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Discussion on OK to put polos for turnout against cold in winter?
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New Member:
Lindsey
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Posted on Friday, Oct 21, 2005 - 6:04 pm:
All advice regarding the below is very welcome.
I have recently moved with my horses from a warmer climate to a quite cold climate. Difference in winter going from usually above freezing to -3F, variance of over 30 degrees.
My horses are always turned out at night & come in during the day. I started doing so after one of my horses started stocking up. Since he's out at night & exercised during the day with therefore limited stall time, he's doing brilliantly on his legs.
However I now worry that the cold winter may shock them a little. I have purchased them thick heavyweight turnout rugs with neckcovers to ensure their bodies can cope with the cold, but what about their legs? Is it ok for me to bandage their legs for turnout with polowraps to keep them warm during the night? A friend of mine said, I should never bandage for turnout, as this would make them prone to getting weak tendons???? Is she right? I so much would love to keep them warm.
I also noticed that there are turnoutsocks or equichaps out there. Looks like a wrap designed for turnout I thought. Would they be more suitable then polowraps?
Many thanks for any reply.
Patsy.
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Member:
Sswiley
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Posted on Friday, Oct 21, 2005 - 7:00 pm:
I dont think polo wraps are a good idea for turnout. If they start to come off they could get stepped on and tighten on the tendon causing damage.
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 - 3:10 am:
Patsy, your horses' legs will be fine without wraps. It is true that constant wrapping can cause the tendons to rely on the support of the wraps. If you have good winter blankets (waterproof if the horses are going to be outside in the very cold/wet/windy weather) and good food and warm water, shelter and a place to move around, then they will do fine. If you decide to blanket this first winter in the colder climate, only do it on the very cold, wet, windy days and take the blankets off as soon as the sun comes out in the morning. Blankets flatten out the horses' coats so they lose the ability to insulate, and unless your horse's are clipped, their winter coats should be enough to keep them warm.
My horses used to snuggle down into the deep snow, and I imagine it protected their legs from the occasional bitter cold.
There are several discussions here regarding blanketing and winter care.
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Member:
Zane
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 - 1:58 pm:
It is my understanding that a horses legs are designed to tolerate cold. I read somewhere that you can hose a hoses legs off even in freezing conditions. Hopefully the doc will confirm or deny that information. Horses without blankets will develop heavy coats which will protect them through very harsh winters. I blanket my horses to keep them from getting too heavy a coat. If you ride and exercise your hoses in winter it is difficult to deal with a heavy sweaty coat.
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New Member:
Lindsey
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 - 10:32 pm:
Super. I agree that with Shelley that I worry they might loose any type of bandages during turnout and then injure themselves.
They are not clipped & have never been, but they grown only thin coats as they've been lightly rugged all their lives which indeed has helped them not sweating too much when exercised in winter.
They do have field shelters, but as this is also a new thing for them, they still haven't figured out what they are meant for. Eventhough I have fed them inside, they will still go & look for shelter around the fieldshed during rain rather then inside. Duh, they don't seem to be very clever my boys
Perhaps when the weather really gets nasty, they'll come to learn?!
Thanks for you advice.
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Member:
Zane
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 - 12:31 am:
No they won't Patsy. I have seen them stand in freezing rain until they have icicles on them and their blankets are solid ice. Nice dry run in, but no they don't really like it. They will hang out and look in wonderment that it stopped raining if I lead them in but when I leave they walk back out and seem to curse the fact it's raining again.
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Member:
Warwick
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 - 2:28 am:
Hi Patsy
When I lived in Alberta my horses (who were mostly born and bred on the wet west coast) took to the climate like ducks to water. We built a barn (northwest of Edmonton, Alberta) with walk-out night paddocks and I bedded the stalls really deeply because I was initially horrified by the winter temperatures. However your -3F was nothing compared to MONTHS (no kidding) of minimum -30C temps. Don't know what that converts to in farenheit but it's dreadfully cold and I will never forget the morning that I went out to feed and it was -44C! Breathtaking is all I can say - but I bet Sherri on this board can attest to colder.
In extreme temps like that I blanketed according to what I thought they would need (one of my mares was a clipped out 4th level dressage horse that I trailered out to an indoor every night).
But despite my many sleepless nights thinking that they were freezing their little behinds off, they LOVED the cold weather and frolicked and played like I've never seen since.
At times I had three winter blankets on them but they never shivered and never grew huge winter coats. They all learned to use the shelter of their stalls when the weather was very windy but never seemed to be truely adversely affected by the cold.
Strangely enough, here in a much wetter climate they are quick to seek shelter from the rain and wind.
I have learned that they can judge their comfort levels far better than we can and consequently I sleep a lot easier!
I guess the moral to the story is don't sweat it, they are far more adept than we are in judging what they can comfortably tolerate.
Oh and I almost forgot the main reason for the discussion - I would NEVER turn horses out in polos. From my experience, their legs are probably the toughest parts of their bodies climate-wise and the risk of a polo coming loose and causing a wreck would definitely make me lose sleep.
Enjoy your ZZZs...
Sue
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