Let's talk about lights

Okay, is it time to start leving the lights on till like 10pm to prohibit the winter coat from coming in???
Is it a 60 watt or 100 watt light??

Hmmm - I'm interested too...

I know my MARES go under lights for breeding purposes the last weekend in November. Not sure about the winter coat stuff...

Well, looks like no one has read this yet, but my gut says it's lights time. I'll do some research in my books and see what Ican come up with.

I don't know that there is an exact wattage you need, but I've always heard that you should be able to read a newspaper in all parts of the stall. Good luck keeping those winter woolies away!

yup nows the time!!! we just started blanketing too!

not sure about the wattage but it has to be bright in every part of the stall -- like what Molly said!

good luck keeping the winter wooleys away!

Need 200 watt and on from 6a to 10p. The lower watage do not work as well. Do not need them on any longer either. We tried the florecent and do not like those either. Mine are on all year. In the dead of winter and no blankets mine keep a pretty nice coat on them. Not a show coat since I do not blanket the mares. The ones in blankets keep a show coat.. Blankets come off everyday and good grooming before they go back on. I do not turn out in blankets. When the whether is bad they turn out in the arena. I use nylon sheet under Big D Kodiac. The sheet helps keep the blanket clean and they are easy to wash so there is nothing dirty next to the horse..

Now, most the books and people will tell you to shut them down and bring them back up on Nov 15th to get cycles going in your mares.. I did that one time and never again. Took months to get my mares back on track. Keep in mind my breeding season starts first of Feb. I am looking for Jan foals. Mares that foal in Jan do not get bred back until the second cycle post foaling.

This is what I do and it works for me. Not everyone is set up like I am and needs to evaluate how to get er done in the barn they are in. There are some really nice clip on lights I see in boarding barns with timers on them and they work really well. Also got to keep that worming coming. At least once a month on a show horse will really help. Grooming is very important too..

That's my story and I am sticking to it..

Wooooooooo I like the sheet under the blanket idea. Makes washing a whole lot easier every week! And 200 watts! WOW! THANKS!!!!

For some reason when the sheet is on the outside blanket does not get as bad either. I do sheets once a week and depending on if the horse lays where it pee's or not I can go much longer before I have to do heavy blankets.. Makes no sense to me to do all that grooming then through a dirty blanket back on.. I know some people who will bath a horse then but a blanket on them that is so dirty I would not put it on a horse..

I've seen people do that too! I power wash my heavy ones at the car wash then put it in one of those BIG washer at the laundry!

we always do 100 watt on at 6am and off at 10pm.

we have an older barn so we dont use crazy high wattage so we dont risk a fire..
seems to do the trick! we hook up the barn to a timer so we dont have to cut them on and off.

well I was told if you can go into the stall and read a newspaper in the corner ,thats good I use a Brooder (for chickens ) light holder it has a ceramic bulb holder that will take more heat PLEASE BE CAREFUL THE BULB YOU ARE USING CAN HANDLE THE LIGHT FIXTURE I use at least a 150 watt bulb I have found the bulb holders at Lowes and Home Depot are not made for a high watt bulb would hate for anyone to have a fire ...I found my holder at TSC....and they are great ......16 hours of daylight but it to depends on if your trying to cycle a mare or keep a good hair coat....
the light game can be tricky

I am just trying to keep away the fuzzies!

You may want to experiment. The vets tell you all the light you need is to read a newspaper in the stall. That simply did not work for me. It does make a difference how your barn is built. Mine is made for that and many other things such as heat lamps if I need them. And, fire is a major thing to think about it you are in an older barn.

My barn is all steel construction, newer and wired for everytihng we want to do with it (my husband is an electrition) . I could build a fire in a wood stove in there if I wanted to.. I don't do that.. LOL Once a month worming and keeping them warm will also make a difference.

we have a bank barn bulit in 1853 and gutted the bottom and put 8 14x16
stalls we to have had it rewired it stays very warm in the winter my buckets don't even freeze but your right know what your barn can handle before you go plugging in ,,,,,,,

My stalls are oh, probably 14x16 or 12x14, something like that. I have three 100-watt light bulbs in each stall. You can have no shadows whatsoever, and it should be lit, and I'm talking lit. But yep, get you a timer, and use that - so much easier than trekking to the barn - we use those clip-on lamp thingies.

I use those clip on light thingies also but I just make sure they can handle the watts ,one more week of lights and I let my show horses down for the winter I have 1 show left and then they become horses again I like to see some hair on them in the off time I feel it makes a better show coat for next season....

I can't even find 200 watt bulbs. Where do you get them from? I'm currently using 100 watt. And doing the run to the barn and back thing. I think Wade figures Brennen and I are crazy. When my 11 year old starts complaining that I'm letting his horse get too much hair, I know I've waited too long. lol. We had a tree rub through one of the wires running to the barn, so we only have 110 in there now. I'd like it if Wade would fix that. Maybe if I take the breaker switch that runs his beer fridge and switch it si that my barn's exaust fan works again, he'll notice. Warm Pepsi with his rye won't go over quite so well.

We get the 200 watt bulbs at an electical store.. They do not come off the shelf. You should be able to find them where they sell the heat lamps and special bulbs like for outside. They will order them for you if they do not have them. These work best for us and I have tried them all. You can see by this shot of my stallion that there is snow on the ground and his coat is still nice. He gets a sheet and blanket on as well.

We have ours in nomal fixtures that my husband put in all the stalls when we built the barn. We also have 4' double florecent lights in our isle way. If you are going to use the clip on make sure you stay with what is recomended for those.. You can find the 200 watt in the screw in florecent. I did not like those and you can see the difference with the light in the stalls those are in.

Thanks. The guy at the store asked what I wanted them for. He now thinks I'm crazy. I also installed florecent lights in the aisle. They have a plug in, so I got once of those things that can change a light fixture into a plug in as well. Hopefully I don't blow my breaker when I'm running them all.

Well, we horse people taking care of our coats would sound crazy to someone who does not know what we do..

People think I am nuts when I am buying things to breed a horse or deal with an elment they have..