After riding in the cold: blanket or not?

[pandorasmom]

I had a question for y'all.

After reading the blanket thread by Vicky, It got me thinking. I don't ever blanket Pandora unless it's cold/windy, and she's sweating(she works up a sweat, because she anticipates the ride so much) because I've just finished riding her.
It takes a little longer for her to dry off, which is a downside to it, especially if there's only 1 or 2 hrs before dark, if that's the case though, I just leave the blanket on overnight. Am I doing more harm then good?
I'm just so paranoid of her getting chilled once she starts cooling back down.

Does anyone else do this? Should I maybe not?

I've always wondered but just did it this way cause it seemed to work better.

Thanks,
Sharon

[WashingtonBay]

In that case I would towel dry as much as you can and then blanket. She'll dry under it and stay warmer.

If it's an option and she's more than just a little bit wet, putting on an absorbant fleece cooler for an hour and then removing that or swapping to a dry one when it has absorbed as much of the damp as possible is the ideal.

[jeezitsjacki]

I blanket ben if he sweats and its cold out. The way I think of it is after I exersize and sweat.. then I start to shiver because its cold. I let him cool down first, then blanket

[pandorasmom]

Thank you both for the information! I greatly appreciate it.

I always let her cool down at a walk before I quit riding her, then afterwards, I'll blanket her, and my "hot walker" (youngest sister) likes to walk her around for about 20-30 minutes to cool her out.

I'll try to towel dry her next time though and see how that goes.

[EnglishGuy]

On cold days I spend 15-20 minutes letting Tobey cool off before I get off. Then I take him back to his stall and untack him and let him get completely dried off and cool before blanketing him. If its really bad out I may toss a sheet on him while hes cooling down to give him something light since we don't have to worry about wind when hes in the barn, but I don't want to put his liner + sheet or his heavy winter blanket on until hes totally cool back to normal.

I want him to cool down completely before I let him back in his stall to eat and a blanket will keep him hot if he isn't pretty well cool. I also don't want him to start sweating and then end up catching a chill, because even if you blanket a wet horse they are still going to get cold.

And it depends on how much hair they have! Tobey has a pretty light coat, so when it is cold I will toss the sheet on during cool down. But his brother, Shade, and some of the other horses I'll bring in for their owners are very fuzzy so I will just brush them to get the hair standing up again (when they're wet it mats down and doesn't insulate as well) and let them completely cool down before I put anything on them.

[grandmadeb]

My daughter warms up and cools down with a wool quarter sheet in the really cold weather. She also towels him off and will put on a fleece cooler until he is fully dry, and then put his blanket back on.

[EnglishGuy]

Thats a good point. If you ride often in the cold a rug/quarter sheet might be a good idea. Then you could put a sheet on while he cools down more, before tossing on the heavier stuff.

[JetLagaside]

When it's really cold out I warm up and cool off with a 1/4 sheet as well - hey it helps keep me warm too :) When she's worked really hard and is sweaty then once she's cool I'll try to get her as dry as I can with antisweat sheets and or a towel. I will put a breathable blanket on her if she's not totaly dry by the time I need to leave. That way she can continue to dry and not get a chill.

[offgridgirl]

Second vote for toweling dry!!!! and if it's going rain and/or temp drop,I put anti-sweat on then a rainsheet. I pull the anti-sweat off hour later when I check on him......the bennies of keeping your horse on your own property!!:)