When we go outside in the cold, we put on lots of layers to stay warm–unless you’re a middle school boy and then you wear shorts year round. 😆 But how do horses stay warm without blankets? This can be a controversial topic in the equestrian world, but here at the 180 Ranch, we believe in letting nature take care of our horses as much as possible. God equipped horses with a few things to help them survive the cold with little intervention from humans.
1. Winter Coats
The most obvious is their fluffy winter coats! A horse’s winter coat consists of two main layers: the longer guard hairs on the outer layer and a softer, denser undercoat beneath. The guard hairs help repel moisture, such as rain or snow, while the undercoat provides additional insulation by trapping more air. This trapped air helps prevent the loss of body heat to the surrounding environment, kind of like a wetsuit for humans. Google “piloerection in horses,” and you’ll discover a wealth of information on the topic.
2. Access to Roughage
Eating hay/roughage also helps keep horses warm in the winter. This process is called hindgut fermentation. You can research to learn more specifics about the process, but basically as their food digests, it ferments in the hindgut and produces heat as a byproduct. This does not directly warm the horses, but it helps them maintain their body temperature. This is why it’s crucial for horses to have access to some kind of quality roughage in the winter.
3. Shelter
Horses also need some kind of shelter or wind break. This can be a lean-to shed or trees. Our horses do just fine with trees. We keep an eye on them, and if any of them seem particularly uncomfortable in the cold, we would take them into the barn or blanket them, but so far they have all done well with what nature gave them.
Of course, this is just how our horses live, and yours might live this way, too, but it’s not the only way. There are many factors that go into the decision to blanket horses in the winter. Some horses don’t develop a thick enough coat because of breeding or age, and they need to be blanketed. Or if you show horses, you may blanket because you want your horses’ coats to stay slicked out for the show ring. I had an Anglo Arab years ago that grew a pretty pitiful winter coat, if you can even call it that, and he needed a blanket. The horse pictured below was an appaloosa I used to own, and he didn’t have any shelter from the cold at the time, so I put a blanket on him. We aren’t anti-blanket. We just prefer to let nature do its thing. If there comes a day when nature isn’t enough to keep our horses warm, then of course we would blanket, but for now they are all good the way God designed them.
Do you have horses? Do you blanket? Why or why not?