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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
   
Location: Arkansas | want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 12:41 PM
Thank you all for the replies... the rain quit for now and no wind ... I towel dried them as best as I could ... they were just barely damp when I put blankets on. I feel better I just hope they behave themselves because after we put blankets on they decided to start messing with each other's blankets... I threw out some alfalfa hay for them to distract them from tearing up blankets. Horses..... 
They seem to go out of their way to make being a horse parent hard, don't they?! |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Chandler's Mom - 2015-11-28 11:52 PM
want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 12:41 PM
Thank you all for the replies... the rain quit for now and no wind ... I towel dried them as best as I could ... they were just barely damp when I put blankets on. I feel better I just hope they behave themselves because after we put blankets on they decided to start messing with each other's blankets... I threw out some alfalfa hay for them to distract them from tearing up blankets. Horses.....
They seem to go out of their way to make being a horse parent hard, don't they?!
Yes they do! They have no idea about the sleep I lose over them at times |
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | want2chase3 - 2015-11-29 5:28 AM
Chandler's Mom - 2015-11-28 11:52 PM
want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 12:41 PM
Thank you all for the replies... the rain quit for now and no wind ... I towel dried them as best as I could ... they were just barely damp when I put blankets on. I feel better I just hope they behave themselves because after we put blankets on they decided to start messing with each other's blankets... I threw out some alfalfa hay for them to distract them from tearing up blankets. Horses.....
They seem to go out of their way to make being a horse parent hard, don't they?!
Yes they do! They have no idea about the sleep I lose over them at times
Amen to that! My OLD horse has decided to put himself on a diet---he's leaving part of his feed each time, and this is all he gets to eat because he can't eat hay and the grass needs to be about 10 inches before he can eat that. So I worry sick about him, but have decided that he is the boss on this one since I can't force feed him! |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| Can u fix a cheqp run in shed even if you have tomused some tarps until the barn is fixed maybe use some poles that you cut down.
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| daisycake123 - 2015-11-29 7:43 PM
Can u fix a cheqp run in shed even if you have tomused some tarps until the barn is fixed maybe use some poles that you cut down.
We have plans to start building an actual barn for them. When the ground dries up from this last round I hope we can start. Got a nice horse sold last night so that'll fund the barn and finishing up our property and home. We are supposed to be dry for a few weeks. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I do not stall my old retired guy, he has a huge shelter he can get under but he will stand next to the barn to be my the other horses, even in the rain. I have blanketed him before when he was wet and within 2 hours he was toasty dry and warm under his blanket.
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 3:46 PM ThreeCorners - 2015-11-28 2:22 PM If they are shivering cold you most certainly can put their blankets on even if they are wet. Most waterproof blankets are breathable and they WILL dry under them. I just wadded out there to check on them.. we had another downpour of rain... they are completely dry under their blankets.. now just to figure out how to keep them from chewing on eachothers.. the novelty has somewhat worn off and they are eating their roundbale ignoring eachother. .. for now. I went to town to look for some no chew stuff but all the feed stores only had the no chew for wood.
I've had success using tabasco sauce/water mix in a spray bottle to keep one of my cribbers away from eating on certain things -- might work on the blankets if they do start to bite them.
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Now my next question ... since they've been in blankets for last few days because it never got out of the high 30's until today ... we finally got a little sunshine peeking out and it's high of 54 today but will drop down into 30's tonight. And be low 30's for the rest of the week at night.. I took blankets off today (and of course, they rolled in the mud after) but I'm leaning towards putting blankets back on in the evenings. ? I was told once I started blanketing I needed to keep doing it when it drops below 40s. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Red Raider - 2015-11-30 7:46 PM
want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 3:46 PM ThreeCorners - 2015-11-28 2:22 PM If they are shivering cold you most certainly can put their blankets on even if they are wet. Most waterproof blankets are breathable and they WILL dry under them. I just wadded out there to check on them.. we had another downpour of rain... they are completely dry under their blankets.. now just to figure out how to keep them from chewing on eachothers.. the novelty has somewhat worn off and they are eating their roundbale ignoring eachother. .. for now. I went to town to look for some no chew stuff but all the feed stores only had the no chew for wood.
That's funny! I was going to sprinkle some cayenne pepper but they've stopped chewing on eachother. |
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Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: East Texas | Is there a barn close by that you can put them for short term until you can get something built, or the rain stops? |
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 Three in a Bikini
Posts: 2035
| It looks like you have got some great advice already.
I only blanket when it is A) Freezing and B) Wet.
Otherwise I pull the blankets off and provide lots of hay.  |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| horsesinharleton - 2015-12-01 12:12 PM
Is there a barn close by that you can put them for short term until you can get something built, or the rain stops?
That's not an option for us. Everyone we know that has a barn have their horses in it. I cannot afford the two boarding places nearby either... I've looked into it. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Kry5ta1 - 2015-12-01 12:13 PM
It looks like you have got some great advice already.
I only blanket when it is A ) Freezing and B ) Wet.
Otherwise I pull the blankets off and provide lots of hay.
They pretty much ate all the roundbale that was left. I've got to wait a few days to put another one out.. so for now I'm supplementing with alfalfa hay twice a day along with their regular feed. |
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 World 4D Champ
Posts: 28264
Location: PA | When we bought our house last october, i had to get my horses home ASAP....I was lucky i got a fence up. Got the fence up, got them home last NOvember. Weather turned, and didn't look back. I blanketed all 3 of my horses..and they went all winter without shelter. There was just no way to build one then. I'm in PA, and we get nasty nasty weather here...cold, snow, -20 windchill, etc.....my horses were fine all winter. Kept blankets on, they had a round bale at all times, and warm, unfrozen water. They all survived just fine. Was it ideal? No...but I did what I had to do. We did get a run in shelter built this summer, so i'll sleep a little easier this winter knowing they have shelter....but IMO, hay and water is way more important to keeping them healthy/warm in the winter than shelter...a blanket will keep the cold and wind from bothering them too much.
At times like this, we do all we can...even if not ideal. Sounds like they'll be fine, even without shelter... |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| I used the no chew stuff from the pet store when I turned my filly in with my older mare - worked really well! You can also use cayenne pepper and re-sprinkle every few days until you can find something else - it also works well on tails!
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | Do you have coolers for them? Dries them up really quickly. I guess if it's still raining though that would probably work against you. either way, I use them several times over the winter since my horses aren't blanketed until it gets more steadily cold and are exposed to the cold rainy days every now and then. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| want2chase3 - 2015-11-28 4:46 PM
ThreeCorners - 2015-11-28 2:22 PM
If they are shivering cold you most certainly can put their blankets on even if they are wet. Most waterproof blankets are breathable and they WILL dry under them.
I just wadded out there to check on them.. we had another downpour of rain... they are completely dry under their blankets.. now just to figure out how to keep them from chewing on eachothers.. the novelty has somewhat worn off and they are eating their roundbale ignoring eachother. .. for now. I went to town to look for some no chew stuff but all the feed stores only had the no chew for wood.
If you have a small animal pet store near by, you can probably find some Bitter Apple or Bitter Orange spray there. They almost always have it for animals after spay/neuter. |
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | want2chase3 - 2015-12-01 11:53 AM
Now my next question ... since they've been in blankets for last few days because it never got out of the high 30's until today ... we finally got a little sunshine peeking out and it's high of 54 today but will drop down into 30's tonight. And be low 30's for the rest of the week at night.. I took blankets off today (and of course, they rolled in the mud after) but I'm leaning towards putting blankets back on in the evenings. ? I was told once I started blanketing I needed to keep doing it when it drops below 40s.
I would blanket at night. We put them on at 30 for just normal cold nights or days. Wet and cold, we will blanket around 40 or so. Dan (36) gets his blanket depending on if he "tells" me he's cold or not! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| We've bought those collapsible garage deals for shelters as a temporary fix before. If I recall correctly they're fairly cheap. We left 2 sides on and wired the legs to posts to make sure it wouldn't fly away.  |
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