How to tell if horse is cold?

[millyspaniel]

Whats the correct way to feel if shes cold? she has her HW with neck on and a woolen blanket underneath, shes a 16.2 (grown a bit!) 4yr TB, she was clipped but now its growing back, not planning another clip........shes out 24/7 has ad lib hay and gets fed twice per day. I feel under her rug and shes really toasty and warm, her face feels cold sometimes and the tips of her ewars ], the base of the ears are warmish but nowhere near as warm as she is under her layers.
Its around 3 - 4 degrees on average in the day and around 0 - 1 degree on average at night (ive been checking!! - chkd over the past 2 weeks) her field is well covered with hedges and bushes and quite sheltered.
Whats the best way to tell shes not too cold??
Also would like to know aswell for the coblets wellbeing, shes 18 months, very hairy and unrugged but was thinking of putting her in a LW for night time, what do you think??

 

[Chestnutmare]

I always stick my hand inbetween mins legs at back....just on inside and also base of her ears...my girl feels cold badly.

 

[popsicle]

Base of the ears is where I feel.

 

[Aru]

she sounds plenty warm to me.
Id go by the base of her ear's tis normal for the tips to be cool in cool weather.As she sounds warm under her layer's as well id be happy enough.

Coblet id only put in a rug if she beginns to lose condition or if i wanted her to get used to a rug or have issues with rainscald.She doesnt need one otherwise as long as she has her fine fluffy coat and forage

mind you i am a person who's not overly fond of rugging horses unless nessecary so im a tad bias.

 

[millyspaniel]

Coblet is looking chunky and well and very hairy! shes blue and white though and is covered in mud

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

I always feel the base of the ears

 

[Lou_Lou123]

I always used to feel the base of their ears until my vet told me that you should feel their kidneys! They're just behind where the saddle sits either side of the spine and he says it's a better way to tell if their core body temperature is ok, where the base of their ears can be affected by wind/rain etc.

As for the cob, she sounds fine without the rug... horses are very good at regulating their own temperature, especially cob types with lots of hair! I'd leave her unless there is going to be real heavy rain for a long time.

 

[Ranyhyn]

base of ears and behing elbow i test x

 

[Dirty_D]

I always got told the kidney test too

 

[Tharg]

Base of the ears and armpit for me.

 

[Lollii]

I always feel the base of the ears but I now as well I feel under the rug as that is the bit that matters (neck & tummy) anything that is not covered by the rug will be cold (like my nose when I'm outside!

)
Anything covered up should be warm.

One of my horses mostly feels hot under his rug with one rug on but my other horse sometimes feels cold on his side under his rug so I know to put another one on him, they are all different.

 

[MrWoof]

Ears - the ONLY way to guage how cold a horse is.
One reason why I cannot understand why some people clip out most of their horse but then leave half a head and hairy ears which get wet and then very, very cold.
Clipped ears dry out so much faster than the hairy variety.
If out hunting late afternoon or if you have been standing around for a while, always check if their ears are warm. A simple walk-about will usually cure the problem.