ARE HORSE BLANKETS REALLY NECESSARY?

 When the cold winter weather hits, many horse owners automatically bring out the horse blankets. However, a horse's normal winter coat is much more insulating than a blanket, and unless the horse's coat has been clipped due to heavy physical exertion (or due to a winter show schedule), the horse is living outside without a windbreak, or the horse has been moved to a colder climate during winter months, it will many times be warmer with no blanket at all.

 

The horse's longer winter coat helps to trap the body heat against the skin. Aside from the obvious fact that the winter coat is thicker than the summer coat, during cold weather tiny muscles in the skin raise these longer coat hairs away from the body, creating tiny air pockets that hold in body heat and heighten the insulating effect of the fur. Flattening this 'fluffed-up' coat by adding the weight of layers of light blankets, or even one heavy one, can actually make the horse colder by restricting this insulating effect. This is why it is sometimes more beneficial to the horse to do nothing at all, rather than blanketing in order to make ourselves "feel better", like we are doing something to help the horse.

If a horse is not body clipped and not accustomed to being blanketed regularly, it can put the horse at risk for negative health effects. If a horse becomes overheated under a horse blanket, it will begin to sweat. The dampness trapped beneath the blanket causes the horse to become chilled when exposed to a cooler temperature, which then increases the risk of pneumonia or other respiratory infections. This is why it is bad to wait until the temperatures turn really cold and then suddenly start blanketing.  [Continue reading]  
               

Source:  www.MyHorse.com

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