Horse Gestation

Released December 5, 2011

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –Except for horses with very short hair, a blanket may not be the best thing for horses kept outside in winter, especially when it’s wet, said Mark Russell, assistant professor-equine extension, for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

Much of Arkansas got a good soaking between Saturday and Monday, with cold air immediately following. Overnight lows following the front were expected to be in the low 30s and upper 20s.

“When it's wet and cold like this, it's OK for a horse to be in a pasture,” Russell said Monday. “They were intended to be outside.”

Horses generate lots of heat, kept in by their coats.

“As long as the horse has grown its winter hair, it doesn’t need to wear a blanket outside,” he said, adding that blanketing can backfire. “The blanket actually pushes the hair down, compressing the air spaces and the hair isn't able to insulate the way it's intended.”

And for anyone who has to keep horse clothing clean knows, “it takes a long time for a winter blanket or sheet to dry and anything damp draped over a horse in the cold like that can do much more harm than it could ever do good,” he said. “Horses grow winter hair for a reason and it's their natural way of keeping warm.”

The generous rain left Russell’s own pastures about 90 percent flooded.

“I still had/have a decent amount of grazing left, but will have to get some hay to them sooner than I originally planned, since the horses can't get to the grass,” he said.

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University of Arkansas, http://www.uaex.edu/news/december2011/1205Horses_Cold.html

Contact: Mary Hightower, (501) 671-2126, mhightower@uaex.edu

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