The majority of healthy horses can maintain their body temperature on their own in most weather conditions, including in colder weather. A horse will shiver and his hair will stand up in an effort to trap warm air close to the skin; he will also turn his hind end to the wind to buffer some of the cold. Offering a horse a continuous supply of hay will also help him generate enough heat to maintain body temperature.
Nonetheless, many horse owners opt to blanket their horses. Dr. Michelle DeBoer and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin created an online survey to better understand what factors horse owners considered when deciding whether or not to blanket, and where they were located in the United States.
Nearly 1,450 people completed the survey, with just over half opting to blanket their horses. Interestingly, the proportion of owners who blanketed were the same regardless of the geographic distribution. The scientists found that blanket use depended more on discipline, housing, and management, rather than location.
Horse owners who rode English tended to blanket their horses the most. Professionals (63 percent), owners of less than six horses, and those who have been in the equine industry for less than 15 years also blanketed their horses more than other owners.
Freezing was the most common temperature when owners blanketed, but the majority of owners (85 percent) chose to blanket when there was rain, sleet or snow in addition to wind (58 percent).
The team concluded that there is some consensus among horse owners on some blanketing topics, but that the management practice as a whole is less clear cut. They also noted that there was a comparable number of equine owners who chose not to blanket as those who opted to blanket.
Read more at Equine Science Update.
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