blanketing a horse that doesnt like to have one on?
my horse that i adopted in december doesnt like to have a blanket on i was told. so i havent went and bought one yet. mind you that i like n wisconsin and its gotten in the negatives. should i buy one or just let him go without one. there is a shelter thats enclosed on 3 sides. he has a really nice winter coat and had water and hay available to him all the time.
please let me knwo what you think
I think that people who insist on blanketing their horses are thinking about horses as if they are people! Hello! They lived for centuries without all this coddling and foolishness! Yes, a human without clothes would freeze – but, please read this carefully, all you blanketers – HORSES AREN’T HUMANS! Sorry for the snarkiness, but it really makes me angry to see horses that are covered up and getting sick because of it, or even just being made uncomfortable for no good reason. I have blanketed my boss’s horses because that is what I was told and paid to do, and I could see that they were being pinched and rubbed. The weather wasn’t even bad, they had their natural coats, and they weren’t being worked into a sweat that could chill them.
Blanketing is actually the cause of some illness in horses. If you put on a blanket, you interfere with Mother Nature’s excellent plan for the horse to stay healthy. The coat can’t respond by fluffing up and flattening according to the day’s temperature fluctuations. If you put on a blanket at night, when the day warms up the horse will sweat under that blanket and it can’t evaporate, so it stays damp and clammy and then gets cold. And no one can see the shivering under the blanket, so they assume the horse is as happy with the blanket as they would be.
If the horse doesn’t want the blanket and there’s no actual, practical reason, please don’t use it. I know of several horses whose very sensible owners will *offer* a blanket in truly miserable weather, but they *ask*, then listen if the horse says no.
It’s always a good idea to make sure a horse is desensitized to any thing you might want to do, or anything that might upset it if met while riding, for instance. A gentle form of ’sacking out’ is a good idea with any horse, especially one that is green or with an unknown past. Because you said ‘adopted’, I assume the horse may have had a difficult or unknown past. If that’s the case, I would start out as if the horse is totally green, and progress slowly through training. This way you can make sure to find and fill any ‘holes in his training in a safe way. Much better to discover and cure a fear of blowing paper on the ground, than to wind up on the ground because he suddenly spooked while riding. Same goes for putting on a blanket.
There may come a day when it would actually be helpful to have a blanket on him. Be ready for that day! Start with a towel (an old, raggedy one!). Have him on a lead rope, maybe in a small pen or arena. Don’t try to force him to stand still, but if he moves just stay with him and help him understand that neither you nor that piece of cloth will hurt him. Gradually become more active with the cloth, waving it and flopping it around and onto him. Only step up intensity when he calmly accepts the present stage. When he is OK with the towel, use an old bed sheet and start over.
IF a horse is being ridden and trained hard, esp. in an indoor, heated arena, then it makes sense to clip, and once clipped, they need some protection. Otherwise, let ol’ Mom Nature do her thing, and your horse will be healthier and happier for it. And your horse-care work load and costs will be much decreased!
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