PDA

View Full Version : To blanket or not to blanket? (I hate inbetween temperatures!)


Dakota Sunrise
11-15-2008, 07:32 AM
ETA: oops, sorry, WB!:o I meant to post it in this section in the first place! My bad!:doh:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well I have quite the blanket dillema on my hands....:innocent: My mom and I are going down to visit my grandma (who lives an hour away) and spend the night with her, and we're leaving around 2:30 when my mom gets home from work.
It's rained all night so the horses are soaked, but it's warm right now, around 50* which is too warm to blanket obviously (at least for my two it is).
But, it's going to get down into the 20's and 30's tonight with rain and tomorrow is calling for the same temps and lots of snow.

The latest I would be able to blanket is around 1:30, because then I have to get ready to go and pack my clothes, get a shower, etc... but going by the hour-by-hour forcast on weather.com, it's not going to even get below 45* until 8:00 pm or so.
But it's going to be cold later tonight and tomorrow. I will be home around 1:00 or 2:00 tomorrow so I can blanket then... but what about tonight and tomorrow morning?

I don't know what's worse, being hot for a while today until it cools down tonight, or not having their blankets on and getting too cold tonight and tomorrow when the temperature drops.

Just a side not, a friend is giving the goats and horses hay tomorrow morning for us. I trust him to throw hay over the fence to them, eyeball everybody, do a head count, etc. but I won't ask him to blanket the horses because A.) it's too much to ask, and B.) he's not horsey. And I wouldn't want him to get hurt... they get fired up at feeding time and like to kick up their heels. I can handle them just fine but if someone didn't know their routine and didn't tell them to knock it off and don't come in my space, the horses could accidentally kick him (they're not mean, but accidents can happen). And Beauty doesn't always like being blanketed and she gets cranky about it sometimes. So I'm the only one who I'll allow to blanket them, and the only other person that I trust to grain them is my mom. So I either put the blankets on before I leave, or they go without.

FYI, their blankets are medium weight.

Another question, if they are all ready wet, will they dry if I blanket them? I've never had these blankets soak through (they really are waterproof) but if the horses were allready wet, would that make the blanket absorb it all and then stay wet?

Ahhhh, decisions decisions! :rant:

WashingtonBay
11-15-2008, 07:39 AM
I'd blanket them before you leave. If you can towel off some of the water they'll dry faster, but they will dry under the blanket. Better, IMHO if they have time to get dry under it before it gets cold. They aren't going to be THAT much too warm. My two cents.

BTW afterthought, it'd be good to give the guy some instruction and choices if it looks like something is amiss with the blankets, or the fencing, or anything, when he comes. Even if it's your cell phone number so you can help him decide what to do if there's a problem.

Dakota Sunrise
11-15-2008, 07:49 AM
I'd blanket them before you leave. If you can towel off some of the water they'll dry faster, but they will dry under the blanket. Better, IMHO if they have time to get dry under it before it gets cold. They aren't going to be THAT much too warm. My two cents.

Yeah, that's what I was leaning towards too. I think I just needed to hear from somebody else that it was the right move.;)

BTW afterthought, it'd be good to give the guy some instruction and choices if it looks like something is amiss with the blankets, or the fencing, or anything, when he comes. Even if it's your cell phone number so you can help him decide what to do if there's a problem.

He has my cell phone number, and he knows to call if anything goes wrong (and he's been a farmer for, I don't know.. 50 years? So he knows if he sees someone limping, bleeding, stuck etc to call me, call the vet, etc). My mom is actually the one giving him the instructions, because she knows if I did it I'd never be able to stop. I still write down feed rations and the breakfast routine for my mom before I leave, and she's done it quite a few times before.:innocent: She doesn't really need instructions, but it makes me feel better! :rolleyes:

It was actually really funny- when my mom was leaving for work I was telling her what to tell our friend and I couldn't stop giving instructions: "Just throw the hay over the fence, he doesn't have to go in- actually I'd prefer it if he didn't. But tell him to look them over to make sure they're both ok. Tell him to call my cell if there are ANY problems! .... oh, and tell him I use Cochranton vet!" :innocent:
I'll never stop worrying over my babies!:rolleyes:

WashingtonBay
11-15-2008, 07:51 AM
I know... I am the same way :) That's why we almost never travel.

Dakota Sunrise
11-15-2008, 07:53 AM
I know... I am the same way :) That's why we almost never travel.

Same here, I almost never leave the 'farm'.:p