Winter management

[Cynthia Eyler <eyler@mindspring.com>]

My gelding is boarded a bit south of the Maryland/Pennsylvania line in
central Maryland.

When I bought him in October of 1996, he had been kept stabled and
blanketed during the winter.  Where he is now, the horses are on pasture
24/7 (but in their stalls for about 30 minutes twice daily for
grain/supplements).  They are rarely kept in at night, and only during the
kind of conditions that Heidi described -- wet, just above the freezing
point, and windy.  Snow is not a problem.

That first winter we eventually had to blanket him during a cold and VERY
windy spell; then, as it got a bit warmer, the winter blanket was too much
but he still needed a lighter weight blanket.  But it's been fascinating to
see his winter coat getting progressively woolier each of the two years since.

Now I have to deal with a wet wooly coat after riding!  I've started trying
Teddy's recommendation of two coolers.  I really like our new Jack's brand
tapered-neck wool cooler (I get no financial reward for this promo).  I'm
using my old polarfleece cooler on top of the new wool one.  We'll see how
it goes.

Cindy Eyler
Baltimore