For me, winter time means quickly throwing hay to cold horses with a quick pet and then back into the house! I'm always surprised when people actually still ride in winter, as for me the risk of falling on the ice isn't worth the little bit of fitness gained. However, those of you lucky enough to have an indoor arena probably ride all winter with ease. Exercise is just as important in winter, but hard exercise should be approached with caution as this will lead to sweat. A wet horse is a cold horse, and no one wants to spend three hours cooling out from an hour ride!
This brings me to blanketing. It used, blankets MUST fit correctly, and be the correct fill weight for the weather conditions. A too thin blanket does worse than not blanketing at all, and can cause severe frostbite. I choose to blanket for several reasons: a thin horse who can't seem to stop shivering, an elderly horse or a sick horse, and for a horse who is continuing in hard work. I did blanket for a few weeks this winter so far, as I've been trying to stay ahead of any freezing rain. My horses are without a blanket today, but we will see how everyone is tonight when I get home. I feed a lot more hay with unblanketed horses, so it becomes more cost effective for me to throw blankets on.
I do see many bodywork muscle problems from blankets, so they must fit properly. A heavyweight blanket will add a fair amount of physical weight, especially to the horse's upper back and neck. Unless it fits really well, many horses will become very sore in these regions then. Also, a blanket that is causing restriction and/or rubs anywhere will be causing the horse to change how he moves. This can lead to soreness throughout their body, especially if this is compounded by walking through deep snow and across ice.
I am frequently asked about continuing with a horse's bodywork and chiropractic treatment plan in winter. If the horse is blanketed and still in relatively normal work, they should continue with bodywork care. If they are being mostly rested and they seem comfortable, it often is fine to take several months off from care. This depends on the horse, but many seem to do well with a nice winter rest. Spring training is often the perfect time for a tune-up!
