# Lamps and portable electricity



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Well, I heard (on this forum by the way, such an informative place) that you need 200 watt bulbs to affect shedding & hair grow. So you are going to need a gas powered generator to power that if the BO won't let you plug in.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

I personally would not use any lights or heating lamps but your the owner so its up to you.

Blanketing the horse will do the trick as well......although not always a good idea.


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## Sanala (Feb 18, 2012)

waresbear said:


> Well, I heard (on this forum by the way, such an informative place) that you need 200 watt bulbs to affect shedding & hair grow. So you are going to need a gas powered generator to power that if the BO won't let you plug in.


Yeah, hmm. I guess I'll just nag her all year until she lets me plug one in!



sierrams1123 said:


> I personally would not use any lights or heating lamps but your the owner so its up to you.
> 
> Blanketing the horse will do the trick as well......although not always a good idea.


I already have her in a heavyweight winter blanket and she is still way too hairy. Since she's already grown her winter coat for this year I'm just going to leave her be and take measures next fall/winter to prevent the cookie monster coat. I do a lot of wp/hus showing and also reining, I like my horse's coats to be short and sleek.

Why are you against lights and blanketing? Where I live, not everyone uses lights but you'd be crazy not to blanket. It gets in the negatives for a week or so and it's consistently below 30 degrees F. With our weather, I'd appreciate a heat lamp and I'm not sure why my horse wouldn't. Her coat aside, I'd figure it'd help keep her warmer and happier.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

My horses aren't blanketed & it gets -40 here and don't bother with the barn, they prefer a thick stand of timber for shelter. You & your purse dogs, lol. Kidding, I would really like it if they didn't grow thick coats so I wouldn't have to brush like a mad woman before the first show of May. But it's a small price to pay so they can be natural horses during the down months.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

Sanala said:


> Why are you against lights and blanketing


I am not against them, per say, I just feel many people use these tools incorrectly.

I also feel messing with a horses natural defenses to cold weather can play with their health and often does more harm then good.

If done properly and in moderation, I see nothing wrong with it, but very rarely do I see this being done properly and in moderation.

In doing things like this for your horse you must think of their future.

I have seen horses that have had these things done to them their whole life and once they were no longer having these things done for them their bodies were unable to respond naturally.
This is why I am not a fan of these "tricks".

In my opinion I would rather have a fluffy horse.
Last I knew the judges don't judge on the length of your horses coat.


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## Sanala (Feb 18, 2012)

waresbear said:


> My horses aren't blanketed & it gets -40 here and don't bother with the barn, they prefer a thick stand of timber for shelter. You & your purse dogs, lol. Kidding, I would really like it if they didn't grow thick coats so I wouldn't have to brush like a mad woman before the first show of May. But it's a small price to pay so they can be natural horses during the down months.


LOL The purse dogs comment is so true though! I'm pretty sure at least half of my tack box is spray bottles and grooming supplies. And the sad thing is I know a lot of people who are worse than I am about it... This year I did leave my 17 yo gelding out to pasture without a blanket and he grew so hairy! He is fat and happy this year. Good thing I like to groom because he takes forever and a day to get clean, LOL. Nala (my paint mare) is just in a heavyweight blanket right now. I'm just feeling picky about her coat since she's my training project and I'm about to start her show career so I want her to look her best!


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## lubylol (Aug 8, 2011)

If your worried about her being a fluff ball, you could always clip her..
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

I would allow her to be fluffy until you actually start showing her, then clip her if you must.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

hand said:


> Blanketing the horse will do the trick as well......although not always a good idea.


wow copy cat much.


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## Sanala (Feb 18, 2012)

I emailed the trainer I bought the mare from. She says that with having Nala in a loveshack shed with 24/7 paddock access, a lamp won't work. She also advised against clipping. My horse is a sorrel chestnut, and if I gave her a full body clip she'd just look like "a wannabe dun" lol.

So it looks like I'll just be sticking with the usual blanketing routine and dealing with winter mammoth hair.  This year I am not showing until May, so I'm sure she'll shed out before then!

Thanks everyone for advice and suggestions.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

something is seriously wrong with the show world if you have to totally screw up a horses natural body cycles, and totally defeat its ability to manage its body temperature to get a few points or a piece of colored cloth to hang on the wall.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Heat lamps are notorious for causing fires. If she's outside, she will shed when the time is right as the daylight hours lengthen. Then you will be covered in hair. Sorry, the hair you eat doesn't qualify as dietary fiber.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Wait- your horse has "wooly mammoth" hair and you blanket? Talk about overheating..


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

sierrams1123 said:


> I personally would not use any lights or heating lamps but your the owner so its up to you.
> 
> Blanketing the horse will do the trick as well......although not always a good idea.


 
Blanketing does not "do the trick". It may decrease the hair coat slightly but it doesn't encourage early shedding.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> Wait- your horse has "wooly mammoth" hair and you blanket? Talk about overheating..


Just because a horse has a crapton of hair doesn't mean that it does not need a blanket.

There's a pony where I board with cushings... want to talk about wooly mammoth hair? OMG is this pony HAIRY!!! Guess what... if she so much as thinks the wind might blow, she starts shivering and not just a little shivering, she's literally shaking with cold and since she has very few teeth, she can't munch hay all day to stay warm and it's difficult to keep weight on her. She is about as far from overheating with her blanket on as you can get and anyone that goes past her, stops to check and see if she needs another layer added.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

mls said:


> Blanketing does not "do the trick". It may decrease the hair coat slightly but it doesn't encourage early shedding.


If you blanket a horse at the start of cold weather and continue through out cold weather then yes it will keep them slick.


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## yourcolorfuladdiction (Feb 19, 2012)

I don't know why your trainer says your sorrel is going to look like a wannabe dun when she's clipped, mine looked just fine, nothing dun-like about her. Sure her mane and tail are a little bit darker but it's not like she suddenly developed a distinct dorsal stripe under all her wooly winter coat. It's still obvious she's a sorrel and she has a fabulous clipped coat.


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## Sanala (Feb 18, 2012)

Joe4d said:


> something is seriously wrong with the show world if you have to totally screw up a horses natural body cycles, and totally defeat its ability to manage its body temperature to get a few points or a piece of colored cloth to hang on the wall.


 To each their own, I guess? Showing is much more than "colored cloth" to me, in fact I actually throw my ribbons away or flat out don't accept them at shows these days. As a trainer it is more about increasing my horse's value (if i plan to sell or breed), and it's about increasing my horse's experience in any case.

I have never seen a horse that had been blanketed not recover from that. I blanketed one gelding for 10 years and finally retired him to the school horse pen, without a blanket, and he's very fuzzy and happy this year. I work at a world class barn where they lamp their horses. Maybe they would have trouble if they were to be "tossed out" into a field for a winter, but with how valuable these animals are I doubt that would happen to them. I also ride at a reining barn where the lights are not heated. Apparently it "tricks" the horse's mind into thinking it is springtime and not winter, and, thinking that the day is longer, the horse does not grow a coat as big as it would without the extra light. Once they are out of the light and have longer days, they grow a longer coat and finally go into "winter mode." I am not sure how this is damaging.



caseymyhorserocks said:


> Wait- your horse has "wooly mammoth" hair and you blanket? Talk about overheating..


My definition of "wooly mammoth" and yours are probably veeeery different. My horse has been blanketed all winter. If she was "overheating" her coat wouldn't have grown this long in the first place. She grew her coat "just right" for her and her blanketing/stabling situation. I was hoping a heat lamp would improve her situation but it turns out this is not an option. In any case, my show horses are always blanketed.



yourcolorfuladdiction said:


> I don't know why your trainer says your sorrel is going to look like a wannabe dun when she's clipped, mine looked just fine, nothing dun-like about her. Sure her mane and tail are a little bit darker but it's not like she suddenly developed a distinct dorsal stripe under all her wooly winter coat. It's still obvious she's a sorrel and she has a fabulous clipped coat.


 I have just never liked the look of a fresh coat. Nala's mane and tail are very light flaxen which might end up looking weird. My friend had a chestnut she clipped all the time and his coat color was always dull and made him look awful at times, but that might just be my personal preference.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/265150_237467752948180_100000548717162_929702_7446967_n.jpg He was naturally a nice red coated chestnut.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...265497910591_802140590_14682562_4898238_n.jpg this is But he turned very golden light when he was clipped. Granted the picture is washed out from arena lights, but he was /very/ dun looking.

I can see how my trainer would say "wannabe Dun" because the coat ends up very golden instead of a nice red as a chestnut should be, but there is no dorsal stripe so it's not actually a dun.

I see why people full body clip and I'm not against it, I am just not personally fond of the look. Instead I do "maintenance clips" of the bridle path, face whiskers, ears, blaze and socks. My problem areas right now really are only her belly and bits of her neck, so I'm going to look for a blanket with a better hood attachment and a belly wrap for her. I can deal with her mammoth coat as long as it's sleek, haha.


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