Conference noted::equitation

    Some of ours have started to shed...the weather has been crazy.
    We never blanket if they have moved into the winter with no
    blanket.  Find it causes more problems...they can be too warm
    which would cause them to shed, etc.
    One mare came back from training with not a hair on her body...she
    does have a blanket on.  It doesn't come off until March.  Next
    year she will go into the winter with nature looking after her.
    
    Since she is pregnant, possibly she is warmer than the others so
    the loss of hair...just a thought.
    
    If you are really concerned, give your vet a call.
    
    Good luck
    

    
    Linda,
    
    My horses are shedding because with this weather too. I was surprised
    to see how much hair was coming out when I groomed them last night.
    
    I think you consider this to be a problem because your mare is pregnant
    and in her last trimester, right? Maybe you worry about the foal
    too?
    
    I am going to assume your mare is not clipped.....
    In the summer of 1987 I bought a pregnant mare with an early due
    date of March 1988. Being my first pregnant mare, I had alot to learn
    and worry about. One of my biggest concerns was the cold. You see,
    the people up the street from me left their horses out day and night
    which caused them to have nice thick coats...and every morning I
    would drive by and see this, also I would wonder how they could
    leave their horses out in every kind of weather. At night I would 
    take note that my mare had not have a thick coat...in fact she didn't
    even come close, and I would worry that her foal would not have
    a coat warm enough to withstand the cold March temperatures.
    Thinking back now, I can remember brushing her and to my amazment
    she was shedding in the winter..her coat wasn't really noticably
    thicker than the summer. I tried to make sure that foal would have
    a warm coat...which I just knew he needed! I never blanketed or
    clipped her. I would turn her out during the day weather permitting
    and she was stabled at night. I used to think that her thin coat
    was a result of me brushing her everyday. But I now realise it can
    make a big difference if you stable at night (coldest time of the
    day) and you do not turn out in weather you "think" might be too
    cold. Now I turn her out night and day, and only avoid inclimate
    weather and single digit and below temperatures. I tend to think
    of weather in the 30's as warm, in the 20's as cool, in the teens
    as cool sunny/cold in night or wind, in the single digits, severe 
    wind chills, and rain/ice I don't turn out. (I don't have a shed)
    
    	The foal was born without a winter coat on the 6th of March.
    In NH it was cold and he shivered off and on the first day. But
    he was warm enough napping in the deep bed of hay. The Vet told
    me that if it was sunny to let him out the next day. I just knew
    he would freeze to death...but it was sunny and I let the foal
    out to have his first fantastic romp in the snow. He shivered 
    occasionally for the next two days and from then on he seemed to
    adjust to the cold just fine. The first day and night I left the
    heat lamps(2) on in the stall and from time to time covered him
    with a towel because I felt he would be warmer. But he was fine
    and I didn't have to worry. It seems that even if they're born 
    without a winter coat, it only takes a few days for them to adjust
    to the weather. In about 2-3 weeks you'll notice their fur will
    get thicker and they can stay out longer. The foal ended up with
    a coat thicker than his mother.So, now for my advice......
    
    	Since you're not blanketing her now, don't bother when it gets 
    colder...she'll be just fine. In terms of warmth it makes a big 
    difference that she has access to her stall whenever she wants. 
    Look at this warm weather in a positive way....with our horses 
    shedding out sooner, we can put our shedding blades away earlier.  
    
    		Best Regards,
    
    			Nancy
    P.S.
    Also, my pregnant mare (outdoors much more than last year) doesn't have
    a thick coat this year either...I guess she just doesn't feel she
    needs to grow one! (At least not in this weather!)              
    
    

    Linda,
    
    	I really wouldn't worry to much it always seems like they know
    what's best for them as individuals.  I have 4 horses right now,
    they are out during the day (weather permitting) and in at night.
    2 of them look like angoras (one happens to be my show horse which
    I would love to start shedding out!) one has an average coat and
    my stallion is shedding like a mad man.  They are all treated exactly
    the same.  None of them where blankets, if you find out why one
    should shed before another, when they live in the same climate and
    are treated the same please share it with the rest of us!
                                
    
    Good Luck with your new arrival!!  They to are protected by Mother
    Nature...
    
    Lorna
    

    
    The horse I'm riding these days is shedding like crazy, enough to
    stuff a couch. When I said something about it to the staff they
    said he always shedds early. Perhaps you can ask the previous owners
    if this mare is an early shedder, it might be normal.
    

    
    dont forget the weather (warm, or so i've been told) really has nothing
    to do with it...
    its the amount of daylight hours....
    
                                                                               
    
    

    
    funny, some peoples problems, others fortunes...
    I'm waiting so patiently for my critter to start shedding....
    not a hair has budged! He's blanketed to boot! Well clippers
    will have to come for a visit I guess come March.
    
    

    
    Just thought I'd add...
    
    	My pregnant mare is shedding the most!
    
    			-Nancy-
    
    P.S. She has the lightest winter coat too!
    

    My mare certainly isnt pregnant, but as for shedding... that she
    definitely is.  It takes hours to groom.  One brush of the coat
    and half an hour cleaning the grooming brush.  It is coming out
    in handfuls.  Although I am grateful because she sweats so much
    with a winter coat and also the colouring changes in the summer
    to a nice lighter brown.
    
    Barbara
    
    ps.  She is a skewbald and the brown patches are coming out very
    much faster than the white patches... any sensible explanations?
    

Hi Barbara,

	Yes I think there is an explaination for the dark spots shedding faster
mine does the same.

	I think it's because the dark spots absorbe the heat so those parts
are warmer and shed out faster.  I've also noticed the white hairs stand
out straighter from his coat than the chestnut ones do. (IE the chesnut
hairs lie flatter cuz those parts are warmer).

	I don't know if there's a scientific explainition, but that's my
guess.

Dani