Blanketing Question

[guest@endurance.net]

Ed Roley
My daughter and I have not been "horse people" long.
 In the last 6 years of having a few horses we have
not blanketed during the winter. None of our horses
and been ill. Never really even seen a runny nose.
We live in the mountains of North Carolina and
occasionally it gets pretty cold. Usually coldest is
about 10 degrees but rarely stays cold like that for
any extended period of time.
My daughter is now keeping her horse at someones barn
who always blankets her horses when it is a little
cold. She did recently when it got down to the 30's.
She is asking us to blanket my daughters horse now.
I supppose it is no big deal to do so but I am not
anxious to do it. I have no real problem with it if
it is real cold(say less then 20 degrees for extended
periods) but not if it is just our normal "cold" weather.
My mindset is somewhat "Horses have lived outside for
thousands of years without blankets, why do they need
one now?". Give me some good reasons...Thank you.

Ed Roley....