Keystone Equestrian

Really good information for winter weather that many horse owners are not aware of.
Stay warm my friends!!!

Blanketing is not just about adding warmth. Horses heat themselves very differently than we do and understanding that helps us support them instead of accidentally making them colder.

Horses heat themselves from the inside out. Their digestive system ferments fibre all day which creates steady internal heat. Their winter coat traps this heat when the hair can lift and fluff, a process called piloerection. This creates a layer of warm air close to the skin and acts as the horse’s main insulation system.

A thin blanket can interrupt this system. It presses the coat flat which removes the natural insulation. If the blanket does not provide enough fill to replace what was lost the horse can become COLDER in a light layer than with no blanket at all.

Healthy horses are also built to stay dry where it matters. The outer coat can look wet while the skin stays warm and dry. That dry base is the insulation. When we put a blanket on and flatten the coat, the fill must replace that lost insulation.

Problems begin when moisture reaches the skin. Wetness at the base of the coat flattens the hair and stops the coat from trapping heat. This can happen in freezing rain, heavy wet snow, or when a horse sweats under an inappropriate blanket.

Checking the base of the coat tells you far more than looking at the surface. Slide your fingers down to the skin behind the shoulder and along the ribs. Dry and warm means the horse is coping well. Cool or damp means the horse has lost insulation and needs support.

Horses also show clear body language when they are cold. Look for tension through the neck, shorter and stiffer movement, standing tightly tucked, avoiding resting a hind leg, clustering in sheltered areas, a hunched topline, withdrawn social behaviour, and increased hay intake paired with tension. Shivering is a clear sign but it appears later in the discomfort curve.

Ears can give extra information but they are not reliable on their own. Cold ears with a relaxed body are normal, but cold ears paired with tension, stillness, or a cool or damp base of the coat can suggest the horse is losing heat. Always look at the whole picture instead of using one single check.

If you choose to blanket, pick a fill that REPLACES what you are removing. Sheets and very light layers often make horses colder in winter weather. A blanket that compresses the coat needs enough fill to replace the trapped warm air the coat would have created on its own.

Blanketing is a tool, not a default. Healthy adult horses with full winter coats often regulate extremely well on their own as long as they are dry, sheltered from strong wind, and have consistent access to forage. Horses who are clipped, older, thin, recovering, or living in harsh wind and wet conditions will likely need more support and blanketing. The individual horse always matters.

It would be easier if a single number worked for every horse. But in my own herd I have horses who stay comfortable naked in minus thirty and others who need three hundred and fifty grams (+) in that same weather. That range is normal. It is exactly why no one chart can ever work for every horse, and why watching the individual horse will always be more accurate than any temperature guide.

Thermoregulation is individual. Charts cannot tell you what your horse needs. Your horse can. Watch the body, check the skin, and blanket the individual in front of you.

Louder for the ones in the back!!!
1,000,000 percent THIS!!!!

"I have begun to truly wonder if I can continue what I’m doing. Should I get a second job? Should I drop the price of my nice horses and get out now? Are my clients going to be able to go to any shows? If they go, will they be able to compete?

It’s exhausting.

The biggest problem is that, in the end, no one actually cares to listen to the majority of members. The majority of members of USEF, like the majority of people in this country, are not wealthy. They don’t horse show all the time. They can’t compete for points because points actually don’t matter to someone who only goes to four shows a year. They, most likely, don’t get to ride much either because they have regular jobs.

Listen, I’m all for horses’ well-being and safety. I don’t want horses injured because people drug them or work them to exhaustion. I think we can all agree that more clever ways of drugging these horses are happening now. I hate to tell you, but it’s not coming from the majority of members. It’s coming from the trainers with the people who have the most money and are chasing those points. The majority of members recognize that they aren’t competitive compared to those horses and just want to enjoy what they’re doing. Maybe they pick up a ribbon in good company on their best days, and that’s something to be really proud of.

Why is this happening?

It’s almost always the hunters. I think we can all agree on that, but why the hunters? Well, when we’re awarding the most drone-like horse, with no expression, who jumps a ten every time, never breaks rhythm, and doesn’t look at anything. That winning horse jumps eight fences for three different classes in two divisions at the very least, not to mention schooling, warm up, lunging, riding in the morning, and god knows what else. And with that level of work, there are going to be issues. Horses need to be fitter to do this without being injured, and fit means fresher, which means more work to prepare.

What’s the solution?

I would love it if everyone could ride better so we didn’t have to exhaust these horses to make them quiet enough for their owners to show competitively. However, that feels unlikely with the current look of competition. So what do we do?

Maybe we can make it so we don’t award horses that are going with zero expression. Maybe we award horses that have some life to them. Or, maybe we change the format. Maybe we can bring back more unrelated distances. Maybe if we did that, people would have to ride better and horses couldn’t be drones.

Maybe we can bring back courses that feel more like the original, outside hunter courses. Oh, but people would complain that it was unsafe! Yes, maybe they would. Maybe they would argue that their people couldn’t show if that was the format. Well, I hate to tell you, but with the expenses being raised on everything, people are already dropping like flies. Membership is going to go down. It probably already has, which is possibly why they’ve decided to raise prices.

What about the other problems we have to fix? Simply put, the cost of literally everything is an issue.

I don’t know which of you has gone to a rated show and a local show recently, but I have. At a recent out-of-state rated show I attended, I was only able to show in one class, and the show bill was over $600. That was without a nomination fee and without including hay or shavings, which were billed separately. The single class I did cost $60, but the total cost was over $600 for one class at this show. That is insane.

To compare, I went to a local show this past weekend with a client. She competed in one 2’ division with a warmup. So three over fences classes and a hack class. Her bill for that local show was $160.

This sport is becoming completely untenable for 80% of the people who are members. I know we’re all sick of the endless rules, the moving goal post for drugs, and the 1200-page rule book we’re all supposed to keep updated with. But in my opinion, the real issue is that, eventually, no one is going to be able to afford to do this anymore."

📎 Continue reading this article by Ann De Michele at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/10/29/frustrating-doesnt-even-begin-to-cover-it-the-reality-of-showing-today/
📸 © The Plaid Horse / Lauren Mauldin