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Re: [RC] how cold is too cold? - Chrystal
I am certainly no expert on this but will put in my 2 cents. :-) When I
lived way up north in the North West Territories, ( kinda like Alaska but
in Canada :-)) where it would be -40 to -50 Celsius without the wind chill
I rode, only for about half an hour at a time because I would have to come
in to warm up before I could go out again, but I used to take my little
horse out every Sat in the winter, of course I was a horse crazy 13 year
old at the time, wouldn't do it now!!!:-) What we were taught for people in
those temp's was that you needed to protect your lungs from the cold air or
you could damage them so you had to either breathe through a scarf or
through your nose to warm up the air before it hit your lungs, I have heard
that horses windpipes are long enough that the air is always warm by the
time it gets to their lungs however, anyone else heard this? I am now in
Ontario and rode all last winter when it was -20 (Celsius) with no
problems, however they weren't intense conditioning rides, half walk, half
easy trot/canter for and hour or hour and a half. A rump rug is great to
throw over the horses back end as you walk the last bit to the barn so
those huge muscles don't get cold and sore but otherwise I have never had
problems riding in the cold.
The last couple of days it has been -30 ish and my horses still run around
the field and roll in the snow.:-)
I think people tend to "wimp" on cold days long before it is too cold to
bother the horses, if it is not too cold for you it probably isn't for your
horse!! Just make sure they don't go back out into the field until they are
dry ( wool blankets are great for drying them out quickly in the barn) and
then go inside for a hot chocolate!!!
I have found that cold, windy,rainy days are way harder on my guys than
subzero temp's. :-) :-)
Ed Kilpatrick
<whytrotfarms@yah
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Subject
[RC] how cold is too cold?
01/14/04 01:49 PM
i would like to see some input on this question. you can put on enough
clothes to be comfortable in some very low temperatures, but does it get to
a point where it might not be good for your horse, working in very cold
weather?
the camp osborn ride last january (down here in the southeast region) was
cold, 19 degrees at the start of the ride. the horses had icicles hanging
from their whiskers within a short time. ed
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