Winter coats are a funny thing. Horse owners love them because they not only keep their four-legged family members warm when temperatures drop, but they also save probably hours of work over the course of a winter that otherwise would be spent putting on and removing various blankets to keep our charges warm. Yes, we love them. That is, until those coats don’t grow in enough or, sometimes worse, grow in too much for the horse’s workload or geographic location.

And yesterday, as I sent millions of dark brown hairs flying around the barn (and somehow into the depths of the layers I woreÉ) during Dorado’s second body clip of the fall, I realized that most of the horses I’ve had winter coat wars with over the years have been either seniors or horses rapidly approaching their golden years.