That time my horse had icicles on her…

[HollyWoozle]

With winter approaching and more talk of rugs, I was thinking back to the big storm we had in the U.K. in March 2018 (Emma maybe?). For the first and only time to date, my ISH mare (primarily WB x TB) had icicles in her coat: https://streamable.com/844zn9

Under her coat she was very toasty of course, but I recall temperatures getting down to -13C and wondering if I was mad not to put a rug on. We’ve often had ponies (especially minis) go frosty but I’ve yet to see them with icicles again! I’m assuming horses in colder climates often see some icicle action in the winter?

 

[SEL]

They actually lost quite a few Icelandic ponies in their recent horrendous winter (can't remember if last year or one before).

I wouldn't have rugged a proper native if there was shelter and hay

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I think people forget that horses coats are designed to deal with the weather I have one that is quite fine coated, he doesn't like the rain and wind so I tend to be aware of that but the other one would happily winter out without any rugs but because I still ride him I clip and rug.

 

[Rokele55]

Seeing the local native ponies with frost and snow on their starey coated backs is a fine example of how a decent fur coat keeps a horse warm. Not sure I Would rely on it in seriously bad weather for anything non native

 

[Gloi]

They actually lost quite a few Icelandic ponies in their recent horrendous winter (can't remember if last year or one before).

I wouldn't have rugged a proper native if there was shelter and hay

That was quite horrendous. I saw the film of them being dug out of the snow. No rug or winter coat will protect from suffocation in a snowdrift ?

 

[Dave's Mam]

March 2018 was the "Beast from the East" my washing machine froze solid for a week. -15 degrees.

Dave was so well insulated that snow froze on his back. The melted bit is his caecum / furnace.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I recall that Icelandic storm, that was wild! Nothing could help in that situation sadly.

The key in our case is having good shelter available and ad lib forage in weather like that, although ours use the shelter more in hot weather. They also live by the house and can be kept an eye on. We do have rugs for them all just in case but as they didn’t seem cold I didn’t intervene and they all coped surprisingly well. We did also give extra feed and do if the weather is extreme.

@Dave's Mam your washing machine froze?! ?

 

[Shoei]

Our Shetland often is a little snowball but I think I recall that storm... it was dry cold, not so much snow? I turned out my clipped Gelderlander in 2 rugs as I like them to go out for a bit and his fluffy unclipped ears were frosty!!!

 

[HollyWoozle]

Limited snow as I recall! Was really a weird one. I feel like it's been a while since we had a cold winter, at least here where I am (Beds/Cambs).

 

[Dave's Mam]

@Dave's Mam your washing machine froze?! ?

Yes! It is in a shed at the back of the house, so no warmth to keep the pipes frost free!

 

[suestowford]

My two had icicles on their coats at the start of the Beast from the East. But then we got snow (about a foot of it), twice in a month and then they just had snowcoats. They have a shelter, but they'd prefer to get behind a hedge.
While they are both hairy natives, the older one now has a 50g rug for winter, as he's old enough to need a bit extra help with keeping warm & dry. But that year, they were both out unrugged, and they looked great.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Interesting that they choose the hedge over shelter… ours don’t use their shelter that much (they’re open stables really).
We do rug our elderly loan pony who benefits from the help but the others do great without for the time being.
I wonder what this winter has in store for us!

 

[Dave's Mam]

Another Dave during the Beast from the East. Also ignoring shelter & with snow frozen solid on top of him.

 

[HollyWoozle]

What a beautiful photo. He is gorgeous!

 

[Goldenstar]

I once had my horses out in very very cold weather and snowy their tails got very muddy and froze they weighted a ton one had his tail frozen half on one side of a leg and half on the other .
The tails where a mixture of balls of snow and mud but completely frozen solid I have never seen this effect before .
I brought them in ( it was dark ) and left in over night in the morning they the same so I had to carry hot water from the house to defrost them it took hours it was a complete night mare .
I cut my tails much shorter now when winter starts .

 

[Gloi]

I once had my horses out in very very cold weather and snowy their tails got very muddy and froze they weighted a ton one had his tail frozen half on one side of a leg and half on the other .
The tails where a mixture of balls of snow and mud but completely frozen solid I have never seen this effect before .
I brought them in ( it was dark ) and left in over night in the morning they the same so I had to carry hot water from the house to defrost them it took hours it was a complete night mare .
I cut my tails much shorter now when winter starts .

I always cut tails at the start of the winter got just that reason. I also remember melting frozen mud/ice balls off feather on my Fell.

 

[Annagain]

Since retiring Archie has been out naked even in his late 20s. Christmas 2020 we had the worst rain I've ever known (we had 2 months' worth of rain in 4 hrs and over 100 homes in our village flooded) and when I got the horses in (4 hrs early - unheard of for us!) I had to change all their rugs as they were soaked through - even heavyweight new ones. Nothing could have withstood that rain - except Archie's winter coat, it was running off the top layer like a river but underneath he was dry and toasty, unlike his rugged friends.

 

[Gloi]

I just saw this photo today. Look at that insulating coat. Snow in the Sahara this week.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I once had my horses out in very very cold weather and snowy their tails got very muddy and froze they weighted a ton one had his tail frozen half on one side of a leg and half on the other .
The tails where a mixture of balls of snow and mud but completely frozen solid I have never seen this effect before .
I brought them in ( it was dark ) and left in over night in the morning they the same so I had to carry hot water from the house to defrost them it took hours it was a complete night mare .
I cut my tails much shorter now when winter starts .

That sounds horrific! It's years since we had decent snow here but I think I'll do some winter tail trimming...

Since retiring Archie has been out naked even in his late 20s. Christmas 2020 we had the worst rain I've ever known (we had 2 months' worth of rain in 4 hrs and over 100 homes in our village flooded) and when I got the horses in (4 hrs early - unheard of for us!) I had to change all their rugs as they were soaked through - even heavyweight new ones. Nothing could have withstood that rain - except Archie's winter coat, it was running off the top layer like a river but underneath he was dry and toasty, unlike his rugged friends.

Ah it's somehow so satisfying to see their coats working so efficiently and just as they should.

I just saw this photo today. Look at that insulating coat. Snow in the Sahara this week.

Working perfectly! And what a cutie!

 

[Burnttoast]

Ours were still on livery during BftE and we'd just had to move into a spare field with no shelter (naturally) because of a fencing issue. We had rain then wind and horizontal snow. Brown Ben was 23 then. They came through it fine although pretty grumpy about the wind.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Look at those gorgeous snow steeds!

 

[Burnttoast]

Look at those gorgeous snow steeds!

Aren't they the epitome of glam ?

 

[HollyWoozle]

They’re very much my style ?