News and Tips for Showing Horses

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Warm as Silk

Blanketing Checklist

Horse Laughs: Is He Your Type?

This time of year, my favorite first layer for keeping warm while schooling or showing are silk long undies. I hear what you're saying: too expensive! too fragile! too much handwashing!

Surprisingly, silk is an affordable and easy to care for material to go under your form fitting chaps and breeches. It comes in several weights for different climates, so you can probably find the right warmth for your part of the country. As far as wear goes, I ride about three times a week, and show every four to six weeks. I don't know if silk would stand up to hours of daily riding, but it certainly works for a schedule like mine.

Here's what I like about silk for warmth:

Breathable; it's warm when you're outdoors, but allows you to stay comfortable in heated areas too
Durable; silk is a strong fiber
Natural; a green choice
Easy-care; does just fine in the washer and dryer. Lighter weights hand-wash and air-dry quickly if you're on the road
Affordable, especially if you shop around
Long-lasting. You know that saying, I've got underwear older than you? Well, it applies to silk long undies

This time of year, look for winter-wear sales to get the best deals. My favorite souce is WinterSilks.com. (No, I'm not shilling for WinterSilks! This is not a paid ad. I wish it were.)

Hope your rides are silky warm.

Do I Blanket My Horse, Or Not?

Ask four people about blanketing your horse this time of year, and you'll get five opinions! The decision about whether to blanket your horse or leave him bare depends on so many factors.

Although we humans don't believe it, healthy horses with a full winter coat generally don't need a blanket even in cold climates. Many horse owners in the colder parts of the US often leave their wooly horses "naked" even in snowy conditions. However, there are exceptions!

Here's a quick checklist:

Is your horse clipped for show? Then, by all means, provide him with clothes. If his natural winter coat isn't allowed to grow out, he needs help keeping warm. You'll need blankets of different weights as the seasons change.
Does your horse have protection from rain? If so, and he has his winter coat, he may not need blanketing unless he's going to be exposed to rain and wind. You'll want to monitor his weight; upping his calories can be as effective as blanketing to help him keep warm.
Is your horse in generally good health? If he isn't dropping weight or suffering from an illness, he probably doesn't need a blanket. If he's old, a hard keeper (drops weight easily), or ill, then blanket him when it gets cold and adjust his feed if needed.
Is your horse turned out most or all of the day? If he's usually stalled, he may need a blanket to be turned out in really cold weather; or he may need blanketing in his stall, since he can't move to generate body heat. Some stalls, however, stay quite warm, and allowing your horse to be too warm is as bad for him as getting chilled. Make sure you're monitoring conditions.

Blanketed horses need to be checked on, whether they are in or out, to be sure that they aren't getting overheated, and that the blankets are still in good repair and not rubbing or chafing them.

You'll want to step down to lighter blankets or sheets in the spring, when the weather gets warmer. Make sure blankets are cleaned and repaired before they are stored for the summer.

You may wonder if blanketing will help an older, arthritic horse be more comfortable. Actually, what helps arthritic joints is motion! Make sure your arthritis sufferer is getting enough regular, gentle activity in cold weather, and it will help his achey joints.

Ask your vet for more advice if you're not sure whether your horse needs a blanket; but don't be afraid to try going natural. Most horses can handle it.

Horse Laughs: My First Show

It's been about three years since I showed in my first horse show. The scars are almost healed, and I can talk about it now.

Here's how the madness started. After years of watching Daughter ride, I decided (once she'd gone to college) that this riding and showing thing was something I'd like to try. Our wonderful trainer found me an equally wonderful palomino half-Arabian gelding. He claims this is a horse both Daughter and I can show.

The Yellow Horse is a wonder, indeed. I decided to have my debut on him at our local breed Christmas show. This show’s long been a favorite of ours where we visit with lots of friends, but Daughter can’t come home to see me debut this weekend. Just as well, I think; I’d probably get nervous if she watched. She called me before my class, wished me good luck, and gave me some last minute pointers.

Home is just a bit inland from the Texas Gulf Coast, so we use the term winter loosely here. Still, everything is relative, and when our Texas blue northers blow in, the temperature drop can be a little startling. From past experience I know that our local Christmas show is an almost infallible predictor of the arrival of Texas winter on the Gulf.

And this weekend was no different. As Trainer pointed out, it wasn’t so much the temperature as the 50 degree drop that got to us all.

Anyway, there we were, me new to showing, the horse new to all of us, and the weather gone goofy on us. The Yellow Horse is kind of a mellow guy, which is fortunate. But he was, after all, a horse, at a horse show, in cold weather.

So I should not have been surprised when I mounted up in the practice pen, and he was a little look-y, and I got rattled and took the wrong turn out of the gate and started down the row of vendors and Trainer yelled at me and I jerked my cold, curious, confused horse into the correct passageway and got more rattled and The Yellow Horse began to do a perfect, if somewhat nervous, shoulder-in down the path toward the in-gate area. Did I mention he’s not a dressage horse? Did I mention I’ve never ridden a fresh, nervous horse at a horse show in chilly weather?

Click here to read the rest of my adventure at my first show!

Originally published in Equine Journal, February 2007

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