Okay, so I have a 15 year old Arabian gelding. He's not skinny, but hes not overweight, and he gained a little extra layer of fat over the past couple weeks, where I haven't been able to work him (no indoor arena and the ground just froze and its all not smooth, not safe to exercise on) This is Wisconsin, It gets very very cold. It doesn't necessarily rain in the winter, but it sleets and SNOWS. There is plenty of ice. There's freezing rain too. It definitely is possible for rain to come. My horse is perfectly healthy and shows no signs of age (besides well, obviously, teeth and all that stuff). Many sites say I should blanket my horse if it gets under 20 degrees F. I board him at a close friend's boarding facility, and I need to leave for school by 7 AM. I board my horse only a mile up the road, so I can take his blanket off and groom him every night or afternoon for sure. I regularly groom him on Saturday and Sunday and sometimes during the week, in the winter. Last winter he went without a blanket, but he was veryyyy overwieght. As mentioned, he has lost weight and is back to normal winter weight. Oh , and he is in a pasture with a run-in shelter (3-sided). He is not reguarly stalled, but sometimes goes in a stall ... not often, though, in the winter. There are three other horses pastured with him, as of now. He might get moved to with one or two horses, but that I'm not positive he will, and not postitive he won't.
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Sorry for such a long paragraph!!
Should I blanket him?
Thank you so much!:)
Oh, and he's not clipped,
only show-trimmed this summer, but hes grown it all back in winter-coat-form haha
Also, I'm not brand-new horse person .. I've had them for a couple years.
Please-people who own or have owned horses in the past .. people who don't or haven't .. you don't know what you're talking about, horses are way different than humans when it comes to winter.
Thanks!:)
Don't blanket him. He's healthy and young, he has shelter from the any rain and wind, and he's used to his environment. As long as he has plenty of feed and isn't excluded from the shelter by the other horses, he'll be fine.
I have a 30 year old Arabian. I live in a similar area now, and had her in colder areas before I moved here. She does fine. She has a stall set up as a run in into a stable with other horses, but she likes it outside - this morning she was galloping around in the fresh snow, enjoying the crisp weather.
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I've kept horses in cold winter areas for decades. Here, it frequently gets to minus 30F (NOT counting windchill) and in New Hampshire it got colder. I never blanket unclipped healthy horses. No blanket is as warm as their natural coat.
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I would blanket if I were you. If it's as cold as you say. Horses have been known to die if it's below -15 celsius without a blanket.
Yes you should. All the horses at the barn that I ride at are double blanketed so they are really warm and they don't grow a winter coat.
you should probably blanket him. Arabians have a tendency to not grow very long winter coats so it might be in your best interest to get him a blanket
As long as he grows a decent coat, then HE DOESN'T NEED A BLANKET.
I'm so sick of people asking this.
I would coat him hes not young anymore and your winters are very cold
If the facility that your horse is being boarded at has a shelter of some sort where the animal can get out of the wind and elements then you shouldn't need to unless the horse is visibly shaking from cold. If no shelter then yes you probably should blanket said horse.
yeah i think you shud, arabians are designed to live in hot climates. i look after my friends wee arabian and the other day when it was raining (in spring) and she was shivering thats how cold she was, her ears felt like icicles. boy was she glad to get her cover on! shes usually a very nervous horse but she came and stood quietly while i put her rugs on.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com so arabians dont deal with cold very well. i defiantely think you should cover her, espeshly with the weather you said you get!
Ok. I live in Wisconsin also, so I know full well how CRAPPY our winters are ... lol
I have three horses that I blanket in the winter. They have stalls that they come into at night but are out all day. If it gets below freezing I put their medium weight blankets on, and then if it gets below 5 and into the negative -numbers range I put their heavyweight ones on. If your horse is out all the time then I say put a blanket on him. If you think about it arabs are from the dessert. They are naturally used to heat and don't do great in the cold. Good Luck!
Hey I live in Minnesota and I baby my horses lol y not have a blanket on then if ur horse is ur baby like mine r then yes. Just wait till it's about 15-20 degrees outside u don't want it on if it's warmer cuz they will become total wimps haha good luck. Hope I helped
it depend on what u feel is right for your horse arabs do usually have shorter coats but i live in california where it doesnt even get to 0 degrees and we still blanket. Our horses are show horses and we blanket alot t depends on you
