Hi! I have a horse with very very thick coat and very very sensitive skin. If I do not clip him he sweats a lot, but if I clip and blanket him he gets rubbed and he tears the blanket off himself. Do you have any advice what to do? Are there any special blanlets for sensitive horses maybe?
Thank you!!
You can do a trace clip and leave him naked. Does he live in a stall or out in pasture? What is the weather like where you are? Where does he get rubs? I have had to the adjust straps and add gussets to get a better fit. I have also used a slinky for rub prone areas. I have sewn satin onto shoulder areas too. Are the blankets the correct size? A blanket repair or upholstery place would be able to help if you do not have access to a sewing machine that can make adjustments.
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My mare is a real princess and the pea. I tried slinkies and a Bossy Bib. Both helped for a while, but the rubs came back. It just took longer. She has not had a single rub since I bought the Rambo Optimo turnouts with shoulder splits, and varying weights of the shoulder split liners four years ago. I wouldn’t want to put an expensive blanket on a horse that tears them off. Perhaps there are less expensive options that have the shoulder splits (darts).
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For mine, I spray him with that orange hair moisturizer you buy from concentrate and I keep a sleezy on his shoulders. I also have gotten like slinky sleezy blankets to put over his whole body when the rubs got bad.
A proper fitting blanket also helps – but if he’s destroying them it gets expensive quick.
I’d try the moisturizer and a body sleezy!
A body sleezy is a great idea. I have one from Schneider’s. Also, make sure your blankets are nylon on the inside so they slide around easily. The microfiber and other textured interiors seem to be the worst offenders.
Is it possible to clip him with a blade that doesn’t cut as much coat off? My Lister Star clippers have the option of fine, medium and coarse blades. The fine blades are almost surgical, the medium are close to a regular clip. I haven’t tried the coarse blades, but I would think they may leave just enough hair to not be so hot, but not take off enough to be chilled. Especially if you do a chaser or Irish clip with the coarse blades.
Are you clipping with or against the hair?
Clip with the hair, and clip only as much as necessary - trace or modified trace, etc, and then clip more if you need, leaving as much on top as you can since that’s where the majority of blanket-body contact occurs.
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I find that switching between multiple blankets, in styles as different from each other as possible, helps a lot. Lots of brushing between blankets helps too.
Good luck. 
