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Post by guiltygirl on Apr 22, 2009 6:56:16 GMT -5
One of my horses is in a pasture that does not have a shelter. There are some trees that block some of the wind. He is brought in during day for about 4 hours. Should I keep a rain sheet (1200 denier) on for when the unpredictable spring storms hit? Yesterday I went to barn and he was sweaty underneath at 65 degrees. So I left it off and last night we had a bad thunderstorm (wind and rain) so he was out in it. Is it more uncomfortable to have the sheet on and be hot or to get wet & possibly cold once in a while? I am in Maryland and the temps here are starting to get around 60 -70 days and drop to 50 at night. This weekend is supposed to be 80 in the day  Most people at this barn keep some kind of sheet on year round. |
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Post by Smay on Apr 22, 2009 10:15:09 GMT -5
Good question. I have this issue with the one horse we have boarded. My other three are in my backyard, so I can put sheets on and off if necessary, but wouldn't ya know it - the horse that's boarded is the one with NO COAT and never did grow a winter coat, so when the temps go down in the 30s at night I feel horrible that he doesn't have a sheet on... And the boarding barn puts them out every day, rain or shine, so then I feel REALLY bad if he's out in windy, wet weather without protection. In your situation, and it being really "Spring" now in Maryland, I'd say leave the sheets off... If he has a windbreak ( trees) and it's not going below 30 or 40* anymore, I'd say he'll be healthier and happier without the sheet. If he still has lots of winter hair, just keep an eye on his skin health if he's getting wet and dirty a lot. My problem here in Ohio is the weather has such WIDE swings, and my TB is extremely fine-coated.
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Post by Luci on Apr 22, 2009 16:43:43 GMT -5
I've been struggling with this too especially because Oz is trace clipped and shedding out. I think it would be easier to just clip the whole horse next time.
We went from snowing last week to this week 70 degrees. His sheet is off totally for the moment, but if another storm rolls in we'll have cool evenings and we aren't out of freezing weather yet. I can't get there all the time and the BO sometimes pulls the sheet for me which is nice.
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Post by Pam on Apr 24, 2009 10:34:50 GMT -5
50 at night is very tolerable, even when wet, especially if they are used to it. I do sheet my horses when it's 40 or less and raining. Other than that, they do fine, never any shivering, etc. Definately you don't want a rainsheet, (even breathable) on when it's 80. Lots of people do it just because they don't want to bother grooming before a ride.  |
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