Having been kept indoors the past few icy days – horses can’t walk on hard icy ground – the local horse-community is back outside and naturally well wrapped up in their jackets! After all, it is still cold.
It is always a wonder to me that so many “knowledgable” horse owners seem to think that their horses are different from others; how often do I hear the phrase “…but myhorse…” What makes your horse incapable of being like other horses?
The “comfort zone” for a horse, the temperature range wherein it used little or no extra energy to maintain its body temperature, is from -5˚C to +25˚C. This is applicable to alltypes of horse, be it Haflinger or full-blood Arab. In fact, the poor thin-skinned Arab is possibly even better off than the Haflinger – in the dessert the circadian temperature range is far greater than 30˚.
Take a look at this excellent and well researched article.