No, it’s not the next installment of the hit Hunger Games series.
The Blanket Games is the frustrating exercise of trying to figure out which blanket to outfit your horse with on any given day. Is it going to rain? What’s the temperature like? When should you start blanketing your horse?
This winter, the Blanket Games have been especially taxing; in the beginning of one week it’s sunny and feeling like spring, then by the weekend it’s a teeth-chattering 15 degrees. This upcoming week is no exception. With that in mind, here are some blanketing tips for next week’s weather forecast.
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- Through the weekend, temperatures are expected to hover around 40 degrees during the day. Toward the end of next week however, the temperature begins to drop to around 32 degrees. For clipped horses, this means you can probably get away with a medium weight blanket to start, but as the temperatures drop to the low thirties, a heavy weight blanket might be necessary.
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- Even un-clipped horses can often benefit from blankets in the winter. For these horses, the week’s blanket forecast would be light blankets this weekend and medium blankets around Wednesday.
- The National Weather Service isn’t predicting any snow this week, but Wisconsinites know this can change at a moment’s notice. So, keep an eye on the weather forecast and if precipitation is predicted, pull out the waterproof blankets.
- If the weather does vary greatly from what you anticipated when you first put the blanket on, remember to check on your horse to make sure he’s not too warm or too cold as the situation may be.
These aren’t set-in-stone rules so if you have any questions about when you should blanket or what type of blanket, talk to your vet. To see if your blanket is waterproof or not, consult the manufacturer or store where you purchased it. Finally, when you’ve wrestled with that muck-encrusted blanket for the thousandth time, remember that the blanket games won’t last forever. Spring is just around the corner!
