Blanket storage

[Rae89]

Hoping someone will share some ideas with how they deal with all the winter blankets necessary to survive in the north.

I don’t have a lot of horses, and only two that wear blankets on a regular basis. But with the cold weather here I have found myself under a mound of blankets. Depending on the weather, blankets are changed out to lighter or heavier ones day to day.
My question is what do I do with all those blankets? Anything that is not in use goes in labelled tubs. But what about the ones I am using regularly? Each horse has a 250 stable, 100 turnout, 250 turnout, and a 450 turnout, plus coolers. I find myself just hanging them over the empty stall when not in use. But I would like a way to neatly hang them up. They all won’t fit on the blanket bar at the stall.
I used to hang them in a corner of the barn, but the hooks have to be so high to keep the blankets off the ground I can’t reach them. (definitely vertically challenged)

Does anyone have some super smart efficient way to deal with all there blankets?

[Jealoushe]

This is what I use https://www.doversaddlery.com/apple-pckr-5-arm-blanket-rack/p/X1-270054/

Just keep a step stool handy!

I also fold rain and thin sheets neatly, when they are folded regularly they become very flat to fold and you can just stack them on a trunk or something similar, hardly take up any room.

[Scribbler]

I use a broom stick to hang blankets from hooks I can’t reach from the ground.

It’s really wet here so blankets need to be hung up to dry.

[mep0726]

https://www.doversaddlery.com/collapsible-tack-rack/p/X1-2759/

I used to board at a barn that would hang these over the top of the empty stall they used for storage and hang them on the hooks by the triangular metal piece near the withers of a blanket (where the blanket hood would attached). If the blanket didn’t have a hood attachment piece, they would just hang it by one of the front buckles. It worked very well! As someone who is also quite vertically challenged, I liked it because I could just lift the blanket up to get it off.

I also used to board at a barn that would just throw the dirty blankets into a box with a lid and then pull them out as needed. I would not recommend that, as I wound up with some extremely smelly/nasty blankets from where they would throw wet ones in there and they sat for awhile…

[StormyDay]

I have a three tier shelf that I store them on. However, I’ve found that rolling them up like sleeping bags is the fastest and easiest way to store them.

Of course, I also have blankets for 5 horses on that so you probably don’t need that big of a shelf.

[Pico_Banana]

I think you need to be strategic about which blankets you have on the stall front blanket bar at any given time. I also gave up on the idea of stable sheets/blankets a while ago. They just keep their turnouts on even while inside. My one concession to that is I will swap a sheet for a cotton sheet inside. And I like to keep coolers and cotton sheets separate from turnout blankets, which tend to get a little gross. So I use the blanket bar for turnouts and a blanket bag (hung on the stall but not on the bar) for coolers and cotton sheets.

I’ve ordered one of the apple picker hangers but it’s on crazy back order.

[kiwihill3000]

I’m spoiled! At my barn, we have a large closet with built in cubbies along the walls. Blankets that aren’t currently weather appropriate go in the cubbies (which are labeled with owner’s names), and blankets that are are hung on stall doors. Coolers and quarter sheets go with the owner’s stuff… either on their saddle or in their tack trunk. I think that some sort of labeled shelving is the easiest way to keep currently unused blankets.

[Scribbler]

I do have a tall Rubbermaid type closet thing with multiple shelves where I store clean off season blankets and saddle pads. I keep the doors jammed shut with a bag of salt or other heavy thing because the mice will nest in fabric. But once blankets go into use for the season and get dirty wet and smelly, I tend to leave them hanging from hooks on the rafters in my tack loft or hanging on the stall door in a way that lets them dry out. In the spring they will go to the blanket laundry service and back into the cupboard.

[SLW]

If you search online various grooms for big name farms have shared how to fold a blanket nicely before you put it on a rail. That has made all the difference for my barn. Tidy & orderly.

[Scribbler]

Folding is all very well, but when your blankets get regularly soaked in the rain they need to hang to dry!

[joiedevie99]

We have some extra-deep blanket bars that hold a decent amount. Then we have the blanket hangers in the laundry room for drying wet blankets, and a shelf unit also in the laundry room for stacks of irish knits, coolers, etc. We keep heavies on the shelf until the first super cold day, and then we move the sheets in and bring the heavies out.

[ayrabz]

I know lots of reccomends for ‘dead freezer’ for grain/supplements. but I also have a ‘smaller’ ‘dead freezer’ that is upright. and shelves inside. I personally, intend to keep all clean ones here. So much easier than digging ‘down’ thru a bin of them (plus no mice nests) now, storage for the dirty ones? I haven’t solved that yet…my wall space is almost non existent for that nice rack shown----but I"ll be looking in the barn today to see i there is a spot! love it!

[Xanthoria]

Why don’t barns use a sturdy laundry pulley for drying blankets? The warm air rises so they dry faster, they’re well out if the way up in the rafters, and easy to access by letting down the pulley when needed. Easy to make is with one bar per blanket or the traditional style with 5-6 bars on one pulley.