Another blanketing layering thread. Cold snap coming

It’s predicted to be quite cold this coming week for my area. As usual, my horses are not acclimated to cold as I live so far south. It’s in the 70s (F) as I type this.

Objectively, the worst weather looks to occur on Friday with several inches of “wintery mix precipitation”. I’ll likely stall the horses for that mess as I don’t trust blanket waterproofing.

On several night before then the current forecast calls for feels like lows cold enough that I’ll want to put something extra on my aged, cold weather wimp, sensitive tummy Honcho Pony. He has a heavy (360 gram) with hood that he wears already when feels like temps are below freezing. He’ll need more than that for the upcoming cold snap. I know that ideally we’d layer blankets with the lightest layer on top. However Honcho Pony has a mix of pony cut and horse cut blankets. His heavy is a horse cut and he has limited choices that would fit over the top of that. He has a 50 gram and an old 0 gram sheet that would likely fit over the heavy, but I don’t think those will be quite enough for him. My other options are to use either his pony cut 200 gram liner or his pony cut 250 gram medium turnout UNDER the heavyweight. To be honest using the medium TO under the heavy seems like the best option to me. Current forecast indicates he’d need the medium during the days so it would be convenient to just pop the heavy on and off for the overnight hours. His pony cut medium TO is a very good fit on him it’s just not big enough to go over the horse cut HW.

Open to thoughts about layering! Wwyd?

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A couple of days of being under the heavy won’t destroy the loft of your midweight. I like your plan.

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Thank you for the reassurance!

Alternatively, could the 200g pony liner fit underneath the 250g pony turnout? I’m mixing and matching similarly for my TB right now. He’s currently in a 280g liner under an 80g sheet (360g total fill).

We’re supposed to get daytime windchills well into the negatives this week and he’s fully clipped, so I’ll probably swap the 80g for his 220g medium to really bundle him up for turnout (500g total fill).

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If you want to layer put the physically lighter weight thing on top of the heavier one, even if the physically lighter one is a heavier warmth. Half the benefit of layering is the air pocket between the 2

A 50gm sheet on top of a 360gm heavy adds a good bit more warmth than just want the 50gm provides

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In Ohio I always layered with the lighter blanket underneath the heavier one. That way, BOs could just remove the heavier blanket in the morning for the daytime temps, and put it back on at night for nighttime temps. They were not willing to remove a blanket and put a different one on twice a day (which I fully understand). I never had a blankets’ filling get squished from it.

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Yes he can wear the 200 gram liner under the 250 gram pony cut. He wore that set up a lot before I ordered him a heavy. It’s oddly not that warm for him. And the hood on the pony medium is only 150 gram and unfortunately not compatible with the HW hood.

It won’t be quite that cold here but Honcho Pony is a wimp. And also going through a time of digestive upset. I can’t have him getting chilled!

I bet that air pocket is why the pony cut medium is not very warm for Honcho Pony. It’s a very “neat” fit on him. Ditto for the liner. Fits very close to the body.

I’ll check out how the 50 gram fits over the HW. I don’t particularly care for the way the chest closure sits on him. The HW hood isn’t compatible w the 50 sadly and ofc I’d have to completely undress and redress him twice a day

I totally understand why the BOs felt that way. It’s a pita for just my two horses.

Positive for that method is not having to put a cold blanket directly on the horse’s back!

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Exactly. That’s why I layer the way. I hate taking a warm blanket off a horse and putting the cold one on. I woujd rather just pull the heavier one off the top

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I agree, and this is what I’d do in your situation.

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I’m in Upstate NY, real feel is 1 currently. I almost always do lighter layer on bottom, heavy layer on top. I have two liners (100g and 200g) that are not waterproof, so they have to go under. Biggest benefit of that is when I go to ride, I leave the liner on him like a cooler so his back doesn’t get cold in the barn.

Mine is clipped, so no hair at all, and a weeny. In this weather is in a total of 580g (200g stable blanket under 380g heavy w/ hood). I would do the 200g liner under the heavy, or the medium if you don’t think he’ll be too hot during the day. (Its crazy to me to think about you putting the same weights on your horse when you’re someplace that is 70 degrees right now, but you know your horse!)

Reading this makes me feel better about my own blanketing plans this week, lol. Also Upstate NY, real feel projected to -5 tomorrow. Switched my guy - also a fully clipped delicate flower - from 360g (280g liner + 80g turnout) to 500g (liner + 220g mid). Here’s hoping it’s “warm enough” by Friday to switch back.

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That’s what we did last night and he was chipper this morning at breakfast!

The feels like low last night was in the teens which is extreme cold for us!

Horses were outside all night as usual and seemed as comfortable as can be expected. We don’t get much wind in my area outside of tropical storms so last night’s wind gusts in the 30 mph range seemed harsh for me and mine. Not much for a windbreak n the paddocks unfortunately

I pulled the heavy off at breakfast but he seemed cool with just his medium on so popped the 50 gram over the medium for the daytime. He wasn’t even close to overheating at 230 when I checked him so that was the right call for him for today.

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That sounds brutal.

Though I’m somewhat jealous of your ability to just leave the same blankets on for several days.

My big horse is hardier but he still went in 450 grams last night and 200 grams for today. His set up is a smidge easier. 200 gram liner with a 250 gram medium over it at night then I replaced the 250 gram medium with a 0 gram sheet for the day (leaving the 200 gram liner under it).

It’s a pita to unhook and rebook the liner to the turnouts twice a day but it is what it is

I have 3 at home. The last couple of days and next few days are 20s during the day (real feel in the single digits) and teens overnight (real feel in the negative). They go out during the daylight hours and come in at sundown, but have in/outs so the barn is very open.

My gelding is cozy overnight and during the day in a 250g turnout with neck cover with a 100g BOT liner underneath.

My senior mare spent the day in her 250g Wug with a sheet with neck cover on top to cut the wind (it’s gusting over 30 mph). When she comes in, I swap the sheet for a 100g with neck cover for overnight.

My younger mare is comfortable in a 250g Wug during the day and overnight. She is a good eater so generates plenty of internal heat. :slight_smile: My other two combined eat less hay overnight than she does.

But this is why blanketing is such a PITA.

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Your horses are much tougher than mine! I suppose that’s for the best though or they’d overheat on the random 70 degree days in January!

My wife has been visiting our stable twice daily to assure our mare, Flower, is blanketed and protected. The need to drive round trip twice daily (once in the evening to blanket our horse Flower and once daily in the morning to remove it) sometimes frustrates her. But, with temperatures sometimes as low as 35F in our Nevada area, it’s a necessary regimen. The things we do for our critters…

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If it makes anyone feel better about what you’re doing with your own individuals… The wind chill took it down just below 0 last night on the real feel. My horse, outside, was wearing a total of 700g of fill (medium and heavy) and I look like a loon because he looks like a yak. When I tried less than that last week, he came in muscle-tight and grumpy.

To get on topic, the medium is under the heavy so the barn staff just have to deal with one rug coming on and off.

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