>>>> If they are standing in the pasture and sweating then they need some relief. If they are panting after a walking trail ride - they need some relief. Just use common sense. I think we worry way too much about our horses getting cold and it should be the other way around.
I think I've posted this before, but somewhere in my past I read an article (Equus, early 1990's maybe) that said that studies show that the OPTIMAL working temperatures for horses are between about 5-55 degrees F. Notice that says "optimal", and it says "working". And that article was in a "mainstream" horse magazine, so it certainly wasn't aimed towards our wooly yaks. It certainly seems true based on my observations. Only our Arab will go into the barn of his own accord on a regular basis when it's in the 20's. He doesn't shiver then, but he's obviously cool. I can't think of a time that another of my horses ever acted cold - except for my old QH during the last year of his life, when he was in the final stages of Cushing's disease. I own a few blankets - just in case any of mine get sick or whatever, but I don't use them. I have known it to get down to around 0 degrees F here - not often, but the horses have never seemed fazed by the cold. Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.32/1131 - Release Date: 11/14/2007 4:54 PM
