Effect on horse of seasonal change of coat - Klimke's view

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Marigold4

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I recently read a book about Ahlerich, Reiner Klimke's Olympic horse.

I was interested to read how much emphasis Klimke placed on seasonal coat changes and Ahlerics' health/energy. He says of Ahlerich getting his winter coat "we did not want to start any new work with him until he finished shedding"; "getting his winter coat was hard on Ahlerich" and "shedding from his winter to summer coat was again hard for Ahlerich. And again, he had spring fever and didn't eat well. It would have been useless to try to work seriously with him".

I'd never really thought of the effect on a horse's health before. Anyone else find a link between shedding and health?
 
I've definitely had horses that were noticeably flatter at this time as they grow their winter coat. It must take a lot of energy to grow that much hair.

This is one reason I wait to clip as long as possible, I find if you go soon (i.e. now) they just keep on growing coat really quickly to replace it which must take even more out of them. I think the rate of growth slows down once the coat is established, so the clip lasts longer and presumably they don't use so much energy growing it quickly.
 
Interesting! Mine is going fluffy for winter and shedding short summer hair and has just started leaving his hard feed! It’s not unusual for him to be a little bit off during coat change in spring but I’ve usually assumed it relates to grass flush / gut health as well. Maybe he identifies as an Olympic athlete…. 😁
 
I remember reading that book many years ago and that was one of the things that he said that really stuck with me. Growing his winter coat does seem to have a bit of the opposite effect on one of mine as he goes a bit jolly but in general I think it is a very good observation.
 
I heard about the coat change taking a lot of energy a while ago, so I can't say if I would have noticed any change in behaviour and made the connection myself, but I can see a correlation. Not so much in energy levels as we don't do a lot anyway tbh but certainly seems hungrier and a little more anxious.
 
eggs said:
I remember reading that book many years ago and that was one of the things that he said that really stuck with me. Growing his winter coat does seem to have a bit of the opposite effect on one of mine as he goes a bit jolly but in general I think it is a very good observation.
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The other thing that sticks out from the book is how important Goodwood used to be for international dressage. It's not far from me and I would have loved to go and spectate in such a beautiful setting. All noisy, gas-guzzling racing cars now, sadly.
 
Marigold4 said:
The other thing that sticks out from the book is how important Goodwood used to be for international dressage. It's not far from me and I would have loved to go and spectate in such a beautiful setting. All noisy, gas-guzzling racing cars now, sadly.
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I used to go every year with my mum. It was beautiful with arenas right in front of the house (from what I recall!) I used to go home and practice on my 13.2hh pony afterwards.
 
Fluffypiglet said:
Interesting! Mine is going fluffy for winter and shedding short summer hair and has just started leaving his hard feed! It’s not unusual for him to be a little bit off during coat change in spring but I’ve usually assumed it relates to grass flush / gut health as well. Maybe he identifies as an Olympic athlete…. 😁
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I read the book because my buckskin gelding is related to Ahlerich. I had heard that Ahlerich was famously quirky and as mine is also quirky, I was hoping to see how Klimke handled this behaviour. Basically - wait a long, long time! He really didn't do very much with him till he was 9. Lots of breaks as Klimke was working full time and had other horses.
 
Marigold4 said:
I recently read a book about Ahlerich, Reiner Klimke's Olympic horse.

I was interested to read how much emphasis Klimke placed on seasonal coat changes and Ahlerics' health/energy. He says of Ahlerich getting his winter coat "we did not want to start any new work with him until he finished shedding"; "getting his winter coat was hard on Ahlerich" and "shedding from his winter to summer coat was again hard for Ahlerich. And again, he had spring fever and didn't eat well. It would have been useless to try to work seriously with him".

I'd never really thought of the effect on a horse's health before. Anyone else find a link between shedding and health?
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When people were ill, particularly girls and women, it was not unusual to cut or even shave their hair to encourage recovery - the thinking being that energy/ nutrients to support all that hair would be better directed to recovering strength.
It’s often referred to in Victorian literature, and my grandmother had all hers cut twice, first time recovering from diphtheria ( her sister died), and then recovering from measles (left her short sighted).
Whether there’s any supportive science is another matter, but changing length of daylight hours seems to impact mental and emotional states in people - and certainly links to coat changes in animals.
 
Exasperated said:
When people were ill, particularly girls and women, it was not unusual to cut or even shave their hair to encourage recovery - the thinking being that energy/ nutrients to support all that hair would be better directed to recovering strength.
It’s often referred to in Victorian literature, and my grandmother had all hers cut twice, first time recovering from diphtheria ( her sister died), and then recovering from measles (left her short sighted).
Whether there’s any supportive science is another matter, but changing length of daylight hours seems to impact mental and emotional states in people - and certainly links to coat changes in animals.
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Not picking holes in what you say - just musing. Do people with shorter hair have more energy then? Isn't hair dead though so won't need any nutrients to support it?
 
Marigold4 said:
Not picking holes in what you say - just musing. Do people with shorter hair have more energy then? Isn't hair dead though so won't need any nutrients to support it?
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Correct, growing the hair is what takes energy, it doesn't take energy to just have hair.

Often people still cut the hair of invalids so that it's easier for nurses to maintain. They cut and permed my great granny's waist length-hair when she went into the care home and she cried about it for weeks.
 
Marigold4 said:
Not picking holes in what you say - just musing. Do people with shorter hair have more energy then? Isn't hair dead though so won't need any nutrients to support it?
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I don’t disagree, I think a lot of this is cultural rather than evidentially based, altho I’m not going to argue with Kilmke!
and similarly to Smolmaus, my Gran was very rueful when showing us sepia photos of them all - beautiful long ringlets, to page boy bob!
 
Baggs and Rabbit have been coming in rather hangrily recently - they've got ad lib hay in their stables and always has some left over in their nets and big tubtrug style buckets by the time I get to them in the evening, lovely long grass in their field, a decent space in their field to move and keep warm, fresh water daily and a decent amount of feed but not so much that it becomes too much to digest. I put it down to coat changing and needing extra energy to do so.

Rabbit is going through his 1001 growth spurt so the poor sod is growing wonkily, shedding his summer coat, trying to remember how to walk with some small level of coordination, trying to remember that the human at the end of the lead rope is categorically NOT a play toy and therefore doesn't take kindly to being dragged around, and generally feeling rather meh.

Baggs is a bit more difficult to tell how he feels exactly as he's always been the sort to be a bit bleurgh in general (I often say he's like an elderly gentleman who just wants to sit by the fire, slippers on, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose with a copy of today's newspaper and a cup of tea/ some biscuits on the side of the saucer!). He's not the most affectionate fella and to ride he can be pretty hit and miss dependant on how he feels, but one sign that I know he is growing his winter coat is he takes more leg to get going - and that's the same whether we school or hack. He's usually the sort to respond nice and quick, but sensibly to your leg - I often joke with my friends that I can pop him on cruise control and enjoy the scenery!

I also suffer more with migraines in the colder months than I do the rest of the year - and that makes me rather cranky at times, so I don't blame the horses for a moment x
 
Marigold4 said:
The other thing that sticks out from the book is how important Goodwood used to be for international dressage. It's not far from me and I would have loved to go and spectate in such a beautiful setting. All noisy, gas-guzzling racing cars now, sadly.
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Goodwin was fabulous , I went there many times to watch in my youth , such a shame it stopped being a horse venue
 
My Ardennes that grew the coat of a polar bear needed high protein at coat change or he'd be very miserable. He was retired but would drop weight horribly unless he was pumped full of food. In Spring if the grass was shooting through I could use him as a mower but autumn he needed stick veteran mix.

The microcob gets hangry. She's got enough blubber not to need extra food and is usually very sweet natured but I think genetics are telling her to eat like mad.
 
My NF pony is always deeply affected by his coat change. He becomes quite lethargic, and generally dull. I don’t give him anything extra, though I have been told soya oil is good. Once it has grown he is hot, so that makes him lethargic. It would be tempting to think he is just, well, lethargic. But no, he can produce quite a lot of energy at times. We look forward to his clip, but it needs to be left as long as possible. Or he will start trying to grow a full coat again. Cats hairs do not seem to sap energy.
 
Both coat changes seem to coincide with grass flushes for me. Cobbus's brain disengages for a while, he has a much bigger appetite and is a hell of a lot more alert. His 'I see dead people' reflexes become very finely honed.

I am never sure whether it is the impact of the grass flush or the coat change. I assume both.

I clip 3-4 times each winter. He has a double coat and it's a workout for the clippers otherwise.
 
Time for Tea said:
My NF pony is always deeply affected by his coat change. He becomes quite lethargic, and generally dull. I don’t give him anything extra, though I have been told soya oil is good. Once it has grown he is hot, so that makes him lethargic. It would be tempting to think he is just, well, lethargic. But no, he can produce quite a lot of energy at times. We look forward to his clip, but it needs to be left as long as possible. Or he will start trying to grow a full coat again. Cats hairs do not seem to sap energy.
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Extra protein (e.g. pea protein) would make more sense than fats, as protein is what the body is using to produce the new coat.
 
Marigold4 said:
The other thing that sticks out from the book is how important Goodwood used to be for international dressage. It's not far from me and I would have loved to go and spectate in such a beautiful setting. All noisy, gas-guzzling racing cars now, sadly.
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It was so lovely, I drove a long way just to go once, 1993, when Carl I think won his first national GP title. Very sad that it stopped.

I knew a Dales pony about 20 years ago who was significantly affected by coat change, especially autumn. She was given extra small forage feeds, I think SOME iron, it was early days in terms of realising iron overdose might be as much of an issue as apparent anaemia.

And amino acids, there's a great article on forageplustalk website on amino acids, they're the building blocks of protein and shouldn't cause fizziness. Pea protein is indeed a good source apparently.
 
It was my draft's first winter with me last year. He went from looking too well with his summer coat to nothing on his ribs and a yeti coat in about 2 weeks. It took until Christmas to get enough cover back on him to ride again.

This year I am ready, higher protein grass pellets and lots of them, a good balancer and I'll add linseed as soon as the grass slows down. Rugging over night too.

I am hoping this is wise, he is looking too well coming out of summer and our grass is shooting up. He's definitely lost touch of top line though so I think I'm right.

Both cobs are fat and hangry, I offer hay but they're not interested.
 
Mine did coat change early and was a bit flat. Now they are eating like there’s no tomorrow!
They are on good grass for 12 hours overnight but my gelding is coming in and polishing off an xl hay net then turning to eat his straw bed.
 
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