Blanketing Advice

[fledermaus]

I guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets. If it’s cold and windy enough to make a wet horse cold, a medium weight turnout seems a lot more useful, and would make all this discussion about whether unlined sheets are colder than no sheet at all, superfluous.

The only turn out blankets I use these days are a fly sheet for summer, a medium turnout for significant cold, wind and wet, and a heavy turnout for monster cold, which I use a few times a winter. And most of the time, she’s an unclothed fur pig, apparently quite comfy.

[LCDR]

I am one of those obsessive folks you hear about who sometimes changes blankets three or four times a day. Each horse is 24/7 turnout with free access to both stall and a covered area with wind protection, though they rarely will go into a stall by choice despite weather being nasty (unless their internal clocks tell them it is feeding time).

Years ago I decided on Weatherbeeta which IMO is a decent blanket at a decent price, and they are consistent in fit and are are often on sale. I cannot remember the last time I paid list price for a blanket. I prefer the middle of the product line simply because I am comfortable with the hardware on them. Each horse has six blankets - zero, 50g, 100g, 220g, 360g, and 440g of insulation.

I have not seen any of these blankets soak through even during full days of rain. The chest area may be wet inside because water can run down the neck, but the rest of the underside of the blankets is dry. To get to the point of my lengthy post, every time I remove a blanket, the hair on the back and down the sides of the horses is compressed and slicked down. So in my experience blankets do compress the coat, and the result kogically must be less insulating ability of the hair, which is then substituted forand added to by the insulation in the blanket.

Compression of hair is likely caused in part by the horse walking and grazing, as the blanket slides back and forth across the hair, rather than just resting immobile on top of the hair.

[cnd8]

@fledermaus

guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets. If it’s cold and windy enough to make a wet horse cold, a medium weight turnout seems a lot more useful, and would make all this discussion about whether unlined sheets are colder than no sheet at all, superfluous.

Perhaps, but I just don’t have one. And as infrequently as this happens here, I don’t truly see the need to purchase one for a couple times per year. He has plenty of hair for cold and dry. But when cold and wet combine, I want some sort of protection so he at least stays dry.

[JB]

@fledermaus

I guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets. If it’s cold and windy enough to make a wet horse cold, a medium weight turnout seems a lot more useful, and would make all this discussion about whether unlined sheets are colder than no sheet at all, superfluous.

60s and raining in April when Winter coats are on their way out, can be quite cold for my horses between the lack of real hair plus what’s usually a cold rain, but it’s too warm for a medium weight, so a sheet is perfect

Temperatures aren’t always cold enough to not make a horse hot with a medium weight

[LCDR]

Who remembers the days when the only turnout blanket choice you had was between the stiff canvas New Zealand rug with real fleece lining and leather straps or no rug at all. My vets are getting so young recently that none of them has ever seen one.

[RedHorses]

Those things are where the idea of blankets eliminating fluff ability comes from. They were so heavy, and worse when wet!

I’m thankful for modern materials. Though I have encountered the odd unusually heavy blanket, most are quite light these days.

[RedHorses]

@fledermaus

I guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets. If it’s cold and windy enough to make a wet horse cold, a medium weight turnout seems a lot more useful, and would make all this discussion about whether unlined sheets are colder than no sheet at all, superfluous.

The point is that the rainsheet keeps the horse dry and blocks the wind. I use rainsheets more often than any other weight.

The other point is keeping a horse cleaner in mud season!

[emeraldcity]

@fledermaus

I guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets.

Here’s how the two horses in my life use sheets-

One wears his pretty much only in the shoulder seasons. In the fall, he doesn’t really have a coat yet to keep him warm, and he is better off if he’s kept a bit warm generally, so he wears a sheet if it’s under ~55 and it’s going to be wet or windy. He gets a 100g at 45deg ish typically. His sheet is probably his least used blanket, but I do use it.

Other horse’s winter coat isn’t very fluffy, but she doesn’t really ever seem to be cold. She pretty much wears a sheet all winter to protect from wind/wet, and keep her a bit cleaner since she is regularly ridden. She wears a blanket with fill when it gets down to the teens or so.

I also like a sheet on hand in case some other blanket it gets torn or loses waterproofness or something, I can always keep using it with a sheet over it in a pinch. Cheaper than having extras of every weight.

Not prescribing my practices for anyone else, just examples of two very different horses who both do use a turnout sheet.

[lenapesadie]

@LCDR

Years ago I decided on Weatherbeeta which IMO is a decent blanket at a decent price, and they are consistent in fit and are are often on sale. I cannot remember the last time I paid list price for a blanket. I prefer the middle of the product line simply because I am comfortable with the hardware on them. Each horse has six blankets - zero, 50g, 100g, 220g, 360g, and 440g of insulation.

Do you have a link to a Weatherbeeta 50 gram? I can’t recall ever seeing that weight in a WB. My pony needs a 50 and I think the WB cut (and price point) would suit him nicely.

[SMF11]

@fledermaus

I guess I’ve never quite seen the point of waterproof sheets. If it’s cold and windy enough to make a wet horse cold, a medium weight turnout seems a lot more useful

For your horses. It does not therefore follow that this is true for all horses.

[LCDR]

I ordered the 50 gram blankets directly from Weatherbeeta. Their web site occasionally has decent sales too, and shipping is free and in my experience the blankets have arrived in under a week.

The Official WeatherBeeta Website | Order Online | Quality, Comfort, &...

[lenapesadie]

Found it!

They only have the light gray color in stock and it’s a bit pricey

Green-Tec 900d Standard Neck Lite Plus

[LCDR]

The ones I have are a different style. 1200 Denier shell and 50g polyfill. Weatherbeeta calls the 50g fill weight “Lite Plus” if you want to try that in a search. Mine were about half the price of the eco friendly model that you found. It only came in blue.

[lenapesadie]

I will search for it!

ETA: interestingly the ones I can find for sale are all across the pond!

[fledermaus]

@SMF11

For your horses. It does not therefore follow that this is true for all horses.

exactly so.

[pompeiii]

I have a couple of these too. Bought them a few years ago from Dover for $40 on clearance. Honestly, they’re some of the best blankets I have.

[Phaedra1]

I don’t use sheets a lot, but when it is really cold rainy or windy I have three Mio horse sheets that I like to use. They keep even a horse with a thick coat, comfortable without being to cold are hot

[CM17]

To chime in, even though this particular weather event is past….

Our herd lives outside 95% of the time with shelters that provide wind breaks and coverage but only one of our 3 typically uses them. It gets down to low 30’s here, sometime 20’s, in the winter. We get a lot of rain in the Sierra Nevada foothills and the weather forecasts are increasingly unreliable as to amount and timing of precipitation and wind. No one is clipped and they all grow a decent winter coat. I use a lite fill blanket when it gets down to low 30’s. I throw a waterproof sheet on them anytime the temp will dip below 40 and/or we have rain plus wind. I like the SmartPak Ultimate high neck rain sheet and the Amigo sheet with neck piece - treated with NikWax the beginning of the season they stay waterproof throughout. Yes, the sheets do get a bit heavy after several hours of rain and take a while to dry out, but they have a moisture barrier on the inside that breathes. I run my hands under there and they always feel warm (but not hot) and dry. Our wooly 28 year old WelshXQH loves his sheets and blankets and “helps” me get them on.

[cnd8]

I ended up purchasing a new medium weight blanket for him for anytime it drops below freezing, which to us here in South Georgia, is not that often. As a matter of fact, he has worn it 5 times total so far. lol

[TWH_Girl]

It will last a long time then! Like my heavyweights do.