Welcome, Winter!

Blanketing strategies from a New England-based expert that will keep your horse healthy and happy all season.

By Leslie de Grandmaison

If you keep a horse in any of the many regions where winter brings significant cold, you’re naturally concerned about his well-being. After all, you can always step indoors for a restorative cup of cocoa; he’s out there 24/7, coping with whatever nature dishes up.

When you feel anxious as the mercury drops, however, remind yourself that your horse is much better equipped to deal with cold than with heat. If you help him make the most of his natural defenses, he’ll come through the coldest winter in comfort and good health. And a major part of doing that is making sure he dependably has the blanketing he needs.

The question of whether to blanket at all gets plenty of discussion among horse owners as every winter comes around. My rule of thumb is that if your horse is clipped, he absolutely needs blanketing. And you need to clip him if you expect you’ll regularly be working him hard enough to make him sweat--unless you have lots of time to cool him out after every ride. There are also some horses who need blanketing because, for whatever reason, they just never grow the heavy coat that would give them cold-climate winter protection. An unclipped horse who’s underweight can benefit from blanketing, too: Having external protection from the cold means that he won’t need to burn up so many calories in order to keep warm, so blanketing may make getting him back in condition easier.

I’m going to explain the layering system that I use to adjust horse clothing to the ups and downs of a typical New England winter, but first let’s look at ...

Signs Your Horse is Chilly

Instead of checking the thermometer, check your horse. The fact that you feel chilly doesn’t necessarily mean he’s uncomfortable.

If your unclipped horse’s winter coat looks “fluffed out” on a frigid day but his attitude is happy and normal, he’s coping with the weather as nature intended: His coat’s hairs are trapping insulating air against his skin to prevent heat loss.

Another point to remember: If your horse is turned out, and especially if he doesn’t have trees or a run-in for shelter, the wind will affect his comfort as much as the temperature.

I use a three-layer blanketing system that enables me to adapt horses’ clothing to weather changes quickly and efficiently. It gives me more flexibility than a single heavy “mega” blanket. And all of the layers are

breathable, so a horse’s body heat can drive moisture out of them and into the surrounding air.

Bottom layer: I like to use a lightweight polyester-fleece sheet for this next-to-the-skin layer. The fleece wicks away moisture and doesn’t irritate sensitive skin. (This is especially important if you’re blanketing a newly clipped horse, but the layer that lies against the skin needs to be soft and friendly for any horse.) I don’t use a cotton sheet, because cotton absorbs and retains moisture. And I don’t use an “Irish knit” or other type of anti-sweat sheet with a coarse or uneven texture for a blanketing underlayer.

Middle layer: This can be a quilted stable blanket or one of the heavier blanket liners, such as the style made of quilted nylon with polyfill insulation.

Outer layer: The best choice for this layer is a waterproof/breathable turnout sheet or midweight turnout blanket. Whether you go for an uninsulated sheet or an insulated blanket depends on how severe your climate is and how sensitive to cold your horse is. I like a turnout sheet or blanket with a tail flap, because it protects the back of the rump and the dock area from rain and also helps prevent a strong wind from flipping the rear of the blanket up over the horse’s back.

Here’s how my blanketing system works: On moderate days, say around 25 degrees Fahrenheit with not much wind, your horse can go out in the fleece underlayer plus the outer layer. As conditions get more severe--windier, and/or lower temperatures--add the middle layer for increased protection. The way you adjust his clothing for the conditions will vary with his sensitivity to cold and whether or how extensively he’s clipped. I always use the bottom and top layers for my horses (who are clipped, remember).

An additional advantage to this system is that the fleece underlayer is easy to wash and dry. Using it (and laundering it frequently), I avoid letting oils and scurf from the horse’s coat collect on the lining of his turnout sheet or blanket.

I always check the TV weather channel or listen to the radio weather forecast on winter mornings. Even if the temperature is really low when I leave for work, I know I need to lighten up the layers if the forecast is for a sunny day warming up to 40 degrees. My horse will do better if he’s a little cool when he’s first turned out than if he’s cooking in his blanket at midday. If I’m at home on a day that’s turned warm and I wonder if he has too much on, I slide my hand under all the layers at his shoulder and chest areas. I want his coat to feel smooth, flat, dry and kind of “temperature neutral”--not really warm. If I feel any dampness, I know for sure he’s wearing too many clothes and I need to lighten up.

A final word on blanketing in snowy weather: First, brush accumulated snow off your horse’s blanket before you put him in his stall. This prevents the melted snow from wetting his bedding and reduces the opportunities for moisture to find its way through the blanket’s waterproofing. Second, if his outer blanket looks damp, resist the impulse to take it off until you’ve felt his back and sides underneath his blanket(s) with your bare hand. If he’s dry and comfortable in those areas, leave the blanket on--even if it’s damp around the neck and chest. Modern blanket fabrics and construction are designed so that if you leave the blanket on, your horse’s body heat will drive moisture out of it. If you take the blanket off and hang it in the barn,

it will freeze into a “board” and require a trip indoors to dry.

Lifelong rider, Pony Clubber, former eventer and US Dressage Federation bronze and silver medalist Leslie de Grandmaison keeps three horses at her Salt Box Farm in Auburn, N.H. From there, she commutes to FEI dressage trainer and judge Kathy Connelly’s Apple Valley Farm in Harvard, Mass., where she is chief assistant trainer. In addition to having graduated with distinction from the USDF “L” judges’ program, Leslie has earned a British Horse Society Assistant Instructor certificate.