Shivering horses!

assuming you cant bring them in to dry off? id scrape the worst of the wet off them and towel dry a bit and give extra hay and a bucket if they have one. theres not a lot more you can do if theyre unrugged and wet tbh
 
i would bring in and put thermatex on and make sure hay or haylage was available....would also try and dry off a bit with a towel round head,ears,neck area.....im assuming they are wet? if they cant come in i would give hay/haylage in field to help them warm up.....
 
Stuff them full of hay!!?

Have just had to bring in our 2 that normally live out 24/7 - has been snowing here for 4 hrs now and grass/hay put out now totally covered in the white stuff. They came straight to the gate and seemed happy to be offered b & b overnight!

Bl**dy weather, am really fed up of it now....
 
archiepoo said:
assuming you cant bring them in to dry off? id scrape the worst of the wet off them and towel dry a bit and give extra hay and a bucket if they have one. theres not a lot more you can do if theyre unrugged and wet tbh
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Yes there is, sweat scrape, fleece/cooler type rug, layer of straw/hay (called thatching) then water proof rug.
Come back in several hours and horse should be dry and warm, replace rugs with dry turnout (first one is most likely to be damp inside but horse should be dry)

Obviously if you have stable access bring in to dry off
 
Mine was shivering tonight when I went to bring him in. Once in I put two fleeces on him, tonnes of hay, and moistened his dinner with warm water. He was so angry at me for leaving him out so long (I was late) that he refused to accept my peace offering carrot haha oops... bad mum :p
 
I'm assuming they are yours - if so advice above all good, I would (and have) put moden breathable rugs on a wet horse (if it's not possible to get them into a stable asap) - I wouldn't do it every day but as a one off if they are really cold it's the lesser of two evils for me.

If they aren't yours I'd call the owner (or YO if you don;t have owners number) and tell them they need to come down and sort their horses out.
 
So I did the right thing! I just was confused by the pee take melt in the rain thread.. Didn't know what others did with horses stood shivering!
 
Depends what "this weather" is? Horses shiver to keep warm so, unless they are thin, old, ill etc or they were completely soaked through had no shelter andit was going to continue raining for hours then they should actually be fine.

However, if you were concerned you could just rug them - I have put rugs on ours when they're wet. With modern rugs these days you shouldn't have to thatch a horse. Ours have been perfectly fine being rugged when wet (they really shouldn't actually be soaked through unless they do not have sufficient coat coverage - most horses at this time of year still have winter coats so, with natural grease the undercoat should still be relatively dry/warm.

As said though, if concerned then just rug them.
 
Horses shiver to keep warm, yeah because they're cold. They will continue being cold until they get more hay and or dried and rugged.

I really could care less what the other thread says. I can't stand looking at cold horses. Nor do I say, oh they just need to toughen up.

As far as the other thread to each his own. I keep my horses in rugs and I don't like them being cold. Sometimes people start threads to make themselves feel better.

Terri
 
I hate to see horses shivering, it means that they cannot find a sheltered place or are not eating enough. Very often a combination of the two.

What I have found is that given the choice they like the freedom of a shelter as opposed to being shut in, but need forage in front of them all the time.

I once kept 4 horses in a row of 4 stables. I decided to let them choose how they wanted to live, to a degree, so opened the doors of the stables and allowed them all to go where they wanted. In or out, together or separate.

Each stable had hay and a fully made up bed, and you could see over the wall into the next stable.

The horses would move in a group from one stable to another until all the hay had been eaten and then go off and graze. They appeared to prefere to use the stable block as a wind break and shelter, rather than going inside in bad weather. Occasionally, they would sleep in a stable, three lying down and one always watching by the door.

What they never did was isolate themselves into individual stables.

I like to rug horses, as the new lightweight rugs are fantastic being breathable. I feel that keeping them dry is an advantage, but I don't like to use heavy rugs. I believe that food and movement is better than being heavily rugged and confined to a stable.
 
Agree with Pale Rider. The heaviest rug I own is a MW. If clipped they get a liner while in the stable at night as they can't move around. During the day while out, no liners and nobody has died or been cold.

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Agree with Pale Rider.
Terri
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Me too except mine aren't clipped so I don't rug. I too find they prefer to shelter next to buildings rather than go in them especially in high winds.

I do wonder how much rugging interferes with their internal heat regulatory system though. I particularly watch mine for shivering and over the last three years I've only observed one shivering on two wet, cold and windy occasions. They are at home so I can watch them much of the time.
 
Pale Rider said:
I hate to see horses shivering, it means that they cannot find a sheltered place or are not eating enough. Very often a combination of the two.

What I have found is that given the choice they like the freedom of a shelter as opposed to being shut in, but need forage in front of them all the time.

I once kept 4 horses in a row of 4 stables. I decided to let them choose how they wanted to live, to a degree, so opened the doors of the stables and allowed them all to go where they wanted. In or out, together or separate.

Each stable had hay and a fully made up bed, and you could see over the wall into the next stable.

The horses would move in a group from one stable to another until all the hay had been eaten and then go off and graze. They appeared to prefere to use the stable block as a wind break and shelter, rather than going inside in bad weather. Occasionally, they would sleep in a stable, three lying down and one always watching by the door.

What they never did was isolate themselves into individual stables.

I like to rug horses, as the new lightweight rugs are fantastic being breathable. I feel that keeping them dry is an advantage, but I don't like to use heavy rugs. I believe that food and movement is better than being heavily rugged and confined to a stable.
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^^^ This, however I have experienced them all using my stable as a toilet. :mad::rolleyes:

Mine has access to a stable at all times, and sleeps indoors every night and if its raining or hot she will stand in then too voluntarily:).
 
Pale Rider said:
I hate to see horses shivering, it means that they cannot find a sheltered place or are not eating enough. Very often a combination of the two.

What I have found is that given the choice they like the freedom of a shelter as opposed to being shut in, but need forage in front of them all the time.

I once kept 4 horses in a row of 4 stables. I decided to let them choose how they wanted to live, to a degree, so opened the doors of the stables and allowed them all to go where they wanted. In or out, together or separate.

Each stable had hay and a fully made up bed, and you could see over the wall into the next stable.

The horses would move in a group from one stable to another until all the hay had been eaten and then go off and graze. They appeared to prefere to use the stable block as a wind break and shelter, rather than going inside in bad weather. Occasionally, they would sleep in a stable, three lying down and one always watching by the door.

What they never did was isolate themselves into individual stables.
.
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Personally do not agree with this. Believe this is asking for trouble. There is ALWAYS some kind of hierarchy in a herd and this dominance could cause an animal lower down in the pecking order to get pinned in, cornered and badly hurt. It is completely unnatural for horses not to be able to get away from an aggressive dominant animal. Either keep them in (alone) or keep them out - mixing this up on has the makings of an injured animal.
 
Mine live in a herd yarded with barn access a lot of the time. I do think there is a risk of horses getting trapped in stables and my barn that is always open has two entrances but generally I find they are very settled living in the herd.
I have read of two or three squashed in one stable resting. lol

ps. Horses can get trapped in a corner of a field as well. I think it's all down to having horses used to herd living, and may take time for some to readjust but adjust they do. Space in the yard is important as well if there is no field access.
 
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When mine go out 24/7 once they are out they can't come in (the field is 5 miles away from home (stables). I normally just leave them (horrible I know) I hate rugging a wet horse. I might have just put more hay out if there was not much grass.

In the winter when they are stabled if they are soaked I will bring in and put a fleece rug on thatched with straw until they are dry then put on a rain sheet and put them back out. :)
 
It depends... If your on my yard you'd go tell other people That I freeze my ponies and don't tke care of them first!! :)

Personally... Yeah, dry them off, extra feed!
 
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