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[RC] Winter Hair - cross5ranch<<NOW, how would you feel if you had to sleep under bright lights all winter?>> Actually they are not sleeping under bright lights at all - they are off by 10pm at the latest. OR you can simulate summer hours and turn them on at 4AM of at 7:30PM (that's Arizona time - we don't do daylight savings time). Basicly they need 16 hours of day time or simulated day time hours to keep slick hair coats year long. <<Also my G/F has blankets on her horse all winter, I can't see the lights going through those to stunt the hair growth.>> The lights don't stunt the hair growth! The amount of daylight hours is what stimulates the shedding or hair growth. Therefore by providing artificial light you are artifcially stimulating the brain function controling hair production. The blankets are used for two things - the MAIN thing is for warmth since the hair coat will be a summer coat and the horse will need to have a blanket for added warmth (since he will basicly have a slick hair coat). Blankets can also be used to expidite the process by makeing your horse extra warm and stimulating the sheding of excess hair. So basicly light and warmth stimulate shedding and length of coat. My yahoo mail seems to be down, I apologize ahead of time if this goes thru multiple times.. <<I sure would like to see a scientific study done on the subject.>> There are plenty articles written by showmen, breeders and veterinarians regarding the benifits of artifical light and keeping a nice hair coat. Artifical light is also benificial in the breeding barn as well by keeping mares cycling in parts of the year the are normally not. At any rate it works, wether or not you chose to do it or not is totally up to you. I was just giving a method to the individual who asked - BTW it takes about 60 days to shed a winter coat. So it's best to start a lighting program (if you chose to do so) now. ~Nat~ Buckeye, AZ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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