2 blankets at one time?

[wingnut]

The temp here is currently 18 degrees, no wind chill. I just fed our girls and put them into their stalls for the night (2 to a 12x6 stall). I closed up the double dutch doors on each stall. When I went into the tackroom to shut off the light, I looked over into the stalls and saw our hard keeper shivering. I didn't notice her shivering when she was eating but I was occupied with getting them warm water for the stalls and hay for the stalls. She already has a Kensington Waterproof Roustabout blanket. I have a second one I could put on her.

I'm hoping the closed up stalls and their combined body heat will help bring up the temp enough to make her warm up enough to stop shivering. I'm going to back out in an hour or so to check on her. They have a 5 gallon bucket of very warm water and practically as much hay available as they could want throughout the night. She is the boss mare so she will get her fill of whatever she wants.

If I do go out and find her shivering still, would putting a second blanket on her work? What else could I do?

 

[Kelsey - Vandy's Farm]

The temp here is currently 18 degrees, no wind chill. I just fed our girls and put them into their stalls for the night (2 to a 12x6 stall). I closed up the double dutch doors on each stall. When I went into the tackroom to shut off the light, I looked over into the stalls and saw our hard keeper shivering. I didn't notice her shivering when she was eating but I was occupied with getting them warm water for the stalls and hay for the stalls. She already has a Kensington Waterproof Roustabout blanket. I have a second one I could put on her.

I'm hoping the closed up stalls and their combined body heat will help bring up the temp enough to make her warm up enough to stop shivering. I'm going to back out in an hour or so to check on her. They have a 5 gallon bucket of very warm water and practically as much hay available as they could want throughout the night. She is the boss mare so she will get her fill of whatever she wants.

If I do go out and find her shivering still, would putting a second blanket on her work? What else could I do?

I don't know about temperatures that extreme because we live in CA but when I have to clip a horse in the winter for a show or something, I definitely double blanket and it works great!

 

[mydaddysjag]

If shes still shivering throw another blanket on her. Do you have beet pulp or alfalfa cubes? You could use hot water to make her a warm mash if she really isn't warming up.

 

[wingnut]

If shes still shivering throw another blanket on her. Do you have beet pulp or alfalfa cubes? You could use hot water to make her a warm mash if she really isn't warming up.

I just checked on her. She's not shivering as hard. I had to look and watch really hard and long to see any shivering at all and then it was only just the tips of her mane that seemed to be moving, so the shivering is every so slight and not consistent.

She won't eat beet pulp or alfalfa cubes...we tried everything last year when we couldn't keep weight on her (which has thankfully passed).

Thanks for the input. I'll check on her again in a bit and will throw on the second blanket if I think she is still shivering.

 

[targetsmom]

We are expecting wind chills down to 25 below tonight and YES, we have one wearing 2 blankets! One is sometimes not enough.

 

[wwminis]

Give her plenty of hay to last her all night and put another blanket on her! That should warm her up!

Bill

 

[Riverrose28]

Some times when the older horses get a chill it is very hard for them to get the temperature back up. I will take a blanket put it in the clothes dryer then tuck in under my coat till I get it on the horse then cover with a second blanket, works every time. I also keep a heating pad in the barn and several baby receiving blankets. If it is really windy I'll wrap a little blanket around the heating pad till it gets warm and put it under the chilled horses blanket. We have several elderly guys here.

 

[Eagle]

It gets as cold as-10 here in Italy but my lot seem to cope just fine. The only time they get cold is when they are sick. Keep a close eye on her and take her temperature several times a day for the next for days. If mine are cold I put a fleece blanket under their stable rug and that works great.

I use my kids old cot blankets which are perfect size, they cover the horses back and sides and on the neck I fold it to a point and pull it back.

 

[Charlotte]

My suggestion is the same as everyone else....more blankets. whatever it takes to keep the horse warm. It sounds like you are doing a really good job with the warm water and lots of hay and out of any draft.

I've had very good restult using a light weight 'puffy' nylon blanket like the Triple LLL ones, then a polar fleece blanket liner and one of the light nylon LLL sheets on top of that. It isn't bulky or heavy but the multiple layers of fiber fill and fleece and nylon seem to really hold heat.

I hope your girl made it through the night ok. Is she nice and fat? Fat does wonders for insulation. But I guess if she's a hard keeper maybe not fat? My old Dinah, 20 this year, has always been sensitive to cold. She does best in winter if fairly fat.

Don't you just hate to see them cold?

Charlotte

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I was watching the TV and it said (about humans) to wear multiple layers instead of one heavy layer because the air inbetween the jackets will warm up and keep you warm.

You could also try putting polo wraps on her legs to keep them warm, but I know they shouldnt be left on over night...

I agree with Eagle, take her temp to make sure she isnt getting sick. Hope she stays warm!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

You cannot leave leg wraps on overnight, true, but you can use leg warmers, and sew them to a piece of cloth then attach to the inside of the blanket, fairly high up (when I did this I actually sewed another piece of cloth inside the blanket so I could tie the two ends together and be able to adjust where the leg warmers came to. They look pretty sweet and they do the job, too.

I would be careful not ot use two waterproof blankets one on top of the other as the air will not circulate as well between waterproof blankets, you do need a proper under blanket, one of the "duvet" types, with maybe a fleece as a first layer, if she needs it.

I am always a bit leery of using a waterproof blanket as a an indoor blanket- it can cause a horse to sweat due to the lack of circulation. Just a thought....

 

[fowlersminis]

I've used the double-blanket idea too. Fleece underneath another blanket seems to work well. I've always been a big advocate of "stuffing" them with hay when they're cold. The digestion process works the best at warming them up from the inside. Sounds like you've already done what you can to close up the barn to keep drafts out. Remember to check for any drafts down low...at their level. Sometimes I forget they're a lot smaller than we are!

Good luck!

 

[wingnut]

Thanks everyone! I only have the Roustabout blankets at the moment. I did put the second blanket on her this morning. She's done well all day and I just put them up for the night again. She ate all her grain in the regular timeframe and was happily chomping on the hay as I turned out the lights.

The makers of this blanket claim that it wicks moisture away. Here's the blurb from the website:

* LAMI-CELL features a unique hydrophobic membrane that repels water droplets while permitting water vapor to pass. Rain and snow are repelled on the outside; perspiration evaporates from the inside. Because this desirable characteristic also provides excellent wind proofing, LAMI-CELL is ideal for weatherproof equine wear.

As she is my hard keeper, she is definitely not fat like my others.

So, while they are totally unfazed by this cold weather, she will occasionally get chilled like this and is the only one to ever wear a blanket thus far (in the 2 years we've had them).

Thanks for all the input and great suggestions. The temps are suppose to go back up into the 30's with 20's overnight...not my favorite range of temps but one this girl tolerates much better. In fact, if it actually does reach 35 tomorrow, the blankets will both come off. I generally don't put it on unless we're having consistent temps in low-to-mid 20's.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

I'm in Northern California so blanketing isn't generally required unless their sick or newborn. We do the layer thing when needed and keep fleece liners and in a pinch of foals I've used towels under their fleece liner and/or two fleece liners.

Extra hay for our hard keepers (the whole herd if it's really ugly - well ugly for here which is close to freezing).

Second Rabbit on the waterproofing for indoor, I'd be leary of that.

The one thing you need to remember though blanketing a horse flattens their coat. Minis naturally long hair does help insulate, so fluff them up when you remove blankets. I always do that when foals are first unwrapped.

 

[jegray21]

Blanket Liners and I feed hay late at night...My vet said the eating the hay helps to keep them warm...