I wrote all this out in a paragraph but I think I’ll shorten it.
Filly
Height @ Withers: 15.2
Height @ butt: 15.3-16
Length: ~72" (I measured a little off)
Age: 2 years, 5 months
Breed: Oldenburg out of Sempatico & TB Mare
She has been slowly and consistently growing since being a foal with no major growth spurts yet. Pasture raised on grass. Obviously it’s difficult to predict how fast horses will grow, but I’m looking to err on the safe side without being totally ridiculous.
How much room for growth do you think I could expect out of any blankets I buy? A year? 6 months? I’m not sure how length works in terms of horse growth. Should I expect any surprise 3" spurts in length? :lol:
A side note I have a journal log all set up for measurement tracking and other sorts of fun stuff regarding horse development so in a year I’ll be able to come back and say “this is what I experienced over the course of a year in young horse growth”.
My you’re very dedicated to this process! I guess it depends on where you are too. I’m in Ireland and so I’m blanketing for constant rain and some warmth. In the summer it can go down to the high 40’s with rain. So by this time they’re down to their summer hair coats and so it’s necessary for the mediums to come back out. And then last week in similar temps I had the light wts out.
So I have a med and lt for everyone. This includes my just turning 3 yo filly. She has been in a 6ft or I think 72 for a year now. She gets hand me downs! It’s not really height but the length and depth of chest and butt. She’s a powerhouse but short coupled. I would expect her to go up one size eventually. I have a 15.2 in a 6.6 which I think is 78. She is longer and has a very deep chest. My just turned 7 yo is only 16.2 but moved up to a 7ft which I think is 82!
And as always it depends on the make and model. I tend to stick with Horseware as their a bit deeper and do last. Having said all that I’m a sucker for entering “free rug” comps on Facebook and I’m sure all my friends think I’m short blankets or something! I just would like one new one I can see the original Color on for a short time! LOL! I think from the details you’ve given me that maybe a 75 would be appropriate. But most places will let you try on and bring back. You don’t want snug that fits now.
Assuming you take into account how a brand fits, whether it runs small, large, or on track with your actual measurements, you can usually get away with 1, maybe 2 sizes larger up to a certain point if all you want to do is get through a Winter.
Since she’s over 2, you might want to stick with 1 size larger.
[QUOTE=ladyfreckles;6779157]
I wrote all this out in a paragraph but I think I’ll shorten it.
Filly
Height @ Withers: 15.2
Height @ butt: 15.3-16
Length: ~72" (I measured a little off)
Age: 2 years, 5 months
Breed: Oldenburg out of Sempatico & TB Mare
She has been slowly and consistently growing since being a foal with no major growth spurts yet. Pasture raised on grass. Obviously it’s difficult to predict how fast horses will grow, but I’m looking to err on the safe side without being totally ridiculous.
How much room for growth do you think I could expect out of any blankets I buy? A year? 6 months? I’m not sure how length works in terms of horse growth. Should I expect any surprise 3" spurts in length? :lol:
A side note I have a journal log all set up for measurement tracking and other sorts of fun stuff regarding horse development so in a year I’ll be able to come back and say “this is what I experienced over the course of a year in young horse growth”.[/QUOTE]
If your baby is already 2.5 years old, I don’t think you would have any more MAJOR growth spurts. If you bought a blanket one size too large, it should fit for quite a long time to come. For my weanling and yearling I usually buy 1-2 sizes too big in the fall. By the time spring comes around they usually fit perfectly.
[QUOTE=Equilibrium;6779306]
My you’re very dedicated to this process! I guess it depends on where you are too. I’m in Ireland and so I’m blanketing for constant rain and some warmth. In the summer it can go down to the high 40’s with rain. So by this time they’re down to their summer hair coats and so it’s necessary for the mediums to come back out. And then last week in similar temps I had the light wts out.
So I have a med and lt for everyone. This includes my just turning 3 yo filly. She has been in a 6ft or I think 72 for a year now. She gets hand me downs! It’s not really height but the length and depth of chest and butt. She’s a powerhouse but short coupled. I would expect her to go up one size eventually. I have a 15.2 in a 6.6 which I think is 78. She is longer and has a very deep chest. My just turned 7 yo is only 16.2 but moved up to a 7ft which I think is 82!
And as always it depends on the make and model. I tend to stick with Horseware as their a bit deeper and do last. Having said all that I’m a sucker for entering “free rug” comps on Facebook and I’m sure all my friends think I’m short blankets or something! I just would like one new one I can see the original Color on for a short time! LOL! I think from the details you’ve given me that maybe a 75 would be appropriate. But most places will let you try on and bring back. You don’t want snug that fits now.
Terri[/QUOTE]
In Seattle our summers are usually pretty nice, but Summers are actually late June-early July through the end of September. Last year it rained through most of June. Winter is just cold and overcast with drizzle but in the spring and fall (Spring especially) we get some heavy rain and lots of mud. Blankies for the rain are a god-send, especially when you have horses that like to roll in mud.
I like horseware too. In your experience is there a huge difference between Amigo and Rambo sizing? I’m thinking of ordering from Smatpak just while I figure out what fits. I was thinking of doing the smaller, more accurate size in the sheet (since that’s the cheapest an it’s better if that fits closely) and the top layers are a size larger thus fitting over each other. I dunno.
Yeah, I’m really interested and excited in this whole process! Of course I do worry that it will be akin to watching a pot boil.
[QUOTE=JB;6779457]Assuming you take into account how a brand fits, whether it runs small, large, or on track with your actual measurements, you can usually get away with 1, maybe 2 sizes larger up to a certain point if all you want to do is get through a Winter.
Since she’s over 2, you might want to stick with 1 size larger.[/QUOTE]
I suppose my ideal is a blanket that fits well with room for 1-2" of growth. If that growth happens and the blanket is outgrown by winter again I can just sell them in the local horse classifieds and buy new ones (especially if they’re only used for 5 months–I’m pretty good at taking care of barn blankets). This is something to consider, thank you!
The breeder has been feeding her a diet to keep growth steady rather than “spurty”. When introducing a high quality grain into the diet for work I do worry that it may cause a growth spurt or speed up the growth. The past few from the same mare have been slow growers. But if you’re saying this, that is good to know. Then I can order either a blanket that runs large or is a size too big and not worry so much!
Introducing a higher quality grain isn’t going to cause a growth spurt You could cause that by feeding too many calories, but at her age, it’s not terribly likely. The problem is, if you do make a change and you do end up with a growth spurt, you’ll never know if that spurt would have happened regardless - more than a few horse have suddenly shot up at 3 or even 4
In the fall of 2011, when my gelding was a long yearling, I bought him a sz 75" turnout blanket, which was one size larger than he needed. This past fall in 2012, I measured him and he was exactly at 75", so didn’t need to buy another one. However, last time I put it on him (approx. 2 weeks or so ago) his butt is beginning to stick out the back, so he hit a growth spurt sometime between October and the end of the year. I plan to wait and not remeasure him length-wise again until this coming fall, and base my decision on what he’s like then.
And if it helps, I have a TB mare that just turned 6. I measured her the same time I did my gelding last fall; she’d grown an inch in height over the past year, but was still the same length, so her blankie still fits fine. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell. I expected my mare to fill out some (which she did throughout last year), but was surprised when she grew a full inch as well.
[QUOTE=JB;6779809]
Introducing a higher quality grain isn’t going to cause a growth spurt You could cause that by feeding too many calories, but at her age, it’s not terribly likely. The problem is, if you do make a change and you do end up with a growth spurt, you’ll never know if that spurt would have happened regardless - more than a few horse have suddenly shot up at 3 or even 4 :)[/QUOTE]
She isn’t on grain at all right now! That’s my concern :lol:
I think, since she’s in between sizes, (her actual measurement was more like 70.5 but I measured in the wrong place) I’ll just buy the size 72s.
Mine usually are mostly done growing majoring by this point. Here’s my experience… I do not like amigo or Rambo because the chest closures do not allow for adjustment. This causes the blanket to fit incorrectly if it is even a little big or small. This is why I buy all my blankets with the old fashioned buckle closures up front, as it can be adjusted as they grow. Just my personal preference.
And I buy only Amigo or Rambos because I find the neck openings too big on he babies on most other brands. The blanket hangs down belw the point of shoulder.
Even if you know your horse is going to grow, don’t buy more than one size too big. The blanket won’t fit right, it will be too big all over and hang too at off in he back. His makes the blanket sit down on the horses back, behind the withers, and it becomes uncomfortable. It should sit up and be carried by the shoulders. Better to buy cheapest blanket that will do the job, since it will only last a season, then buy a good brand when growth is done.
I usually buy one size larger for my youngsters. If the blanket size I am looking for is not available I will go two sizes larger if need be. I also prefer to buy them the blankets that are adjustable either one full size larger or smaller which really helps if they are narrow in the chest or if they hit a growth spurt mid winter (for example). I actually bought a jeffers brand rainsheet for one of my yearlings for the first time this fall and quite like it (It doesn’t adjust one size up/down though)! It doesn’t rub, and fits higher up the withers too which is nice on the young ones!
[QUOTE=lauriep;6781032]
And I buy only Amigo or Rambos because I find the neck openings too big on he babies on most other brands. The blanket hangs down belw the point of shoulder.
Even if you know your horse is going to grow, don’t buy more than one size too big. The blanket won’t fit right, it will be too big all over and hang too at off in he back. His makes the blanket sit down on the horses back, behind the withers, and it becomes uncomfortable. It should sit up and be carried by the shoulders. Better to buy cheapest blanket that will do the job, since it will only last a season, then buy a good brand when growth is done.[/QUOTE]
That’s crazy… The one amigo I have has always fit low on my horses withers lol! Crazy…
Thanks for the tips people! It’s funny how anecdotal things are about horses. Perhaps it’s different neck shape?
[QUOTE=rosebudranch;6780666]
Mine usually are mostly done growing majoring by this point. [/QUOTE]
She’s a slow grower and she’s definitely not done yet (she’s in a butt-high unbalanced ugly stage). Which is why it’s so hard to tell. Since I won’t be using blankets over the summer, I went a size up for winter blankets. She’s in between a 69 and a 72 so I just went with 72". If it’s a little big now it’ll fit next winter I think.
I usually start the season in a size too big and put darts in the shoulders so they don’t sag too low in the chest. By early spring I have usually removed the darts and the blanket fits, if spring is cold late, they usually are starting to show a bit of bum.
[QUOTE=sherian;6810802]
I usually start the season in a size too big and put darts in the shoulders so they don’t sag too low in the chest. By early spring I have usually removed the darts and the blanket fits, if spring is cold late, they usually are starting to show a bit of bum.[/QUOTE]
if you put darts in a horseware blanket (and maybe others?) you are piercing the waterproof membrane and you will no longer have a waterproof blanket. this is why you never sew a horseware product.
The stitches are put through the binding - I just fold over the binding about an inch between the neck and point of shoulder so the blanket sits better on the point of shoulder, and doesn’t hang to low in the chest. It is literally about 4 stitches, not a full dart into the shoulder fabric - I am not that good or motivated a seamstress.
piercing the material on any horseware blanket will ruin the waterproofing where the needle goes thru - i am pretty sure the binding is wateroroof too?
You could cause that by feeding too many calories, but at her age, it’s not terribly likely. The problem is, if you do make a change and you do end up with a growth spurt, you’ll never know if that spurt would have happened regardless - more than a few horse have suddenly shot up at 3 or even 4 