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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
  
Location: Idaho | Being from the City, I am a little concerned! I recently moved to Oklahoma, and I will be moving my colt here at the end of December. Right now it is raining, cold and freezing. I have never pasture boarded before, and the place I am going to has pasture boarding with a shelter available to the horses.
On days like today, and may it be colder.. how do you take care of your horses? Do you keep them in the stalls? Or do you keep them in the pastures? Blanket them? Dont blanket them? Will they be okay? I am just trying to prepare myself so I know what to do, and not panic. lol Thank you :) |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | As long as they can get out of the wind they will be fine. Just make sure you fully cool them out before turning back out. Also try to have food infront of them at all times. We blanket but only because we don't want as thick of a winter coat(ride a lot in the winter). Also give them a very good warm up when you do ride! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Idaho | MC1993 - 2015-11-28 12:13 PM
As long as they can get out of the wind they will be fine. Just make sure you fully cool them out before turning back out. Also try to have food infront of them at all times. We blanket but only because we don't want as thick of a winter coat(ride a lot in the winter). Also give them a very good warm up when you do ride!
Thank you MC! So is Cooler something that would be a good investment? In order to keep them from getting sick? I know we used to use them when I worked horses in Texas. |
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 The BHW Book Worm
Posts: 1768
| On really cold days I blanket and if it's super nasty like it is today 20° plus ice/rain i put a neck attachment on the blanket. I agree most the time they would be fine as long as you have hay in front of them 24/7. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
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If he will have access to a shelter, he will be just fine. Biggest concern I would have is the climate you are moving him from? December is a tough time of year to get him acclimated to a cold/wet climate. He might need blankets for this first winter, but going forward he will do just fine with access to get out of the rain/wind and constant hay.
I'm in ND and mine are out on a round bale during the day and stalled at night. They have access to a deep lean-to but they will choose to stand out (blanketless) in the elements even at -30. Well fed horses will do just fine in cold temps! |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6443
Location: Montana | DashNDustem - 2015-11-27 1:09 PM Being from the City, I am a little concerned! I recently moved to Oklahoma, and I will be moving my colt here at the end of December. Right now it is raining, cold and freezing. I have never pasture boarded before, and the place I am going to has pasture boarding with a shelter available to the horses. On days like today, and may it be colder.. how do you take care of your horses? Do you keep them in the stalls? Or do you keep them in the pastures? Blanket them? Dont blanket them? Will they be okay? I am just trying to prepare myself so I know what to do, and not panic. lol Thank you :)
Where did you move from, as that will make a difference. If you came from a warmer climate, you might have to acclimate him before just turning him out. If your colt has a good winter coat and has shelter in the pasture, he should be fine. My mare doesn't know what a stall or a blanket is, other than what her body naturally grows. We do feed extra in the cold so that she can produce enough heat. And I'm in Montana...so flippin cold! LOL. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Idaho | I came from Las Vegas. He is with a friend and Right now, he is actually is on pasture with shelter and wind blocks out there. Right now the temperature is in the 50's during the day, and 30's at night. He was born in Minnesota and I bought him out of Montana at 11 months old, where he was on pasture. He is now 4 years old, and he can get a bit fluffy but I won't know until I see him. I wanted to get everything together before I brought him out here.
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Expert
Posts: 2122
Location: The Great Northwest | I blanket in the winter if I have some to keep in shape. It is great to help keep them clean. The blanket does mesh down the hair and takes the insulating factors away so consider how much blanket to add. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I blanket and have stalls. But honestly they will keep themselves warmer if they are able to move around. Definitley buy a turnout blanket that he can run and play in. It seems they all get a little frisky in the winter trying to move around and stay warm. I find that mine stand and shiver in the stalls to try and keep warm but they never shiver in the pasture since they can move. Welcome to OK! I am from there and have family in NE OK. I feel your pain with the move. It's so cold! |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| I live in Oklahoma, too, and my mare will not go in her shed to get out of the wind, snow, rain, sleet or hail. She will stand on the south side of the barn when the wind is blowing out of the north. A wind break is important, whether it be the side of a building, trees or a dam (some my horses use the pond's dam for their break). Keeping their bellies full of GOOD hay is paramount. Hay generates body heat not grain. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Idaho | Thank you everybody for your advice!! :)
Is there a type of turn out blanket that is recommended? Never had to use one in Vegas! |
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| DashNDustem - 2015-11-27 2:09 PM Being from the City, I am a little concerned! I recently moved to Oklahoma, and I will be moving my colt here at the end of December. Right now it is raining, cold and freezing. I have never pasture boarded before, and the place I am going to has pasture boarding with a shelter available to the horses. On days like today, and may it be colder.. how do you take care of your horses? Do you keep them in the stalls? Or do you keep them in the pastures? Blanket them? Dont blanket them? Will they be okay? I am just trying to prepare myself so I know what to do, and not panic. lol Thank you :)
I don't blanket, but I make sure the horses have a shelter out of the wind. Right now the mare I'm riding is kept in a run and she can go into a stall. The others have a nice shelter but are in a smaller 10 acre pasture. I never baby my horses but I make sure when it's cold they have plenty of good hay, fresh water and shelter. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | How big of a temp change is? it usually takes a season to acclimate if there is a differance.. you may want to blanket and turnout .. turnout is warmer unless its rainy..moving around is best.. Moving him in mid winter Id blanket him if its alot colder then where he is coming from. . I dont know your weather there though.. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| You're going to a have a difficult time of it, due to weather fluctuation. Blanketing can be tricky, as they will sometimes need out of their blanket during the day. One thing, since he's coming from a warm climate to here, you should buy a really heavy blanket and keep it on him for the next few months. My horses that are haired up and used to the cold were standing in their shelter shivering. The wet+windy combination is tough on horses. Make SURE that your horse is getting enough to eat, monitor body condition very carefully throughout the winter. Plan on supplementing with a nice fatty product like rice bran or a good grain like Ultium.
Question:
Can you send him to an facility like an aquatread, etc, for the next few months? That way he could be in a barn, with people to monitor his blankets, feed intake, etc? I think if it were me and I didn't have a way to monitor him 24/7 myself, I'd do that. Relocating horses in the winter to different climates can be tricky. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Idaho | Bibliafarm - 2015-11-29 1:41 PM
How big of a temp change is? it usually takes a season to acclimate if there is a differance.. you may want to blanket and turnout .. turnout is warmer unless its rainy..moving around is best.. Moving him in mid winter Id blanket him if its alot colder then where he is coming from. . I dont know your weather there though..
As I stated before, the temperatures are actually quite the same right now. It's ranging in the high 20's-low 30's at night and are in the 50-60's in the day, that if it is not windy, overcast and raining. Currently my colt is on turn out on pasture, with shelter and a windbreak available. Right now where I am at.. it's been ranging in the 20s-30's at night, and the 40's during the day with wind. My barn that I will be keeping him at is about 10 minutes from my house and I'm sure if monitoring will be needed, it could be available. I don't want to send him to another facility as I just cannot afford that right now and I am picky about where he goes.
Thank you everyone for your input on this :) |
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Winter and pasture?