Dear Don’t Know What To Do,
Aaand, that’s how we know winter is coming. Humans have this ritual where they face off in teams to debate blankets vs no blankets. Let me tell you a story. Appy knew a Thoroughbred mare who had a condo at this fancy barn. The owner of said barn had her heart in the right place but when it got cold (according to human scale) she shut all the windows and doors and every horse wore a blanket. When the mare’s owner arrived the following morning all the windows in the barn were covered in condensation and the mare was sweating. I mean, common sense would tell you that there’s a lot of heat being generated there, right? So it comes down to this: define cold. If the human is cold, that’s the human’s problem and the human should wear a coat. That doesn’t mean the horse is cold. It just doesn’t. Now, if the horse is thin, or old, or sick, or its coat is clipped, or it stays outside when it’s really wet and cold and doesn’t have shelter, or it’s shivering, then it might want a little protection. Or not. If you come out one morning and your horse is wearing his blanket around his neck like a scarf, or you’ve found his buddy has tried to help by ripping the thing to shreds, he might be trying to tell you something and is cursing the fact he doesn’t have opposable thumbs to get the darn thing off himself. So, just use common sense. 
Stay cool, Appy

Dear Appy has answers for every horse-related question. Submit yours using this convenient form then watch for her response in a future post.