Do you blanket your horse or no?

I have a 27 year old tb/appy cross that I blanket. she just doesn't grow hair like she should. so she gets a blankey. the other two don't their wolly mamoths too, butthey all live outside and temps are around 30 F at the coldest.

I live in Wisconsin...

- I currently have a 2 1/2 yr old Paint whom gets blanketed at night and when the weather is in the 30's or rainy a light weight blanket/rain sheet

- If its under 20's he gets a medium blanket

- If its below 0 a heavy weight blanket

- If the weather is very cold with a wind chill and raining/snowing they only go out for a couple hours and then are let in the arena for most of the afternoon

(I am at a small private barn so right now there are only 4 horses)

I'm in Indiana (we get NASTY winters. lol) and I do not blanket my mare. She is in good health and gets a good thick coat.

I work at the barn I board her at, and we only blanket two of the horses in the winter, and only at night when they are stalled. One is a 32 year old Appy who just cannot keep weight on during the winter, no matter how much hay we give him.

The other is a 8 year old Arab/Warmblood cross who, for whatever reason, won't grow a coat in the winter. We do not keep lights on at night or anything, so it's not a pituitary gland issue, she just doesn't grow one! lol.

We personally do not turn the horses out with blankets on. (All our horses are turned out daily all day, then brought in at night.) My boss had a horse break a leg once, because he was turned out in a blanket, laid down to roll, got his legs caught up in the straps, and ended up breaking a leg and had to be put down.

Now, this was many years ago before blankets were better fitting and safer. But the boss still doesn't like the idea and I don't blame her. So if it is going to be really nasty, we leave the two horses we blanket inside and turn them out in the indoor arena for a few hours during the day.

I guess Wisconsin is considered "cold" but where my horse and I are from, the winters here are mild. Back home in Alberta, minus 40 wasn't unheard off for a few weeks at a time. Not once have I had to blanket my horse during the colder months though I was blanketing while we were having a cold, damp spring, just to help keep her dry. It really didn't benefit her in any way so I just don't bother.

My horse likes to consider herself a muskox in the winter time. She grows a very impressive beard if I may so myself. I do watch for signs of cold in my own horse but she's only 6, fat, and grows one heck of a coat so I don't think I'll have to worry about blanketing her until she's into her older years or if she were to fall ill.

My barn blanketed my first horse any time the outside temperature dropped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit -- even though she was stabled at night. I would LIKE to have my current horse blanketed the same way, but this barn manager won't do it (she's just not into blanketing horses who are indoors at night), and I can't always get out to the barn every night to do it myself...so he only gets blanketed on the VERY coldest nights, or after he's been worked and is still damp (but then I use his dress sheet, rather than his blanket, which is more like a fleecy bath robe.) He's REALLY, really wooly; I always say I'll start putting his sheet on in mid-October to try to curtail the hair growth, but so far, it's just not worked out that way.

I used to have a 13 yro paint/TB mare. I never blanketed her. I'm against blanketing because it interferes with a horse's natural body temperature regulation.

I would only blanket if the horse is clipped or if the horse is very underweight.

Also when I would get done riding in the winter and my horse was a bit sweaty, I'd throw a cooler on her until she dried off.

I have 5 horses who I refuse to blanket before January, and if I do it's only when there's weather like freezing rain or below 0 temperatures. It's healthy for a horse to grow a nice winter coat, plus, blankets only get ruined, there goes $500 of my money each year if I blanketed them. I have blankets available for all of them, but because I rarely use them, they looked brand new. Oh, and I live in Maine.

I don't have a horse right now, but I didn't blanket my 23 year old Tennessee Walker gelding (he always got a nice winter coat and didn't go in the barn even when my fingers got numb in 2 layers of gloves, so I think he stayed pretty warm with his natural coat, lol).

We live in Minnesota, so it gets pretty chilly. We don't blanket any of our horses except for our 21 yo thoroughbred broodmare. She is getting old and kind of frail. She's also at the bottom of the pecking order, so we can't guarantee that she gets inside the shelter at night. She is only blanketed when it is going to be super cold or stormy. When she gets close to foaling, she stays inside at night.

I have 4 horses. My mare tends to get cold first, and if I see her shivering or looking cold, I'll just go ahead and blanket them all. Usually this is when it's about 10 degrees F. out. Sometimes I'll leave just hers on, or hers and the elderly pony's.