This message is from: Jean Ernest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Yes, Climate is the key: here in Interior Alaska, where it get down
to -40 to -50 in the winter, I still don't blanket! My Fjords grow a
coat that is probably twice and thick and long as some of yours in
the "lower 48". They really don't get their "Maximum" coat until
January, right now they probably look like yours at their peak winter
coat. A blanket would squash it down, they may have frost on the
tips of their hair but poke a finger down into their coat and they
are warm. It is DRY and cold here. If they do sweat, the moisture
seems to wick out to the ends and turn to frost and they will be dry
at the skin in a short time, After riding in the winter I may put a
fleece sheet on them with hay stuffed under it to help wick the
moisture out, and have used a hair dryer at times to help
drying. When I am not riding, I do not "disturb" their coat with
brushing in the winter, they will roll in the snow and keep it
clean. They stay clean from the first real snow in October until March!
Jean in Fairbanks, Alaska where we already have had -2 degrees at
night. going to warm up to +30 today, with snow!
2. Please remember that what works in one location and climate may
not work in another. I didn't understand Wet-ern Washington state's
climate until I lived here with horses. It's not just wet, it's
bone- chilling wet,
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