I recently discovered that the Back on Track mesh rug is an amazing cooler. I threw it on my horse when he was really sweaty and went out for a few hours. When I came back, his coat was so soft and tidy that I thought someone had brushed him. But he’s in my backyard and the one person who might have stopped by was away.
The best answer I can come up with is, it depends on your climate. Also, a damp, even wet wool cooler does its job perfectly well. That’s the magic of wool. It is as warm wet as it is totally dry.
If you mean after washing, and you live where it’s subfreezing, all fabrics, and especially wool, dry via the magic of sublimation, i.e. ice morphing directly to vapor without passing through the water phase. Hang it where the air is moving at all, and it’ll be dry sooner than you think. Again, you can use it even if it’s still damp.
If your humidity is high, and it’s cool enough that the cooler won’t make your horse sweat, your horse is the best dryer you own.
In low humidity, and the cooler isn’t actually dripping wet, hang it anywhere, and it’ll dry faster than you think. If it is sopping, low humidity will still do its job.
Obviously, you want to protect it from moths and humidity in the warmer months. I use craft paper and a fabric bag of cedar shavings to wrap my clients’ wool coolers and have not had any complaints.
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I put a medium speed regular box fax on mine to dry. And turn them and move around to dry faster.
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I have wool sweaters which I love, BUT they have to be hsndwashed and laid flat to dry and thus usually takes 2 days…in the warm house…
I would simply not feel comfortable putting something cold and damp on a warm sweaty horse…and using a fan in winter sounds rather unpleasant.
So…this is why I use fleece. It wicks quite well, dries quickly and washes and dries easily and quickly.
So even if one feels wool is better, it’s not better enough, for me, to make up for the inconvenience.
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We all have our own priorities in horse care. I hang my wool cooler in my heated tack room over a couple of 2x4’s spaced apart to allow airflow both under and over the cooler and it dries within a few hours. I would likely not have that ability if I were still a boarder, and in 30 years of that I never was at a barn with a heated or cooled tack area.
I do own two polar fleece coolers, which came as bonuses when I bought turnout blankets, but their performance for me pales in comparison to wool. But I live in a temperate climate, and if the outside temperature is above 40 degrees I hose, sweat scrape, let him have a good shake, and turn him out to have a good roll in the sand, and then head out to graze in the sun. So I really have little use for a cooler of any type.
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You won’t like this suggestion but here’s what works best for us ~ first a cotton, anti sweat sheet ( the cotton one that looks like Swiss cheese 
- for the itch factor of wool ~ then a big WOOL blanket ~ clip at chest with clamp ~ throw a leg wrap around at horse’s middle tie in bow on side ~
Now here’s the painful part ~ L. L. Bean pure 100% wool king size bed blanket ~ 108”W x 96” L - best (lifetime) lasting & best looking in red with a black stripe at each end ~ .
Blue Ribbon at a mere $595.00 !
- looks wonderful on a Black mare !
Merry Christmas ! 
“Spell the ink” for Ella !
Write that check ~ she’s worth it !
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I usually do an Irish knit under a fleece, just because it’s easier to wash than wool.
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I wound up ordering the Centaur Turbo Dry - I found it (to my amazement) on Walmart’s website 
$59, and free shipping.
Thanks to everyone for the recommendations, and @Zu_Zu 
yes, that’s a little rich for my blood, LOL! I need to prioritize other things like board for two, supplements, saddle fitter, clinics, competitions and schooling, etc. I basically provide the “best of everything” for my horses and dog - and then some (not so much for myself of course) – so have to cut back somewhere 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, and I hope you and your animals are happy and healthy going into 2024! 
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I’ve never been a fan of wool because I’ve always lived in FL or CA and frankly it’s way too hot to put a wool cooler on a horse right after the saddle comes off. My horses rarely have a full clip -usually a trace or blanket clip - so they still have a fair amount of hair.
I have 4 fleece coolers - they dry overnight, even when it’s super humid (not even in a heated tack room), and of course wash super easy. Maybe I’d try wool if someone had a super thin one, but I’ve never seen that.
@PaddockWood thank you for the eBay suggestion. I bought my horse a really plush wool Clothes Horse cooler for his winter rides, I think we are going to love it!
I do think they tend to be dry clean only. It won’t be one he will be allowed to roll in! I have some polar fleece coolers for that.
It gets really cold here so we use a cooler for the first 10–15 minutes of our rides. We like to walk them a long time, and the cooler can keep MY legs warm too!
It is usually 20-30 degrees here all winter (we don’t tend to ride in the teens). Wool is perfect for us.
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Please do post a picture! I thought of this thread today when I got out my Triple Crown that I found on eBay. It’s so much fun to get out and use when it’s cold.
It’s super thick and plush wool too.
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I’m with Weezer on this. The BOT Sienna cooler is the best thing since sliced bread. I got mine on sale for about $120 back around Thanksgiving.
I’ve had all sorts of coolers in the past, wool (heavy, stinky, hard to wash and dry,) fleece (mostly a waste of time, dry quicker without it) Good old cotton fishnet with a layer of straw (effective but inconvenient, and the shapes those things used to end up!) But that BOT dries quicker than anything else and loosens his back up, all in one. And is light and easy to deal with.
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Now that’s interesting! I have a BOT mesh sheet – I usually put it in her when hauling to a competition or a schooling (not in hot weather, obviously!)
My Turbo dry cooler has worked well so far; I’ve used it twice and since she’s sporting a racing clip, she really only sweats where the saddle is – but after putting it on, hauling back to the barn, and unloading, the sweaty areas were completely dry. Will have to experiment with my BOT sheet and see if I get the same results!
Does it really keep the horse warm, though? Judging from the pictures, I can’t imagine it providing enough warmth on a winter’s night for a sweaty horse (at least not where I live in the mid-atlantic region, and that’s not even all that cold relative to the Northeast!).
Mine may be different – though it’s 15 years old, at least!, but it’s not really “mesh” – I would take a picture of it, but it’s at the barn.
Sorry, I was asking Weezer and atr about the BOT Sienna cooler, but I can see how me not quoting them was confusing
Although as someone who also has the BOT mesh sheet, I have used that to cool a horse in winter only if they are also under a heat lamp or it’s particularly warm, as I don’t find it to generally be warm enough in winter on a truly sweaty horse (but it works great for spring or fall).
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Fair to ask. I’m in a heated barn so it’s not completely frigid. But I do find my horse dries faster under it than under anything else I’ve tried (he’s not clipped, yet, and at this rate, it might not happen this year :)) He gets noticeably toasty under it. If I combine it with the heat lamps, it’s really fast.
It’s mesh with a layer of something else underneath it over the back, shoulders and quarters–I assume that’s where the Welltex stuff is.
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has anybody tried the Horze/B Vertigo wool blend coolers?
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I have a high neck cooler, 60% wool/40%poly. It wicks almost as well as pure wool and much better than fleece. I have washed it cool at the laundromat and it air dries fairly quickly so seems a good compromise. I layer it over an Irish knit cooler when mare is really sweaty or after a cool weather bath.
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