Needless to say, all of us want to provide the best service to our four-legged friends, but when we cover them with stitched carpet from head to toe, it sounds like heaven to us, this is really us Does your horse want (or even need)? Although we do have many similarities with horses, our ability to cope with the cold is certainly not one of them, which is why we need to rethink how we care for horses in the cold and often cold winter.
Do horses get cold?
Horses, like all mammals, will be cold when mercury drops, although they are said to be able to withstand much lower temperatures than you might think due to their hardy nature and thicker winter coats. Horses have a large thermally neutral zone meaning there is a large range between the moment they feel cold and hot, our zone is between 25 ° and 30 ° Celsius (77 ° Fahrenheit) while the horse’s zone is between 32 ° to 77 ° Fahrenheit (0 ° to 25 ° Celsius)
This does not mean that if the temperature drops below 32 ° Fahrenheit / 0 ° Celsius your horse will automatically freeze cold, many horses wear thick winter fur to keep them warm and dry. Their coat does this by trapping warm air against the skin, which helps insulate it from the cold. Some horses also have a double layer of winter coat which will also help keep the wind out.
Do horses really need blankets when it’s cold?
The jury is still not deciding if horses need blankets or blankets when it gets cold some people will argue that as soon as we start applying extra layers our horses should or may not be so and sometimes there may be a wrong thing to do. Due to its thick coat, a horse is able to keep you warm better than we do, so just because you’re cold doesn’t mean your horse is too.
Horses burn a lot of energy trying to keep warm, but if they are warmed up under a blanket they don’t have to do it, but the energy has to go somewhere and is most often put aside just as a horse starts to gain weight. They have also evolved to be able to deal with the cold and will automatically increase their metabolic rate when the weather is really cold, they can also reduce blood flow and extremity temperature to keep their body warm.
Many horses don’t need blankets at all unless temperatures drop drastically below freezing, although a breathable, waterproof rug can provide some protection against wind and rain.
If the horse is trimmed Opens in a new tab. and outdoor life, although this is a different matter, depending on the type of haircut your horse will likely need a blanket when the temperature drops to 41 ° to 50 ° Fahrenheit (5 ° to 10 ° Celsius), the same is true for older, younger and thinner horses also.
