If you look, you will find justification for blanketing or not blanketing–when you should and should not blanket–temps for specific breeds and geographies…

The thing is, you know your horse better than anyone else. I have one horse who will shiver without a blanket if it’s colder than 20 and shiver harder if he’s wet or it’s windy. He needs a blanket most of the time. I have another horse who will stand in the snow, allowing it to gather on her back, and her undercoat remains dry and she remains warm.

THAT BEING SAID – here are a couple of fabulous resources and information on how blanketing affects your horse.

This is a fabulous and simple article from Schneider’s Saddlery:

https://www.sstack.com/blog/blanketing/how-to-know-when-to-blanket-your-horse/b/r0164/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAxqC6BhBcEiwAlXp45800KhMkS3MhmTdD8SXkX5sMCz-CVF9veaToyajRIPqPYFOdHN6YCRoC6fEQAvD_BwE

And the following post from the Penn State Extension talks a lot about Thermoneutral Zone and when to blanket. For example – humans are most comfortable around 70-ish degrees, and horses, around 40-ish degrees. More here:

https://extension.psu.edu/equine-winter-wellness-tips

I also found it interesting that when weather becomes TRULY terrible, a horse’s instinct is to be in the open for ease of escape. They’re not dumb for standing outside, but rather a product of their prey-animal instincts.

Always more to learn about our fab four-legged friends 🙂

Happy wintering!

~ Jolene