Ridecamp: [RC] do pastured horses come in out of rain

>>>Barns are for people - it makes us feel better.  We built a nice barn
for our horses and they prefer to be outside.  Save your money.

I strongly disagree. I live on the GA/TN line.  It's 43 degrees and
raining right now and my horses are very happy and cozy huddled in their
shed.  If I check them I'll see that they're dry...been in there all day.
 I think the layout of the shed makes a big difference.  They also use it
a LOT to escape the sun in summer.   My neighbors horses did not use
their open pole barn.  My shed is where the horses are fed. The
neighbor's barn is on the far side of the hill from where theirs are fed.
Mine is on high ground and faces away from the sun. Theirs was in a
hollow where flies were bad in summer.  Mine has 2 escape routes so the
dominent horses don't trap the others. Theirs allowed the dominent horse
to trap a subordinent and beat the hooey out of them.  I keep mine clean.
Theirs has years of accumulated manure. I feed mine hay in mine. They
throw their hay out near their house far from the barn.

I have one horse who especially hates rain.  He also happens to be the
fastest to pulse down at every ride.  His skin is like silk and you can
see every blood vessel. He is so thin skinned I believe that contributes
to him getting cold.  You've never seen a horse with a more disgusted
look on its face than he has when he's getting rained on. He's at the
bottom of the pecking order so I have to put him in a stall because the
others won't let him under the shed. He does everything but purr when you
bring him in out of the weather.

I've heard that horses develop a more extensive network of blood vessels
on the surface to help them cool. Does it not make sense that they would
cut back on the surface vessels to keep warm if they have to deal with
standing out in the cold rain?  Kaboot is not the best at cooling, and
has less aversion to rain than the other horse. But he still seems to
relax very contentedly in a dry shed and will come in on his own.  

The only time I've had a shed the horses wouldn't use was when we first
got married and Bill built a small shed with a low roof for my horse. 
The rain was so loud with the low ceiling that he refused to stand in it
when it was raining.

Angie

Angie

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