I grew up in Northern California where “cold” was when it occasionally got below 40°F. New England winters were a shock to my senses and came with a slew of new experiences and challenges.
Snow!? That’s the thing you go visit in the mountains when you want to ski, right? Then you get to leave when you’re done! No, apparently snow is something that sticks around for four months making commuting, barn chores, and riding extremely enjoyable on a day-to-day basis (sarcasm font applied here). And you’re telling me I have to get up an extra half hour early to ensure my car is warmed up and has had the snow brushed off it?! I never knew horses and cars required the same prep steps before being used. Also, who knew that snow could get so ugly and gray!?
But complaining about the downfalls of cold winters doesn’t help or fix anything. So here’s one Californian’s survival guide to living in a winter wonderland of freezing temps, snow covered pastures, and winter riding.
The Horses
My poor horse is possibly more of a Californian than I am. He’s the only one standing under the overhang when it rains, and if he’s outside with no covering, you better believe he’s standing right at the gate waiting to be brought in. He also doesn’t grow the best winter coat. I prefer to under blanket my horses, giving their natural systems a chance to kick in and allow them to self-regulate their body temperatures. Plus, your horse can’t shed a layer if he gets too toasty, and sweat can later turn into a dangerous chill. Neither of my boys are in heavy work in the winter, so allowing them to grow a big fluffy coat works for us. I like to outfit them with a light weight turnout for day-to-day turnout and a medium weight turnout when it drops below 30°F. My blanket of choice has been the SmartPak Deluxe Turnout.
This turnout has all of the features I’m looking for in a blanket: adjustable surcingles and leg straps, quick-clip front closure, and fleece covering at the withers. Not to mention, it is extremely durable! With a 1,200 denier ripstop polyester shell, this turnout has held up well under the pressures of blanket tag! The horses at our barn get turned out in groups and when you mix horses and blankets and turnout the results are usually torn blankets and naked ponies. My SmartPak Deluxe Turnouts have survived 3 winters and counting!
The other tricky part about winter is the no baths thing. Because my boys roll in all-day turnout, they tend to get muddy, dirty, and generally just gross over the course of the winter. Blankets take a beating and help to protect them from the gross a little bit, but there’s still an incredible amount of gunk and grime a girl has to get off before riding. The cure-all? A good curry comb, an all-purpose brush, and as much Miracle Groom as you can get your hands on!
Miracle Groom
The other thing I learned about horses and the cold weather is that they sometimes decide that those cold buckets of water just aren’t that appealing. (Can you blame them?) To ensure that my boys are drinking enough through the cold, I add a good electrolyte to their SmartPaks. I love SmartLytes because it’s more than just a salt additive—it also contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Plus it’s available in pellets! As much fun as it is to haul buckets of water in the winter (you guessed it, sarcasm), I love knowing my horses are drinking enough water to keep them healthy and happy!
SmartLytes® Pellets
A good blanket program, grooming tools, and a balanced nutrition plan help to make my winters at least a little more bearable. If my horses are happy, it goes a long way to ensuring that I can survive the winter with them!
The Barn
Winter really does make the barn and all of the turnout fields gorgeous! I took this picture one early morning while doing breakfast, and it’s one of my favorites.
But with the beautiful white snow and peaceful mornings comes a mess of new barn chores: breaking ice in the filled turnout troughs, hauling water all over the farm, and trying to make sure that all blankets stay with the right horse!
My number one tip is to get a De-Icer if possible! As much fun as breaking ice in water troughs is, trying to hammer through 3 inches of ice isn’t going to do anyone any good. Do yourself and your hammer a favor and get a de-icer. I recommend the Ice Chaser Floating Tank De-Icer. It only turns on when it senses the temperature drop, and it’s made of cast aluminum for durability. While this isn’t a possibility for every turnout, the horses do seem to enjoy the warmer water (and it makes my life a lot easier).
Ice Chaser Floating Tank De-Icer
On a similar note, I like to ensure that every horse has at least one heated bucket in their stall through the winter. Simply plug the bucket in, and it’ll keep the water nice and unfrozen through those cold nights. My boys are currently enjoying the Heated Flatback Bucket, and it couldn’t be any easier to use. Equipped with a 6’ cord, this bucket is the perfect option for almost every stable.
Heated Flatback Bucket
If you don’t feel comfortable using an electric bucket throughout the winter or don’t have access to an outlet for the de-icer, then I’d recommend using a simple bucket insulator with your current buckets. This gives your water a fighting chance of staying liquid and fighting off Jack Frost!
Yes, you will still have to haul buckets all over creation and, yes, your jeans will probably freeze many times for all the water you spill on yourself, but these tools will help to save at least a little bit of your sanity! Besides, hauling at least a few buckets will help you burn off some of those extra calories you consumed over the holidays…
The Horses
Making sure the horses and the barn are ready for winter is critical, but there’s only so much time I can spend in the cold. In order to even come close to surviving, I need to be wearing approximately 10 layers of clothes. Even then, there’s a good chance you’ll find me under a pile of blankets, muttering something about defrosting, for 5 hours after I get home. I should also mention that “cold” for me is still 40°F, and it’s regularly been below 20°F when I feed breakfast. For those who can do some quick math, that’s twenty degrees below my cold threshold—not good. I end up being about as happy as my horse was here:
Aside from wishing I owned stock in hand and toe warmers, there are a few key pieces of clothing that get me through the winter.
Let’s start with a base layer. Wearing long johns while skiing as a kid kept me nice and warm and the same concept applies here. I swear by the Piper Winter Essentials Baselayer & Piper Heavy-Weight Winter Tight. They’re thin enough that they fit under my jeans and other layers without adding bulk. No extra bulk is important when you need mobility for hauling water, riding extra frisky horses, or if you are just tired of feeling like the Michelin Man for three straight months.
Piper Winter Essentials Baselayer Mock Neck Long Sleeve Top by SmartPak
Piper Heavy-Weight Winter Tight by SmartPak – Knee Patch
The one thing I’ve learned since moving to Massachusetts is that even the smallest piece of clothing can make a world of difference. For example, there are still mornings when I completely forget a scarf (don’t judge me, I’m from California!). How much warmth could a scarf possibly offer? Well, when it’s a super fancy ceramic-infused scarf, it matters! The Back on Track Scarf is designed to reflect your own body heat back to you. That’s just a little less heat that escapes out into the endless void of cold. The more heat I can keep, the happier this horse mom is. Not to mention, it’s just a really nice scarf that I can easily transition from barn use to non-barn outings.
Back on Track Scarf/Shawl
On the small pieces of clothing front, I highly recommend a good pair of gloves for work and for riding. For work, I couldn’t live without something warm and flexible!
Finally, let’s talk footwear. My toes and my fingers are always this close to jumping ship and running back to the car where it’s warm. I recommend the Bogs Classic Tall Boot for day-to-day barn activities to help prevent this from happening. They keep my feet warm and dry, and that’s really all a girl can ask for when trudging through piles of snow. They also have extra space for all the socks and toe warmers I could possibly need! The boots say they’re good for temps down to -20°F, which is good to know, but I hope to never in my life see if that’s true.
BOGS Classic Tall Boot
While I could write a hundred pages of exactly what goes into my winter wardrobe, those pieces are the cornerstones of my survival. It’s not easy being a warm-weather transplant in New England, but I’m well equipped and will hopefully “get over it.” In the meantime, I’ll keep my layers and whatever semblance of warmth I can achieve and muddle through. Besides, a little time in the cold spent with the horses is still time well spent in my book!
A better idea than electrolytes is a heated bucket or heater for the water trough in the pasture/turnout area.
[ https://www.smartpakequine.com/heated-flatback-bucket-2005p ]
All our horses are out in below-freezing temps, and they’d rather drink from the heated trough outside than the buckets in their stalls.
And supplementing with electrolytes if they aren’t needed is not a good idea–there’s a difference between sweating out those salts and minerals (and having to replace them and get rehydrated) and simply needing your horse to drink more water in cold weather.
I’m certainly glad we don’t have winters like that here in central Texas. This year has been on target, we actually had a fall season this year, and my Bojangles, really fuzzed out, and a little more and earlier than my daughter’s 2 horses. So for our winter I haven’t used any turnout blankets, I’ve never used them in all my 48yrs, of having horses, but I have lived all over the state and never the same kind of winters, and I’m old school. But every day at feeding time I will check to see how warm Mr B, is to make sure he’s staying warm en ought, what’s bad and good are the days go from 1-2 in the 20’s & 30’s to a couple of days in the 50 to 70’s and on the warmer days Mr B. Is sweating pretty good. So I keep a close watch on them, they have a barn to get in for cover, but they seem to prefer the shelter of the trees. Unfortunately I can not ride anymore because of a back injury, so we have a extra horse for the kids to ride on. MrB loves my Grandson so tgthey take care of each other. But I watch for the dryness in their hooves, do you have any suggestions on rather or not I should be concerned, we live in a sandy area and I’ve noticed that his hooves have stayed really nice and round, doesn’t look like I need the farrier yet anyway. Thanks for the winter pack ideas . Stay safe
I am now a central coast gal in California from Wisconsin. Our horses did great without blankets in Wisconsin. They had protection from the wind. I did ride in the snow and in an indoor arena. Only used a non-fill turnout after riding in the Wisconsin winters. Once the horses were dry, I would take their turnouts off. Luckily they were on our property, so it was easy to manage their health. All 3 were separated in stalls for the night, plus one was a carnival cruise line meal, the other weight watchers. I feed at least 4 times a day (5 times in WI winter). try to mimic natural grazing, plus the additional hay keeps them warm in the winter. We had heated automatic waterers, and they did drink.
Being in CA now, they still have a winter coat. I do use SmartPak Lytes more here, because of their workload and heavy sweating.