To blanket or not?
I usually do not blanket my horses in the winter. They live outside 24/7 and have always done very well with this arrangement.
However, last winter Zeus really dropped a lot of weight. He gets an immensely long, dense coat in the winter. He had a shelter last year but I'm not sure if he'll have one this year as he's moved groups. He never really used the shelter anyway and they will probably have some sort of a wind break if there is not shelter.
So, he dropped a ton of weight despite mass amounts of food and it's taken nearly all summer to get him back to where he should be. Even with him always being a fairly hard keeper, he's never been this difficult to put weight on.
I've been throwing around the idea of blanketing this winter. I think he's maybe having to work too hard with his age (old man) to keep himself warm, therefore burning too many calories. What do you guys think? Blanket?
Also, I've never actually bought a blanket before. What should I be looking for? I'm not going to do the whole sheet-medium weight-heavy weight progression like we do for the stall horses because I'm not trying to keep his coat riding-friendly. I was just intending on going for the heavy for the coldest months. I'm in MN, so -10 to 10 degrees is pretty normal in the winter :)
Thanks everyone!
However, last winter Zeus really dropped a lot of weight. He gets an immensely long, dense coat in the winter. He had a shelter last year but I'm not sure if he'll have one this year as he's moved groups. He never really used the shelter anyway and they will probably have some sort of a wind break if there is not shelter.
So, he dropped a ton of weight despite mass amounts of food and it's taken nearly all summer to get him back to where he should be. Even with him always being a fairly hard keeper, he's never been this difficult to put weight on.
I've been throwing around the idea of blanketing this winter. I think he's maybe having to work too hard with his age (old man) to keep himself warm, therefore burning too many calories. What do you guys think? Blanket?
Also, I've never actually bought a blanket before. What should I be looking for? I'm not going to do the whole sheet-medium weight-heavy weight progression like we do for the stall horses because I'm not trying to keep his coat riding-friendly. I was just intending on going for the heavy for the coldest months. I'm in MN, so -10 to 10 degrees is pretty normal in the winter :)
Thanks everyone!