Keeping Horse warm

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houstoncutter

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OK, this cold is uncharted water for me and my 35 year old horse. He's in a covered shed , it is not enclosed. It does stop the north wind and is covered. He has a lined rain jacket cover on him. Is their anything else I can do to help him out, also he is blind in one eye. Any ideas or thought would be appreciated
 
Just good feed and clean thawed water unless you have a enclosed place for the old Guy. My Stepdaughter and Barrel Racing Grandaughter have 4 Barrel Horses up in May Texas and about all they have to protect them is the shed and jackets. Gonna be down to around 0 tonight and tomorrow night there.
 
OK, this cold is uncharted water for me and my 35 year old horse. He's in a covered shed , it is not enclosed. It does stop the north wind and is covered. He has a lined rain jacket cover on him. Is their anything else I can do to help him out, also he is blind in one eye. Any ideas or thought would be appreciated
You could put a heater or heat lamp in there just to make sure he keeps warm since he's not in an enclosed space
 
Being able to get out of the weather and a winter blanket is a plus. What kind of condition is he in? IE thin/moderate/good? Aged horses need TLC and especially going into harsh winters. Access to free choice quality hay and a supplement designed for old horses is helpful. Mine is 36 soon to be 37 so I understand your concern.
 
Being able to get out of the weather and a winter blanket is a plus. What kind of condition is he in? IE thin/moderate/good? Aged horses need TLC and especially going into harsh winters. Access to free choice quality hay and a supplement designed for old horses is helpful. Mine is 36 soon to be 37 so I understand your concern.
He's in pretty good shape for his age. Going out when the snow clears to see how he faired. He really doesn't eat hay anymore, he's sorta got a parrot jaw situation going on. So it's Purena's Senior Feed twice a day
 
He's in pretty good shape for his age. Going out when the snow clears to see how he faired. He really doesn't eat hay anymore, he's sorta got a parrot jaw situation going on. So it's Purena's Senior Feed twice a day
It's been a while since I've fed it, but I recall pureana's senior feed as really good stuff. In fact, I would love to find some for an old show bull who has next to no teeth left and needs a good, soft feed.
 
OK, this cold is uncharted water for me and my 35 year old horse. He's in a covered shed , it is not enclosed. It does stop the north wind and is covered. He has a lined rain jacket cover on him. Is their anything else I can do to help him out, also he is blind in one eye. Any ideas or thought would be appreciated
Nice warm mash
 
Your doing about all you can. It won't help with the cold, but you can top dress his senior feed with a little calf manna. If he can chew senior feed, he can chew it. About as much nutrition in it as your gonna find. Kinda like ensure for senior citizens.
 
You know your horse best, some have had luck with the sweet feeds as mentioned before and I know some who have used beet pulp to add heat in the gut but my warning is to research that and weigh the consequences. Also, keep potential consequences of sweet feeds in mind on an elderly equine. Especially if there may be a Cushing's or related issue at foot (pun intended). You know your horse best 😉
 
I had an Arabian mare here, the first born on the farm; she's in her late teens, and given me many beautiful foals. One a reserve champion in the Houston (Spindeltop) Arabian show. The first day she struggled with the freezing rain. Then it hit me! Duh, she WAS a showhorse many moons ago. Went up to my attic and found her heavy blanket and leggings, all in matching purple, lol. After I put that on her, she settled down and made it through the ice storm a week ago with flying colors. Beating myself up for taking that long to remember. I should have had it on her before the cold weather hit.....

I've seen people strap saddle blankets to horses to help them a little, but the best method is shelter from the north wind, shelter from overhead to escape the precipitation, plenty of hay, and sweet feed to make them feel a little better. I did brush the ice off of her after the first day. It was bad (for Louisiana) here.
 
Don't ever put your horse in a barn in the first place, or put a jacket on him... let him develop a winter coat like God designed him to have. My horses nor my cattle ever see a building, and I for sure don't ever want them to. Most they need is some trees to get behind as a windbreak, with enough access to feed and water.
 
Don't ever put your horse in a barn in the first place, or put a jacket on him... let him develop a winter coat like God designed him to have. My horses nor my cattle ever see a building, and I for sure don't ever want them to. Most they need is some trees to get behind as a windbreak, with enough access to feed and water.
That's great if you don't end up with a super unusual cold snap in an area that isn't useful to it
 
I usually blanket one for a trailer ride when it's cold. Blankets look uncomfortable to me.
 
Don't ever put your horse in a barn in the first place, or put a jacket on him... let him develop a winter coat like God designed him to have. My horses nor my cattle ever see a building, and I for sure don't ever want them to. Most they need is some trees to get behind as a windbreak, with enough access to feed and water.
👎
 
Don't ever put your horse in a barn in the first place, or put a jacket on him... let him develop a winter coat like God designed him to have. My horses nor my cattle ever see a building, and I for sure don't ever want them to. Most they need is some trees to get behind as a windbreak, with enough access to feed and water.
My neighbors raised big money Quarter horses and years ago they told me not to blanket my pack string before I took them to Montana hunting. Let them "hair up" , it was great advice!!

RIP Howard Smith
 
Friend I talked to today who used to raise some high dollar Quarter horses got turned in once by a do-gooder for letting them stand outside his barn in his yard once on a cold day (the barn WAS blocking the wind)... . Vet said he already knew he wasn't concerned before he got there... he knew this farm, but because of the regulations he had to come out and check it if somebody complained. Vet told him that the best place for a horse is OUTSIDE.....they can NEVER be in as healthy of an environment in any barn as they will be if ALWAYS left outside. Now, if you insist on "keeping them warm", (put up in a barn anytime it's a little nippy, and blanketed if let out, etc.) they'll not develop a proper winter hair coat, and then they can potentially get chilled... Same vet told him that if he sees a couple inches of snow on the cattle's backs in a snow storm, he knows they're healthy and fine generally. If it's melting off of them, then he knows that they're not coated up for winter with enough insulation on their hides.

Drawback to those nice long winter hair coats though.......... it's hard to get a shock through them to the animal from the electric fence! I've got calves right now crawling under my breaker wire when unrolled hay grazing with a hot and a ground wire dragging hard across their backs with no reaction... fence has 5500V on it, no amp loss, and if I bring those two wires together it'll shoot an arc between 'em. Good news is warmer weather is on the way!!!
 
Friend I talked to today who used to raise some high dollar Quarter horses got turned in once by a do-gooder for letting them stand outside his barn in his yard once on a cold day (the barn WAS blocking the wind)... . Vet said he already knew he wasn't concerned before he got there... he knew this farm, but because of the regulations he had to come out and check it if somebody complained. Vet told him that the best place for a horse is OUTSIDE.....they can NEVER be in as healthy of an environment in any barn as they will be if ALWAYS left outside. Now, if you insist on "keeping them warm", (put up in a barn anytime it's a little nippy, and blanketed if let out, etc.) they'll not develop a proper winter hair coat, and then they can potentially get chilled... Same vet told him that if he sees a couple inches of snow on the cattle's backs in a snow storm, he knows they're healthy and fine generally. If it's melting off of them, then he knows that they're not coated up for winter with enough insulation on their hides.

Drawback to those nice long winter hair coats though.......... it's hard to get a shock through them to the animal from the electric fence! I've got calves right now crawling under my breaker wire when unrolled hay grazing with a hot and a ground wire dragging hard across their backs with no reaction... fence has 5500V on it, no amp loss, and if I bring those two wires together it'll shoot an arc between 'em. Good news is warmer weather is on the way!!!
If you're in Montana where it isn't 70 the week before the ice storm of the century, that works. Horses that spend even 24 hours a day outside in the south have no way to "hair up" over a weekend. Blankets and shelter are needed.
 

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