do horses get cold legs?

StormyMoments

StormyMoments

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i know this is a bit of an odd question and no im not planning on wrapping their legs up but do they get cold legs?

they dont seem to notice if they are trudging through cold mud, snow or water... now i know horses arent humans but how come my legs go blue and numb... obviously i dont have very hairy legs.. but surely they can feel it?

is it because there arent many muscles in their legs? its just mainly ligaments, tendons and bones or have they got some secret that i dont know about?

i thought they might get cold legs because they get hairy legs in the winter but i think its part of the general package of a hairy horse :)

so... do horses get cold legs?

sorry to ask a stupid question! it was a conversation topic over tea at the yard this morning :o so please can you settle this for us :)
 
I read somewhere that whereas we reduce blood flow to our extreamaties when its cold horses do the opposite. They increase it to the lower limbs and thereby keep warmer.
 
Yes! They do get cold legs, it depends on the breed how much. Your hairy cob or native is designed to cope with the cold hence they have hairy legs and grow extra in winter! However, your throughbred does not. They have very little covering on their legs even in winter having being bred for a hot climate and designed to loose heat, it is therefore important to keep them warm, and if necessary use stable bandages if cold. Hope this helps.
 
oooo now im confused! so my ISH gets a little bit of feather in the winter and thats because hes preparing for having cold legs but my PRE has very little hair because hes been in a hot country and needed to loose heat through his legs hmmm i feel a little bad for not putting bandages on at night now :o
 
Surely though the amount of hair doesn't matter when their legs get wet?? In fact maybe the more hair the colder it would be when wet??

Sorry that's probably just confused the matter more and no help at all:o

I have always assumed that because it is mainly bone,tendon etc and not much muscle or soft tissue that is less to keep warm and less to feel if that makes sense??
Plus they move around a lot (or should do anyway) which must help.

Who knows though maybe they stand around moaning to each other about how cold their extremities and how they need leg warmers are:p
 
Interesting - I thought this last year started putting wrap around boots on my old mare last winter at night, becuase I thought her legs might be cold! No idea whether that is the case but thought on frosty nights when they won't get wet, can't do any harm at least!
 
but then having wet hair is only really going to make them very cold if you have washed all the oil out of it because the oil would stop the water getting to the skin, right?

im so confused... is there even anyway you can prove whether or not they get cold legs or is it all guess work?
 
they definitely do! my poor boy broke his knees, and the cold/ wet/ snow really does affect him now :( if its deep dry snow i actually put warm travel boots on him to try and give him a bit of protection- really makes a difference to him
 
Our vet said they dont feel the cold the way we do, on legs anyway.

However old joints dont like to be cold. When we kept ours at the top of a very windy cold moor I had to use leg warmers on my oldie or he would be very stiff. I actually used those cheap travel boots you see at the auctions, no real shape just fur fabric

Since we moved down into the valley he hasn't needed them.
 
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