Does anyone ride in the winter? and Tips ...

[2468Chickensrgr8]

My daughter and husband just came back from a ride...on a cold sunny winter day with some snow on the ground.......the horses looked beautiful in their furry coats ....Does anyone else ride in the winter...any tips....the farrier is coming next week to do the winter package ..they have shoes in the front legs only

 

[Chatychick]

I always have my horses barefoot...I love riding in the winter and as long as its not muddy I personally would pull shoes for winter. My farrier said unless they are stalled to pull shoes. I dont have my horses shod anymore as they do better here without them...
Personally it would seem the metal would gravitate the cold up their feet...who knows...maybe Kate does as like I said I dont have mine shod anymore...

 

[geoaware]

How many people have a toasty warm indoor to ride in?

This year our horses will have the luxury of a barn to get out of the winter snow storms. They have survived really well the last two years....but this will be so nice for them.

I personally don't ride....its Mrs Geoware's love (after Geoaware junior and me I guess). Sorry chickens..you are way down the list!

 

[justduckie]

I ride during the winter and pull the shoes off my horses. They have a nice barn that I'm putting stalls in this year (should have already been done, but I've been especially lazy this last couple of weekends.....

).

I ride once a week in a nice heated barn and if the weather is semi-nice, in other words the wind isn't blowing forty billion miles an hour, I try to ride at least once a weekend. I got lucky this weekend, I had a riding lesson inside, so that was our 2nd time this week.

I bought some Mountain Horse insulated riding boots, my trusty leather gloves with thinsulate and a nice stocking cap under my helmet and I stay pretty warm. Of course, all my jackets are heavy duty and warm, so it really doesn't matter which one of them I throw on. I just make sure my mare isn't sweaty when we get done, if she is, I pull out the blanket and cover her up for a while.

Riding in the winter is easy as long as you plan ahead and stay off ice!

 

[beakkeeper]

Of course I ride in the winter!!! I love it too much to give it up! I'm not sure about barefooting, but bareback riding is pure heaven in subzero temps, that's for sure!

 

[cparian]

I ride with my friend on her horses whenever we can. Cincinnati was buried under an unexpected snow storm. I went to her house & we saddled up. I rode her Belgian "Bonnie" she's like riding an ATV. It was the most peaceful & beautiful ride we ever had. The snow makes everything quite & still. After riding just make sure you dry the horses well if you are in the snow or if they work up a sweat.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I love Belgians. And honestly, Chantilly (my Belgian) seems to like the cold weather better than the hot weather.

I ride when ever time permits. I got some insulated carhart bibs this year, I am set for a winter ride.

As for shoes, she is a retired work horse and her feet were in bad shape when she got here. Her feet are doing great now, but I have yet to put shoes on her as my farrier says her feet are not yet ready for shoes.

 

[AngelzFyre]

We ride in the winter too but it doesn't snow much here.
Their shoes are pulled for the winter and we only put them back on mid summer when it gets where their feet are worn more from more riding.
Remember if they do have shoes and you ride in the snow to make sure you clean their hooves out regularly to prevent the snow from balling up.
It can cause major slippage and injury because their feet can't contact the ground as they should.
Happy trails to everyone!

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

i used to ride in the winter, i dont now that i moved to wv and we have winters....i used to live in so cal

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Good Morning everyone ! Thanks for all the great information...
Unfortunatly we dont have an arena....but our neighbours do!!....but we are not going to bug them until Jan and Feb.....We also have a Belgian cross....looks more Belgian...her name is ..Maybelline...she's wonderful and is learning to love her retirment home.....she was owned by the Mennonites most of her life as a driving horse and her front feet are pretty bad...so she needs shoes ....but we are working on them...we had them off for a couple weeks but noticed some small cracks....so on they went...we also have an 11 year old arab cross...named Kansas....aka...THE DIVA!!! that came to us with shoes on the front and we had the shoes taken off late summer this new farrier we have now showed us how her one hoof has become club footed a little so we put the shoes on again before it became worse...He is going to put some "rubber" under the shoes which supposely bounces the ice/snow off when they walk ...he's coming this week...We walk on the trails and fields .....thanks for the ideas of staying warm....
Love the photos !!!