The end of last week has seen a cold change come through, so naturally a lot of horses would now be wearing their winter rugs for the first time this year. Thing is what is a good guide to know temperature wise when our equine friends are feeling the pinch of the cold like we are? I have seen this table circulating Facebook lately, composed by North West Equine Vets Ltd., and I think that it provides a good general outline to use in helping to decide how much extra warmth we need to be giving.
I think there are some of us that are guilty of potentially overrugging from time to time because we ourselves are cold, however horses generally don’t feel the cold as much as we do. As the table shows, a horse that still has it’s full coat of winter hair (unclipped), and is turned out in the paddock on a 10 – 15°C day or night, would generally be quite comfortable without one. An equivalent clipped horse, (even though there is only stabled on the table), would be quite happy with a light weight or no fill rug. Even when it is only 5°C, an unclipped horse will be warm enough with a light weight rug! When using this table as a guide some other factors to consider will be what they are used to, their body condition score, their age and perhaps whether that individual horse’s normal body temperature range runs on average warmer or colder than most.
Regardless I think it is interesting that even though horses have been domesticated for as long as they have, they still have survival adaptabilities naturally in place to keep them a lot warmer than what we might think. If one is not sure if a horse needs a rug taken off or not, carefully placing a hand up underneath their base layer and feeling the warmth can be a good initial guide. However of course there is always the good old faithful thermometer to take their temperature to see where it sits in regards to that horse’s average range, and the obvious sign of sweating.
I also know that not everyone has someone to peel off layers during the day whilst they are at work, and that some horses need a rug that is a best fit for the temperature range perhaps not just for that day, but maybe a few in a row. This is where keeping an eye on weather forecasts with not only temperature in mind, but also wind, cloud cover, snow and rain, can assist in choosing what rug/s to have on a particular horse whilst you are at work all day.
Hopefully this all helps in ensuring that your equines are not too snug this winter!
Feature Image courtesy of North West Equine Vets Ltd.
– Skye Pickering Dip. Horse Business Management