
Is it really necessary to blanket a horse that's outside during the day? Personally, I think not. I have the same situation with my horse at the stable – in at night and out during the day – and I haven’t ever blanketed her. She does just fine, even in the coldest weather, since she has a nice, thick coat and she's definitely not thin.
Of course, if I have been riding her hard in the indoor arena and she is hot and sweaty, I won’t turn her out into the pasture like that. At that point she goes into her stall until she has a chance to dry off and cool down.
That being said, if a horse is too thin, old or ill and has trouble staying warm, then I would recommend having a blanket put on him. Another reason for blanketing would be if you are trying to keep a horse from getting a thick coat to make it easier to shed out early in the spring – mainly for showing. But once you start doing this, you have to continue to blanket all through winter, because your horse won't have had a chance to get a proper winter coat. You also need to realize that when he’s had a blanket on continuously, his coat will get a little compacted and he will lose the insulating factor of having the hair fluffed up and holding air in among the hair.
In my experience, unless you have a horse as stated above – old, thin or ill – blanketing your horse in winter is more to make you feel better than the horse!
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