Reviews, please? Thinking about getting one for an older horse that is NOT blanketed for the winter. He has very nice winter coat, but considering getting it to just put on him for a half hour or so to warm up his muscles before I ride him. But wouldn’t that just make him colder by flattening down his coat? Does anyone have good results using this sheet in that way?
If you only want to use it in the winter, you could get the back pad and sew it into a cooler (it comes with a velcro strip, so you can detach it from the cooler if you want. Way cheaper than the mesh sheet, and warmer. When I was trailering out all winter to ride at an indoor, I would put one on my mare for the trailer ride, and her back would be nice and warm when we got there. Of course, the BoT material doesn’t cover the shoulders with the back pad.
Absolutely worth it. I have used it for that exact situation - stiffer horse, not blanketed on a regular basis, and no, it doesn’t flatten the coat to any appreciable degree. Yes, it will lay the hairs down a bit. But considering what it brings to the table, and the density of a “very nice Winter coat”, it’s more beneficial.
If you are truly worried about the coat, then you could lay a sheet or blanket on top of that.
The pads are nice, but since they only address the back, they are less useful than the sheets.
BoT does have a quarter sheet (they call it an exercise sheet) which velcros in front of the saddle for easy removal if necessary. You could use that, plus a saddle pad, for a bit more versatility.
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Yes! These rugs are amazing.
A few years back my gelding ran into the shelter with his hip, and actually broke the 6X6, which is hard to do. He was scraped and his side swelled up massively along with his hip. I brought him in and put his BOT sheet on, by morning he was totally normal so I turned him out. Brought him in, swollen very badly again. Put the BOT back on, and no swelling in just a few hours.
I left the rug on him for a week pretty much 24 x 7 and he never had any swelling again. That blanket kept him in amazing shape after some serious bruising.
I have one, and I’ve occasionally used it in that way on my older horse, although probably for more like 15-20 minutes (longer would probably be better), usually followed with the BOT saddle pad on those days.
He’s naturally a very flexible horse, so I can’t say that it addresses any specific stiffness, but I figure it can’t hurt and could help.
I think the hour-before-riding use is the perfect way to use the BoT mesh sheet. I’ve yet to meet the horse that they fit well, though, so I don’t like to leave them on for extended wear (my horse had some bad shoulder pulling/wither rubbing when I left it on overnight and I know several others who’ve had similar issues). But they’re great for the kind of use you propose, and wouldn’t have any lingering coat-flattening effects I don’t think.
For those who’ve used them on unclipped horses, do you feel they are as effective through winter hair as through sleeker coats? It’s not clear to me whether the insulating effect of a winter coat would interfere with the far infrared mechanism.
I have heard this about fit also, but I have them for my three and all fit great. They are all TBs from 16-17.1h.
My winter routine is to saddle (with a BOT pad) and then toss the mesh sheet over for 15 - 20 minutes while I clean stalls. I really do think it makes a big difference in our winter rides.
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Thanks, everyone! I think it’s worth a try from all the good reviews…though it is expensive!
The sheets run on the small size in my experience. I also don’t understand why they have lovely sholder gussets that they strap closed with a nylon straps sew on over the gusset. For daily wear this can cause pretty significant rubbing.
that said, I loved mine for my mare. I sold it because she out grew it and haven’t been able to afford to replace it, but I fully plan to.
BOT is amazing. I wear the scarf regularly and it helps with stiffness at my desk job. My mare is recovering from a soft tissue front limb injury and the quick wraps alone are better at reducing swelling than a traditional standing bandage with poultice or a sweat under it.
get the sheet! Your horse will love it.
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You’re supposed to (carefully and properly) remove the stitching to release the gusset if needed. It comes with instructions on how to do that 
Mine definitely did not include those directions, but it is nice to know that the straps are able to be removed.
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