My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
We are experiencing our first winter storm as I type this post. Although it’s only December 1st, we will likely have close to a foot of the white stuff before it ends. I tucked the horses up in their winter blankets for the event. In general, I’ve gotten a lot less obsessive about blanketing, the […]
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I love this flow chart from Auburn Agriculture. Intellectually, I know that most of the time, my horses could live just fine without their blankets. After all, they have access to shelter, I haven’t clipped them yet this year, and we feed plenty of hay. On dry nights, without wind, they would probably be just […]
Read MoreMost years by the beginning of January, the horses have been wearing blankets pretty consistently. This year, they’ve only warn blankets two nights, when the temperatures dipped into the single digits. Otherwise, we’ve had unseasonably warm weather coupled with the fact that the new barn has less blanket storage and it’s harder to blanket them […]
Read MoreIn the 15 years or so that I’ve kept my horses at a co-op barn, many of my opinions have changed. When I first arrived, fresh from years of boarding, I tucked my horse into his stall every night swathed in the appropriate blanket for the weather. Now, I’m a firm believe in 24/7 turn […]
Read MoreAlthough we’ve had a very mild winter so far in New England, it is winter nonetheless. Saturday night, Sunday and Monday mornings, winter made itself felt with overnight lows in the single digits and daytime highs in the low teens. How can you help your horse stay comfortable when the temperatures drop? Especially when they […]
Read MoreThe weather here has been crazy. Last week a freak snow storm took down power lines and trees and we had temperatures in the 20s . . . this week we’ve had temperatures in the high 60s. It’s bad enough when you’re a human — we can dress appropriately. But for horses, it’s harder for […]
Read MoreLast night when I fed it was almost 50 degrees and dry. At 9 p.m. when the rain started, it was unexpected. However, with the temperature now at 41, I thought it was too cold to leave them out in the rain without blankets even though they have access to shelter. When I arrived at […]
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