Bo is tacked up and ready to head out on the trail. While I fi nish get ing ready I keep
him covered with both a rump rug and a fl eece blanket over his tack. T is way Bo’s saddle pad can warm up to his body temperature and won’t be stiff once we get going.
they become wet or soiled. As an added bonus, if your horse blankets are clean you can use them as additional blankets for yourself if the temperatures dip. It can help to bring items inside your camper or LQ overnight when the temperatures are in the freezing range. T is includes items such as horse bits, buckets of water, hoof and leg boots and any kind of horse feed that you wish to feed wet or soaked.
nc CARING FOR YOURSELF D
thing had got en so wet from the rain and now was frozen solid. T is included horse water, lead ropes, snaps, door latches, blanket snaps and even the horse blanket itself had got en wet on the surface and then froze in the shape of the horse! I kept changing blankets on Bo to help him
stay warm and dry underneath. Layering works really well in these kinds of conditions. A fl eece or wool sheet directly on the horse
absorbs and evaporates any moisture coming off the horse while the addition of a warmer waterproof blanket on top keeps the horse insulated. Whenever the weather allowed, I pulled the
blankets off Bo and kept brushing him so that his fur would stay fl uff y. Mat ed-down fur does lit le to keep a horse warm. Eventually, Bo’s coat was standing on end and he was so fl uff y it was like running my hands through a super plush teddy bear. I knew then, with the addi- tion of the fl eece sheet and warmer blanket at night, he would stay warm and comfortable. It got down to 12 degrees that night. On any horse camping trip it’s always a
good idea to bring plenty of clean horse blan- kets. T is will allow you to change them out if
ress yourself in layers as well, and be sure to include a hat and gloves. Polar fl eece, high-tech waterproof materi-
als (such as Gore Tex), goose down and wool are good fabric choices. Starting with more layers in the morning will allow you to remove a layer at a time as the day progresses and the temperatures warm up. If, on the other hand, the weather takes a turn for the worse you can slip back into your layers.
Keep your head covered. Some 80% of your
body heat can be lost through an uncovered head. A great way to keep your head warm is to use a headband or some form of ear covers or fl eece type hat followed by a jacket with a hood. If you ride with a helmet be sure to check your waterproof jacket hood to see if it fi ts underneath the helmet or if the hood is large enough to fi t over your helmet. I person- ally prefer to have the hood on over my head with a helmet on top of that. T at way is more comfortable for me and does a bet er job of keeping me warm and dry. By pre-fi t ing these
continued page 22
Good morning! Here we see what it is like to wake up to a blanket of snow and freezing temperatures! Everything froze during the night as the rain changed to snow and ice. Trailer door latches were frozen shut requiring a bit of ingenu- ity to quickly de-ice everything to get horses tacked up to ride.
20 | December 2011 •
WWW.TRAILBLAZERMAGAZINE.US
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