What blankets should I get for my horse?

Question

alright, so I am a little confused because everyone is telling me different things to get for my horse, blanket wise. What are the definite blankets I need to get like a fly sheet, a rain turnout, a winter blanket, a cooler? It does snow where I live, so it can get pretty chilly. Help?

Answer 1

I don't think you should blanket your horse at all.  When it rains or snows the blanket will get wet, which will be worse than NO blanket at all.  Unless you are showing this horse and "do not" want it to get a winter coat, then you should not blanket it.   God made horses, cows, llamas, sheep, etc., able to grow thick winter coats to keep warm.   The colder it is the thicker their coat will become.

Another really bad aspect of blanketing is, what if you do it everyday and the horse grows no winter coat, and then one day you forget to put the blanket on, or something happens which prevents you from doing so - the horse will literally FREEZE.

Or they can build up too much warmth under the blanket and perspire and become very sick.

I have had horse my entire life, and lived in Wisconsin where the weather would sometimes get 60 below with the wind chill, and all of my horses and the horses of all my friends and family were not blanketed - ever.  They were all just fine.  In fact, horses like the chilly air.

Look more into proper feed and nutrition to keep your horses warm!

Let nature take care of itself...

However, I would recommend though that you have adequate shelter where they can get out of the snow, rain, hail, etc..

I would like to add; if you are moving a horse directly from a warm climate into a cold climate, and the horse has not had a chance to aclimate to the cold - gradually growing it's winter coat in, then a blanket would be a good idea.

Answer 2

Well, I live in Michigan so it does get pretty cold where I live. What I use is a combination blanket system that I got from Dover last year. It includes a rain sheet, cooler, and heavy winter blanket. Now, you can use these all separately or you can combine them for a very warm blanket.

http://www.doversaddlery.com/rider%92s-i...

I think this will help you a lot so so you don't have to buy so many blankets separately, this should save you some money. : )

Answer 3

when putting blankets on you horse you better know what you are doing this can get pretty risky horses don't really need blankets mother nature takes good care of them they know when to start growing and to start shedding when a horse needs to keep warm they fluff up there hair to trap warm air when they have a blanket on that makes it impossible to do the blanket keeps there hair flat so they can not do what mother nature intends for them to do than you have the worry is the blanket to warm not warm enough and if its to warm than your horse sweats than gets a bad chill and before you know it you have a sick horse and a unwanted vet bill and the same if the blanket is not warm enough the horse get cold and than sick all they need is shelter to get out of the storm, rain, or wind ,and the choice is there's a healthy horse is a horse that can go in the barn or out to play on his on but if you don't have that kind of set up than he should be out more than he is in

Answer 4

Well it depends on your horse.  Where I live average temperatures in the winter are usually between 10-25F.  Some horses grow very thick winter coats and only need a medium blanket on very cold days.  But if you have a thoroghbred who has only lived in a very warm climate his whole life, you will need heavier blankets.  It also depends on the conditions that your horse is living in.  Is he outside all day?  Inside a warm barn? etc.  How much do you ride him?  Do you have to clip him because he does a lot of hard work in the winter, etc.

So I'll tell you what I do for my horse, and hopefully it will help.  If you give more specific information, I can give you a better answer.  Anyways, I have a Warmblood who lives inside most of the day, but gets a few hours turn out.  He gets riden 5-6 times a week and does jumping all winter.  I clip around his chest because he sweats.

I have a sheet, a medium stable blanket, and a medium turnout blanket for him.  On a cold day he will wear all three whether or not he is inside or outside.  The turnout rug keeps him dry, and adds warmth.  In the spring and fall he usually just has the sheet on.  The sheet is also good for protecting him from rubs and keeping him from overheating.

I use a cooler when he is cooling down after a ride.  If a horse gets hot and sweaty during the winter he will mostly likely get a chill from the cold air which can make him sick.  So I always put one on him after I ride until he is completely cooled out.

I don't use fly sheets or turnout sheets.  They are meant for the summer, and I think they just make the horse hot and uncomfortable.  If your horse goes crazy about the flys or gets a lot of bad bites from them, you could get a fly sheet, but I don't think you need to rush to get one, especially because there aren't flies during the winter.  If you don't want your horse to get wet, don't turn him out in the rain, or make sure he has shelter.

Overall, the best advice I have is if you aren't sure, you should under blanket your horse, rather than giving him too much.  Horse's have a higher body temperature then we do, so they naturally stay warmer than humans.  You also don't want him to start sweating in his stall then get a chill and get sick.  If you want to find out whether he is cold or not feel his ears.  If they feel cold, he needs another blanket.  Also, if you see your horse shivering you should put another blanket on him and moniter him to make sure he isn't sick.  I hope that helps.

Answer 5

If it is very cold in your area like if you live in North U.S then it get something to warm your horse up. If it is rainy in your area then get some kind of something that keep your horse not wet. If you need to then build a home for your horse.

Answer 6

Okay. You should get a fly sheet and a winter blanket. No need for a cooler because you can just spray it down with a hose..

Answer 7

Unless your horse is clipped, it doesn't need a blanket.

Horses' winter coats are made to protect them from the cold weather.  The long hair traps the air near the body and keeps it warm.  When you put a blanket on them, it weights the hair down. If you flatten the hair out and remove this layer of warm air, you can actually make your horses colder than if it had no blanket at all.

Most people blanket their horses because it makes them (the human) feel better, but nature has created horses to live in cold, snowy climates.  Unless your horse is out there shivering, save your money.

Fly sheets are a waste of money.  That's why horses have manes and tails.

Horses will not melt, they can be out in the rain.  Unless rain rot is a big problem for your horse, skip the rain turnout.

A cooler only needs to be used when your horse gets REALLY hot and sweaty.  Most people don't ride their horses hard enough to warrant one.

Answer 8

I too live were it snows. All the horses at my barn have a winter blanket and a rain sheet.

You really only need these blankets if your horse lives out in a pasture.

Getting a fly sheet and a cooler is up to you.

I would recommend getting (definitely) a winter blanket- clean it and take care of it and it will last, a rain sheet, if you want to go green than get a fly sheet nd a fly mask (that way you wont necessarily need fly spray which are chemicals) and if you plan on showing or if your horse easily gets sweaty then I would buy a cooler- their good to se in the winter after a ride.

You don't need two of anything- that's just wasting your money and blankets are expensive. So just take care of your horse items and they will last=]

Answer 9

I live in Northern New England. It gets COLD here (-30 F).

For us, we let winter coats grow in and do not clip anyone unless absolutely necessary (for a show).

If it gets below freezing (32 degrees), we put on midweight blankets. If it gets below zero, we put filled nylon liners under their midweights.

During the day, if it gets above freezing, we take EVERYTHING off but it goes back on at night according to the temp expected. Underneath those liners, even in 20 below weather, they are very warm.

We also give them ALL the grass hay they want in the winter. This is VERY important! They need that hay to keep them warm.

If they have to be clipped... heavy weight everything and liners underneath. They also don't go out in the snow.

I realize I am probably doing more than we need but got into the habit of blanketing when I boarded horses at a farm in KY (MUCH warmer than here and they freaked when I didn't put a blanket on my horse when it snowed.  The barn owner complained so much, I broke down and bought blankets.  They were fine without them).

We use rain turnouts when it's a cold rain - say 45 and under. Otherwise, they are out in the rain without any coverage.

We do have a flysheet for one horse that is prone to sunburn. They are mesh, so they don't make him sweat but they do block UV rays so he doesn't burn. We also keep a mesh hood on him as well.

I recommend Schneiders for their easily layered blanketing system. We use them on all our ponies and our horse.

www.sstack.com

Answer 10

If its cold all winter i would get the following~!

2 heavy duty winter blankets with a horse bra (kinda like under amour and stops the rubbing of hair from blanket)

I would reccomend getting a fly sheet too

thats all i would get!!!

Answer 11

It all depends on how old your horse is. How much him/her work. If you ride throughout the winter. If the flies are bad where you live. If you intend to show your horse.

Let's say that you have a middle aged horse, good health, good weight, fairly good shape, gets rode sometimes in the winter, you don't have many flies where you live, they are stalled at night, and you don't intend to show them. - In this case you actually wouldn't get any blankets. Most horses grow a sufficent amount of winter hair to keep them warm so you wouldn't get any winter blankets. If they weather was windy and wet they do need a place to get out of the elements though. I perferably don't like to put fly sheets on my horses because it just makes them warmer and they can get blanket rubs. So I just spray them down with flyspray really good everyday. If you aren't riding him/her hard throughout the winter you won't need a cooler. Just make sure that he/she is cooled properly. And if you don't intend on showing you won't need a stable or turnout sheet. They are just mostly used to keep horses cleaned before shows.

So in my opinion I don't think your horse will need any blankets full time. Maybe in the winter once and while if the weather really gets bad, but most horses enjoy colder weather.

hope i could help (:

Answer 12

If you live in a place where climates very (not one season year round) you should have a heavy winter turnout blanket, a heavier blanket for in the stall, a rain sheet, fly sheet, cooler (for when riding) and maybe even a lighter spring sheet if it's still not warm enough to turn your horses out with nothing.