my 100 year old white pines decide to come down I won't get squished in the night. The wind is blowing so hard my brand new Anderson windows are bending! :shock::shock:
 
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