Blanketing by temperature
A degree-by-degree walk from a mild 60°F down to below zero - what to reach for, and when the temperature alone is not the whole story.
Calculate by temperatureThe single most common blanketing mistake is dressing a horse for the moment you are standing in the paddock. What matters is the coldest point of the stretch the horse will be out - usually the overnight low. A blanket that feels right at a sunny 42°F afternoon can leave a horse shivering at a 24°F dawn, and a heavy blanket pulled on at a cold dawn can have the horse sweating by lunchtime. Check the forecast low and high for the whole turnout window before you decide.
No blanket for almost any horse. Even most clipped horses are comfortable; a fully clipped horse in steady work might appreciate a light sheet in a breeze, but that is the exception.
Unclipped horses need nothing. Clipped horses do well in a sheet to keep wind and light rain off the bare skin.
An unclipped horse is fine, or a sheet if it is wet. Clipped horses step up to a lightweight (~100g).
This is the band where unclipped horses often get their first real blanket - a lightweight. Clipped horses move to a midweight (~200g).
Unclipped horses go to a midweight; fully clipped horses to a heavyweight (~300-400g). Wind or wet pushes everyone up a notch.
Heavyweight for most horses. Clipped horses should have a neck cover too.
Heavyweight plus a neck cover or hood, ample forage (digesting hay is a horse's internal furnace), unfrozen water, and shelter from wind. This is the band to watch seniors and hard keepers closely.
Strips the warm air out of the coat. Treat a windy day as a category colder.
Flattens the coat so it cannot insulate. A waterproof layer matters more than the number on the thermometer.
A still, sunny 35°F can feel much warmer to a horse in a sheltered paddock. Do not over-dress.
Use the overnight or expected low for the period the horse will be out, not the daytime high. If the day will warm up a lot, plan to change or remove the blanket.
A horse's lower critical temperature is roughly 41°F without a winter coat, dropping to around 5°F or lower for an acclimated horse with a full coat. Healthy unclipped horses tolerate cold far better than people expect.
Yes. Wind strips warm air from the coat and cold rain flattens it. Treat a windy or wet day as colder and move up a weight - the calculator does this when you tick those boxes.
Blankets to cover the temperature range:
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