What is your cold threshold for working horses?

[myleetlepony]

I was told years ago as a kid that working horses in extreme cold could cause respiratory problems if the horses were not acclimated. Then my old jumping trainer claimed that was nonsense and would have us ride all through winter even through negative temps in our unheated indoor.

We've been pretty lucky here with temps this winter being way above average, but today the high is 10degrees with a wind chill. I feel like I'm wussing out not going to work my client's horses, but I keep thinking "the horses aren't acclimated". I have another day I can make up the ride...and temps are supposed to start rising in two days.

What are your limits for cold weather?

[Ponichiwa]

I swear I have that conversation with myself every year. I'm a slow learner.

When I was in school, I rode down to 8 deg F but called it quits under that. That got bumped up to the low teens when I started working full-time. Now, I really don't like riding when it's under 18. Who knows what will happen next year.

[DJR]

I am uncomfortable when it gets to -10C (14F) and I tend to not ride when it's -15C (4F) or thereabouts. At -10C it's more for my comfort as the horse seems ok. But at -15C it's for both of us because the air is so cold that it's hard on the horses to breathe it in and out when being worked.

[Chisamba]

I used to say no canter below 20 F, no riding below 15F, simply from my observation of respiration and discomfort of the average horses, people have disagreed with me but that was my choice. Then I read a study on the respiratory distress of horses in the cold done more scientifically and their conclusions water more conservative than mine, so I added five degrees, no hard work below 20F. I do not mind light work below that but not enough to make them pant or sweat

[Imperini]

There was an article I read recently, wish I could remember where, that said cold weather is less of a concern for horses because by the time the air gets to the deepest part of their lungs it is warmed up because it is such a long journey. Of course upon looking for it I just saw another article saying that because of breathing more deeply when exercising that this warming up effect does not happen and airways will get cooled and dried out. In any case I have never had an issue working horses in significantly below freezing temperatures, I might do a little less but often times that's because I'm a cold weather wimp.

This year has been good so far, last year there were a couple of days that I didn't ride because I thought it was too cold for me and probably the horse too. I tend to agree that when it gets below -15C ish, that's when I'm going to call it too cold to ride.

[Kelo]

I am lucky enough it doesn't get as cold or cold as long down here as it used to when I lived up north. Usually when it gets below 20 I just take off....the wind is usually making the windchill bitter cold, and it will warm up soon anyway.

[svvdressage]

I have ridden at -18°F but it wasn't by choice...someone flew in to look at a horse. It was terrible. Normally zero is my cut off to really work them.

[Kyra's Mom]

My threshold is rising all the time. I rode at 15F this year and wondered was in the he** I was doing (there was a decent wind chill).
20F and sunny with no wind is OK. I have no feel in the saddle with multiple layers of clothes and a bulky jacket on. I'm 60...not fun anymore.

Susan

[Chisamba]

Studies on a treadmill proved that cantering causes breathing too quickly for the air to warm, so it cools and dries the lungs causing distress, immunological challenges and inflammation that lasts for 48 hours post exercise.

This started at temps as high as 20 F,

So I have no problem riding when it's cold but I do not canter, nor trot hard for more than ten minutes

There are vets who claim there is no temperature too cold to ride, but science has proved there are negative effects. Something that simple considerate observation showed me , but the science encouraged me to be more conservative.

I do continue to ride at the walk with light trots, no matter how cold, but as I said earlier, not enough to make them breath rapidly.

[Rosie B]

I have ridden in very very cold weather, but I always use common sense. If it's so cold that I'm feeling stiff and I wouldn't want to exercise, then I would only ride very lightly. And the colder the temperature, the less work I do. If I have to put numbers around it I'd say that I would still lightly school w/t/c at -10 (14 F), but would be very careful to keep the work light and to keep the horse from breathing hard or sweating. I'd probably only canter a few circles. Any colder than that, and I wouldn't canter. If it's colder than -20 (4 F), I wouldn't trot much at all. And if it's colder than -30 (-22 F), I wouldn't ride.

These days, temps have been ranging from -10 C to 0 (which is unseasonably warm!), and I am mostly doing w/t with a brief canter if the footing is good. Most days I only am riding for 15-20 minutes at most, and he is still feeling fresh and is completely dry after my ride. The constraints around what I can do while I'm riding these days are footing related rather than temperature related. If we're in snow he has to work much harder so that's why I am keeping my rides short. And if the ground is frozen solid with no snow then all we can do is walk.

[tlkidding]

When it's below 10F, I will ride but not so hard there is frost on the whiskers when I'm done. Kind of like Chisamba's reference, I don't want the horse breathing heavily or quickly so that the air hitting the lungs is still cold.

When it's below 15F, I'll do a quick WTC at most (20 min including walking). If it's really cold, we'll just do a walking ride, use ground poles or obstacles, or play with the horse soccer ball.

[demi]

Wow, I am impressed by all you cold weather riders! I think my blood has thinned after living in the West for the last 40 some years. I don't have to worry about my horse's well being in cold weather because 1) we have very few days of below freezing temps here, and 2) I get stiff below 40 f so I won't ride for my own safety.

I know I would warm up after I started riding but I just don't have enough motivation to get over that hump anymore...things may change this winter though because I have a really fun horse now.

[Sue B]

I have noticed that my 2 boys (pasture 24/7, blankets) do not tear around the way they usually do when the temps go single digit F and lower, so If I ride, it's only at the walk, maybe a little trot if Rudy REALLY wants to. Anything above 15F they both gallop around no problem so I take that to mean that I can work them as usual (assuming footing is adequate.) I rode Saturday when it was in the mid 20's and footing was great both in my arena and on the road (dirt/gravel) but I did not ride yesterday in the low 20's/upper teens because it had snowed a bit overnight and made the surface underneath slick ice. So I gauge my riding more on footing than on temps.

[myleetlepony]

Studies on a treadmill proved that cantering causes breathing too quickly for the air to warm, so it cools and dries the lungs causing distress, immunological challenges and inflammation that lasts for 48 hours post exercise.

This started at temps as high as 20 F,

Thanks for posting that. It reminded me that about 4yrs ago, I just did some light lunging with my mare in temps in the mid-teens and she had a small trickle of blood out of her nose. I never saw it again, so I have to assume it was the cold, dry air.

Now I feel a little better

[kande50]

I swear I have that conversation with myself every year. I'm a slow learner.

When I was in school, I rode down to 8 deg F but called it quits under that. That got bumped up to the low teens when I started working full-time. Now, I really don't like riding when it's under 18. Who knows what will happen next year.

Back when I thought it was important to ride every day, and had to ride in the early morning before work if I was going to ride, I'd ride as long as it was above 0F. But I eventually came to my senses and realized that it wasn't going to stay that cold for that long, so started taking the really cold mornings off. Now that I'm retired and can pick the nicest days and the nicest parts of the day, I'll ride when it's in the 20's if the sun is out, but have become such a fair weather rider that I usually just wait until it's above freezing.

[heddylamar]

I ride almost exclusively outside, no indoor, so the criteria goes: if I'm too cold (rare, if dressed properly), horse is distressed (never has occurred), or the footing is too hard (happens even with mag) we call it a day. I do not ride (or run) in sub-40F rain or sleet ... snow is fine. I value my life, so no half sheet on the lunatic.

The mare and I have ridden happily into the single digits. Some days, especially if it's really windy, rides consist only of 30 minutes of suppling work at the trot.

We rarely canter ... unless there's a good 6+ inches of snow. Who can resist a gallop in the snow?

[WBLover]

During the winter I trailer to an indoor arena, my outdoor is usually either too wet, or frozen solid for most of the winter. 20F is my cutoff, and that means it's at least 20F outside and hopefully a little warmer in the indoor--at least you don't have any wind. My horse seems to do fine with this rule of thumb, and so do I!