Are you currently freezing already just thinking about leaving your home? And does that make you wonder whether you should rug your horse or not? How thick should you rug your horse? Should you rug your horse at all? Would a rug do your horse any good? First of all, the short answer: Very few horses really need a blanket.
By what temperature does a horse need a rug?
Like humans, horses have a thermoneutral zone (TNZ) – an optimal range of temperatures which they can comfortably maintain their own body temperature.
In the case of (naked) people this TNZ lays between 25 and 30 degrees. For adult horses in mild climates, this range is between approx. 5 and 25 degrees. So we humans should not start even thinking about rugs before 5 degrees – and anyways we do as soon as we get cold and get cozy with hats, scarf and winter jacket.
But Horses have their very unit way to regulate their temperature. They do it through eating and digestion, warming each other by standing close in the herd, increasing muscle tone, reducing blood flow to their skin and, of course, by developing enough fur and by raising their fur when they get colder. This makes them cozy and warm on the skin because the hair forms a natural heat-insulating pad.
When it gets cold, the blood flow to your horse’s skin will also decrease.
The fur develops a kind of natural insulation as it gets colder.
Because the snow then no longer melts, but remains on the fur, because the fur is naturally colder due to the less warm skin.
Can you over rug a horse?
If you rug your horse early, however, it will not develop enough winter fur, the skin does not “practice” the erection mechanism and will no longer work properly.
The study “To rug or not to rug: Potential impacts on equine welfare” says that the wrong blankets can raise the surface temperature of the horse far beyond its comfort zone and thus also hinder its ability to regulate its own temperature.
And I have a counter question: Do you think your horse is only freezing on the back? If a horse with a rug on its back is cold in its head, neck and legs and wants to raise its body temperature, it will probably quickly get too warm in the areas that are warmed by the rug. The horse is caught in a bind.
Should I rug my horse in the rain?
A healthy horse can be outside 24 hours – regardless of the weather. It is important that horses have a shelter that they can use when it rains. But if the horses stand outside relaxed, then everything is fine.
You don’t need to worry about them catching a cold or getting sick just because of a little rain. In fact, horses enjoy the cold. Our horses actually usually leaver their shed to go out in the field and enjoy a roll in the wet earth or just stroll around. Their thick fur coats keep them warm. So don’t be surprised if your horse forgoes the cover of the run-in shed to stand in the downpour.
But if your horse is shaking, then of course you have to look very carefully. Because when horses shiver in the rain or in the cold and the shaking does not stop, this is often due to a chilled skin under the horse’s fur. The skin trembles – just like us humans – due to increased muscle tension and wants to generate a little bit of warmth.
But when would a rug be meaningful?
A greater understanding of the impact that rugs have on horse thermoregulation will help forming our rugging decisions, which has the potential to improve horse welfare.
- For a old, sick or to thin horse, can it be useful to put a rug on in cold temperatures
- Some horse breeds that do not have a perfect winter thermal regulation, such as Arabs
- Horses that tend to have extreme back problems in winter
- Horses that tend to have colic problems in winter (My own mare got a intestinal displacement colic due to cramping because of coldness)
If your horse just can’t manage thermoregulation on its own, then we have to help him. But we should take a very close look at whether a blanket is really necessary and basically would we have to change it accordingly, even according to the daytime temperature, so that the horse does not get warm under the rug.