# Shedding summer coat



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

You mean shedding out the short summer coat and growing in a longer coat?? My horses shed hairs in the summer, those are just dead hairs, but they start growing longer coats until fall. In fact I have never seen any horse do this in all my years, yes shed hairs in the summer, but the coat is still short and flat, not long and fluffy like winter hair. It is the reason I groom like crazy even after they shed the winter coat, the short coat still sheds dead hairs, those are what dulls a shiny coat, not brushing those dead summer ones out.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Ours in NY state are shedding out too. They do every year. Certainly not like a spring shed, but definitely shed.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Mine is shedding, too. They start late July every year here. I'm never ready. Our winters are so long.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

It's normal, and nature's reaction to the days getting shorter. Once the days start getting longer after the winter solstice, around December 21st, animals start the internal process of beginning the shed of their winter coats. After the longest day of the year, around June 21st, they start shedding their summer coats.

The animals in the southern hemisphere do the same thing, except in reverse; the longest day of the year there is in December, and the shortest is in June.

It's nature's reaction to the amount of daylight, not the air temperature.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

My horse is shedding early this summer too. I used to be told that means a cold winter.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Several of mine are but not all of them. Normally they don't start until the end of Aug/early Sept. Had a weird shedding season this spring (they kept starting and stopping) and now this, been a strange year.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Mine have been shedding for a week or more now but not getting a thicker coat - it does happen every year here as the temperatures go higher in mid July through August.
It never happened in the UK - maybe because its not usually so warm there


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

waresbear said:


> You mean shedding out the short summer coat and growing in a longer coat?? My horses shed hairs in the summer, those are just dead hairs, but they start growing longer coats until fall. In fact I have never seen any horse do this in all my years, yes shed hairs in the summer, but the coat is still short and flat, not long and fluffy like winter hair. It is the reason I groom like crazy even after they shed the winter coat, the short coat still sheds dead hairs, those are what dulls a shiny coat, not brushing those dead summer ones out.


Not shedding a few hairs but starting to shed their summer coat. Usually it happens about the end of Aug but last year the first week in Aug and now it's the last week in Jul. You don't really see the winter coat but the new coat is not as long right now but a little fuzzier, and gradually grows longer and thicker over the next few months. I just hate to think of another cold, long winter.

Several years ago my gelding started early and we had 3 feet of snow in Nov that year and it was a winter with more snow than usual.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

Ugh. I don't want to think about winter.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Mine are shedding too. It does seem like it's early. Maybe I'm still shell shocked from last winter.


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## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

My Quarter horse is too, my mini isn't but they don't usually shed. But I haven't noticed either of them growing a thicker coat. Sonny just seems to be shedding a lot.


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