After a couple of weeks of really decent weather for this time of year....mild temps and mostly dry conditions....it is just totally nasty out tonite. The temp is around 35 and a steady rain....just miserable! My husband commented that he would rather it be 15 degrees and snowing!!! (I have to agree and I think most horses would too.... although I'm not sure the horse in this picture would!)The warm and waterproof blankets that we use were working just fine when I checked each horse this evening while feeding. Wish I had the room to bring everyone in the barn, but I dont and I do have several mares that just prefer being out... no matter what the weather. As long as they have plenty of good hay and fresh water and their blankets, they should be fine. Of course, I always check on them at least twice a day to make sure!
Because it is so bad outside, I thought it would be interesting to post some info on winter horse care. I found several good tips on the following websites.
This is a good site
and so is this one
and this one is too!
Now none of these sites mention the following problem....Have you ever been to a competition or practice and watched folks lead their sweaty, tired horses to their trailer and then proceed to unsaddle and load them wet?? I've actually seen some wet horses loaded into stock trailers! One guy laughed that his horse would be blown dry going down the road when someone said something to him about it!!! This freaks me out! Admittedly it is hard to dry a heavy-coated horse, but at least throw a blanket over them for the trailer ride home. And please put them in a clean, dry stall once you get there.... at least until they dry throughly!
What do you think? Any other tips or suggestions?
BTW, I feel very blessed that our horses here in Tennessee dont experience weather like the horse in the picture!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment