When you can't take your horse south, dealing with the chill is a challenge

on January 25, 2014 at 11:53 PM, updated January 29, 2014 at 9:43 PM

No matter how wicked the weather, the Essex Foxhounds stick to tradition and their wool coats, rather than parkas 
Not everyone takes their horses south for the winter. So what about those who stay in chilly New Jersey? They have to cope with the snow, frozen ground and a plethora of questions: When is it too cold to ride? Should the horses be blanketed? What about clipping?

It seems there are many ways of handling the current spate of Arctic temperatures, and everyone has their own parameters for keeping their horses going when the temperatures drop precipitously.

Retired world championships driving medalist Tucker Johnson enjoys Florida now, but the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation president is a veteran of winters training horses at this family's Oldwick farm.

"These are animals that do well in cold weather," he said, while noting, "extreme cold weather presents its own dangers. So if you're losing feeling in your fingers, your horse is probably losing feeling in its ears. And when you're working on frozen ground, you have more impact on the legs to consider.

"But for people who are forced to train in cold climates, the biggest thing is that the horse has enough energy -- food being energy -- to expend the calories without losing weight or consuming muscle."

He said it is possible to view the cold as a positive and there are "ways to take advantage of it. The Germans felt like their winter work in carriage driving prevented them from doing too many circles. It made them do more relaxed road work that built long-term conditioning that put them in a stronger position in the spring shows."

He worked for six months with Per Henriksen, a very successful Norwegian-born standardbred trainer, who once was based a New Jersey farm.

Johnson noted the trainer didn't clip his horses much.

"He felt the long coat and the winter conditioning was a positive."

The traditionalists, Johnson said, "brush the sweat out, they don't wash them."

In the old days, he noted, "they didn't have indoor rings and nobody was sending them to Florida for the winter. They worked in the conditions they had and had very good responses and performances."

Dressage trainer Sara Schmitt of Pittstown notes, "I'm not a great believer in clipping. I think horses are better in their natural state. I believe it's just healthier for them. I don't understand taking all the hair off for a 45-minute ride, then piling blankets on them for 23 hours of the day."

She tries not to get the horses too sweaty when she rides, but notes competition horses have to keep working. Schmitt cautioned, however, that if the surface of the ring is frozen hard, it's not a good idea to do anything but walk.

Her horses are turned out all winter, and they have heaters in their water tubs to make sure it is always available for them.

Mary Babick, the hunter vice president of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association, generally has a 20-degree cutoff for riding at her Knightsbridge Farm in Middletown.

She notes, however, "Just because we're cold doesn't mean the horses are cold."

It's simple to figure out whether the horses are faring well in the chill.

"If the ears are freezing cold or the hair is standing up, the horse is probably cold. When the horses get ice on their whiskers when they're breathing, the air is too cold for them to do faster work," she said.

At that point, her students ride the horses at a walk and trot while the animals are blanketed. She doesn't let little children ride when it's cold, however, because they don't have enough body fat to keep them warm.

While her indoor ring holds at a pretty steady 40 degrees, it has frozen solid in the past. It's now treated to stop it from freezing and keep down the dust, but she noted the dust in an untreated ring can do respiratory damage to a horse, as does ammonia when a barn is shut tight.

In her barn, she said, "We crack the doors, and that helps a lot," she said.

Knightsbridge sends a contingent to Ocala, Fla. for the first three weeks in February.
Since it's "a harder transition to go from the cold to the warm, the first week there they don't show."

Karen Murphy, a master of the Peapack-based Essex Fox Hounds, said that while some hunts stop after New Year's, Essex tries to keep going twice a week into March.

"If it gets much lower than 20 degrees, we don't ride that long or we don't go out," she said, but cold weather hunting has its pluses.

"You put a bunch of hounds in front of horses, and their adrenaline starts to kick in and they love it," she said.

While the upper body on most hunt horses is clipped, Murphy noted that the legs remain unclipped "for protection through briars and whatnot."

It's very rare that Essex riders are permitted to wear parkas.

"At Essex, we've always tried to stick to tradition. You can get kind of creative with vests and whatnot underneath your wool coat. I'm a true believer in handwarmers," said Murphy, who uses them in her vest pockets as well as her gloves. She said the heat packs people use for sore backs also are a good way to keep warm under formal hunting clothes.

Carey Williams, the Rutgers extension specialist, noted "Every person has their own level of what's too cold and so do the horses," saying it should be evaluated on an individual basis.

"We have a hard time breathing when it's really cold; so do they. When I ride my horses, I look at how they're breathing. Is it labored? If that's the case, slow down to a walk or maybe decide not to ride that day," she suggested.

If horses are fully clipped and get blanketed, she said using a quarter sheet that goes over their loins, "might not be a bad idea, at least during the warm-up and cool-down process.

"The horse's hind end is the major muscle and powerhouse of the horse, and it produces a lot of heat. So I don't recommend leaving the sheet on the whole time, especially if they're doing a good training session, because that might overheat the horse and cause a lot of sweat," she explained.

"Then it's even harder to cool them off when it is so cold out."

As far as clipping goes, she said, that depends on "how much do you plan on riding in the winter? If you don't plan on riding a whole lot, or maybe just some light trail rides and the horse isn't going to be at risk for sweating, you probably don't need to clip.

"If you're going to train all winter long, the horse is going to be sweating a lot more, and it's going to be hard for them to cool off with a thick coat full of sweat." She suggested a partial, or trace clip, for areas that tend to sweat the most.

Williams also noted that while it's fun to ride in the snow, "people need to be cautious and only go places they are really familiar with. I've seen horses get injured on something buried in the snow, whether it's a farm implement or some jumps or lawn decorations."

She pointed out that unseen frozen divots and rough ground beneath the snow can be hard on tendons and also lead to sole bruises.

Williams noted that riding in snow is similar to riding in sand. There's a lot of resistance, and a horse might be sore after a long ride through the white stuff.

At the Somerset County Park Commission's Lord Stirling Stable in Basking Ridge, manager Margie Margentino said throughout the winter, "We try to get the horses turned out, even if it's for a short time, so they can get exercise and fresh air. We monitor the horses, you can tell when they're ready to come in.

"We'll throw hay out in the field to keep them occupied, the chewing helps keep them warm. It's just like a person. When you eat, you generate energy."

Approximately 20 degrees is Lord Stirling's breaking point for canceling lessons. Before making a decision,she looks at the dewpoint and the "feels like" rating.

"If the "feels like" is four to five degrees lower, then we cancel. It's not healthy for the horses, the riders' fingers and toes get cold. Little kids can't feel their fingers, so that's a control issue."

Instructors check the trails for ice patches and only use barefoot horses for the winter trail class. The stable's horses generally aren't clipped or blanketed, although very old horses kept in run-in sheds will be blanketed.

"Horses have a winter coat for a reason," Margentino said.

"It stands up and traps air in between those hairs and that's what keeps the horse warm. So when you put a blanket on a horse's coat, it folds the hair down and it can't trap the air."

The weather conditions led to the cancellation of this weekend's Palermo show in Bedminster.

"We feel it is best for everyone's health and safety, especially the horses and ponies," said the stable's announcement, advising next month's show will have double circuit points. The facility also canceled its show during the first weekend in January for the same reason
"We're hoping for a heat wave in February," said the stable's statement.

ON THE RAIL -- Today is the deadline to get a discounted registration for the horse management seminar, "Caring for Your Equine Athlete," presented by the Rutgers Equine Science Center and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

The 9 a.m.-4 p.m. seminar Feb. 9 in New Brunswick offers presentations by a variety of equine industry experts, as teams prepare for this summer's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France.

Discounted registration, which includes breakfast and lunch, is $50 for adults; $20 for children, students and seniors. After today, the prices increase to $65 and $35.

"Our goal in presenting this workshop is to give participants a glimpse into the life of a WEG rider and valuable advice for any equine athlete, whether it’s an international champion or a trusted lesson horse," said Carey Williams.

Experts will include endurance rider Meg Sleeper, combined driving/dressage rider Sara Schmitt, reiner Matthew Palmer and eventer Carol Kozlowski. They will talk about getting started in their disciplines and what it's like to compete at the elite level.

Jim Wolf, chef de mission for the U.S. WEG team, will discuss getting competitors ready for the WEG, and there also will be sessions on saddle-fitting and hoof balance and performance.

Details and registration information are available on the Equine Science Center website at For more information, contact Laura Gladney at (848) 932-3229,, or Williams at (848) 932-5529,

The world's number one- and two-ranked riders demonstrated their expertise yet again last night in the $125,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla.

Both are British and were members of their country's 2012 Olympic gold medal show jumping team. But this time, number two, Ben Maher, won the class on Cella, with a time of 38.68 seconds to lead a 10-horse jump-off. He was able to do just enough to shave a few instants off the 39.05-second time of number one-ranked Scott Brash, who went right before him on Ursula XII, who is not his number one horse.

The best U.S. finish was McLain Ward, fourth on Rothchild, with a slower 4-fault round than third-place Alvaro de Miranda of Brazil aboard AD Narson.

The grands prix are being livestreamed this year by Equestrian Sport Productions, which runs the WEF.

The series got off to a rocky start earlier this month when its cables were submerged during a torrential storm that doused the $125,000 Trump Invitational.

But the programming is on track now, and benefits from educated commentary by grand prix riders Jimmy Torano and Mark Leone...

The Essex Foxhounds will hold a Chinese New Year's party Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Champions Club, Tranquility Farm, 300 Old Chester Road in Chester. There will be a Chinese buffet and music. Admission is $100 and goes toward the Essex Centennial fundraising campaign. RSVP by Feb. 4 to

Today: Changewater Stables Show, 483 Route 519, Stewartsville.
Saturday: Dressage Schooling Show, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown; CJL Farm Show, Baymar Farms, 38 Harbor Road, Morganville; Duncraven Winter Circuit, 1300 Trenton Harbourton Road, Titusville (through next Sunday).
Next Sunday: CJL Farm Show, West Milford Equestrian Center, 367 Union Valley Road, West Milford.
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at