Looking for recommendations for rainsheets for two pasture pets, a welsh A and a mini.
Would like a **breathable light weight rain sheet for prevention of rain scald.
The fit is really important because the welsh has a square or flat back, and I am having a tough time finding anything suitable. For the mini it is tough to find anything suitable small enough. Any suggestions would be great.
I also have a welsh pony and minis. Big Deeās and SSTackās(Schneiders) mini blankets work on my minis. For the welsh pony I have had good luck with the Saxon brand, but my welsh has very prominent withers, so the fit may differ.
Kensington stable sheets fit my minis well, they are very adjustable. I am not sure if they make turnout sheets though.
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The amigos have been my favorite go-to mini blankets. My larger mini (36" high) fits well in it and we made it do-able for my 34" girl. They both do best in a 44"- 46" size blanket.
I tried one from Big Dees that claimed to be a mini rain sheet, but it was very cheaply made, not lined, and it was not waterproof. (it was the tough-1 brandā¦never again). I also have tried Schneiders and have had luck with some of theirs but limited sizing.
Go to justforponies.com and they have the best inventory and are very helpful!
Depending on your location, be very careful blanketing the mini. Even when I clip mine, they tend to run much warmer than my āregular horsesā. I had to play around with it and come up with a schedule that works for them, which was pretty off from my horses schedule!
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Are your horses forced to be out in the rain without access to shelter? If they have shelter, I wouldnāt blanket either of them. I have miniās and they grow coats like bears and over heat very easily. Many days, even a sheet would be too much. I understand where you are coming from with the flat back, but pony breeds usually grow such a thick coat that the rain doesnāt even get down to the skin.
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Weatherbeeta fits fat ponies the best, at least mine. For the mini, try sstack or justforponies.
That is what I was thinking.
My mini is in full winter coat already.
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Minis:
*Shed out fully by July
*Begin growing Winter coat in September
:rolleyes:
I suggest Minitack.com.
IIRC, thatās where I got my rainsheet for my 34" mini, of stout build.
Which he has worn exactly once.
Same for his Winter blanket - that might have been on him 3 or 4 times in 2yrs.
Sorry, cannot recall the brand of either.
But my horses - TWH, Hackney Pony & mini - are out 24/7 in all weather, with access to stalls for shelter.
I rarely blanket any of them, unless we are having a heavy, wet snow that goes through to the skin on their backs.
Or the rare Polar Vortex temps for more than a day.
Even then, blankets come off as soon as they are dry or temps go back to positive numbers.
The floof seems to insulate them better than any blanket.
Just chiming back inā¦āprevention of rain scald.ā Iām not really even sure what that is.
None of my horses have ever had rain scald, and they are rarely blanketed. And never blanketed because of rain, although they do have 24/7 access to shelter. That said, unless it is a hard, driving rain, they donāt usually come in.
I have blankets for all my horses, just in case of extremely inclement weather or illness or some other reason. But Iāve only blanketed the mini once in 8 years.
If you are having issues with rain scald, rain rot, or other skin issues - I might consider other causes other than being wet. Horses are waterproof. 
But horses with metabolic issues, for example, may be more prone to things like skin fungus - and minis and ponies are the poster children for metabolic issues. Might be worth asking your vet.
My donkeys are about the size of a section A welsh. While donkeys arenāt conformed identically to horses, they also have very flat backs. Iāve had my jennet since she was a weanling, so weāve gone up through the sizes from mini blankets to her current size 58"/60", then other donkey wears a 64"/66". Iāve tried several brands with them, most with so-so results at best. Nothing ever seems to fit ideally.
Schneiderās (sstack) has a good selection of sizes at affordable prices; I just really hate their products. Mainly what I hate is the quality control-- Iāve bought so much stuff from them over the years and some products have been good, but Iāve had a lot of problems with wonky fit (even within the same blanket style/size), lack of waterproofing, faulty stitching, etc. But you canāt beat their selection of products for the little guys in terms of options and quantity, which is why most of my donkey clothes come from there.
I bought at size 60" Weatherbeeta Comfitec classic fit sheet last year on sale. While I usually donāt love Weatherbeeta stuff for my horses, it has been my favorite piece of donkey clothing Iāve purchased to date. It fits perfectly, the waterproofing is good, and itās stood up admirably to donkey rough housing. From here on out, I think Iāll try to stick with that line for my small ones. I think it would probably work just as well for a pony. The sizes go down to 48", which would fit a large mini, but not a smaller one.
IME Schneiderās mini blankets arenāt good. They donāt hold up well and they proportions are weird. The one I have hung down past the knees on my 32āĀ mini. Theyāre also essentially stable blankets since the waterproofing is non existent. Letās not even get into the issues I had with customer service and their lack of willingness to honor their warranty for these and the other blankets I got from them.
Iāve had much better luck with Kensington blankets for them.
