{"id":58679,"date":"2009-11-13T10:51:16","date_gmt":"2009-11-13T15:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/askthevet.smartpak.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2009-11-13T10:51:16","modified_gmt":"2009-11-13T15:51:16","slug":"blanketing-when-trailering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/58679","title":{"rendered":"Blanketing when Trailering"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will be keeping one of my horses in a heated barn this winter. I will trailer her back and forth to team penning events and would like to know what type of blanket I should use when I am transporting her. She will be sweated up when I leave the event, and I live in Iowa. KB<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear KB,<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re keeping your horse in a heated barn this winter, I\u2019m going to make the assumption that you\u2019ve bodyclipped her. That means whenever she goes outside she\u2019ll need a blanket<\/a> because she no longer has her natural winter coat to protect her from cold, especially when it\u2019s windy and rainy. So I can tell you she\u2019ll probably need a blanket whenever she\u2019s hauled, but without knowing a few of the details, it\u2019s hard to give you concrete advice. Feeling her when she comes off the trailer will be your best indicator of how much clothing she needs to keep her comfortable. But here are the factors I would consider when making this decision for my own horse:<\/p>\n

First, if you have a small two horse trailer with solid walls and another horse alongside her, she\u2019ll only need a sheet<\/a> or light blanket because these two horses will give off a lot of heat that won\u2019t be lost in the wind. Be sure and crack open some of the windows (especially in the ceiling) so they get plenty of fresh air. On the other hand, if she\u2019ll be traveling alone in a stock trailer with open sides she\u2019ll need a fairly heavy blanket.<\/p>\n

Second, even if it\u2019s January and the ground is frozen, if it\u2019s a warm day (like in the 50s or 60s) she\u2019ll only need a sheet, even if she\u2019s in an open trailer. Remember that the \u201cthermoneutral zone\u201d for horses\u2014where there neither too hot nor too cold\u2014is said to be between 20 and 60 degrees, cooler than for us. However, if it\u2019s below this, I recommend a full blanket, or perhaps layering a couple of light ones.<\/p>\n

Third, how far and how fast will you be going? A quick 10 mile trip down backroads won\u2019t warrant as much protection against the cold as four hours on the interstate. So take your route into consideration when you\u2019re deciding how to dress her.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, make sure she\u2019s completely dry before you trailer her back home. If you\u2019re in a hurry, speed up this process by handwalking her in a cooler<\/a> designed to wick away moisture. Then put your dry horse under a dry sheet or blanket for the return trip and she should be in great shape! Oh, and if she\u2019s sweating a lot, consider adding a loose electrolyte<\/a> salt to her meals this winter, at least around days you\u2019ll be traveling and competing. It\u2019s easy and inexpensive insurance against dehydration and the ills that can come from it, such as colic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will be keeping one of my horses in a heated barn this winter. I will trailer her back and forth to team penning events and would like to know what type of blanket I should use when I am transporting her. She will be sweated up when I leave the event, and I live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}