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Boarding barn blanketing help

People keep saying this and I believe you/them, but when I was a barn manager I despised liner systems. So much static. So many horses that get chest/shoulder sore during blanket season, so I’m dodging a shark attack trying to undo the velcro. Never did figure out how to add the liner back in without a full undress/redress, at which point I might as well have just swapped blankets. I’m happy it works for others, but I remain utterly baffled. :smile:

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Agree (and I use and love the liner system).

Liner system is great for adjusting the main turnout blanket (i.e. temp is dropping, mid weight (200 g liner + shell) is not enough, I’m going to swap to 300 g liner + shell).

Liner system is great for washing the liner that goes against the skin, frequently, without stripping weather proofing.

Liner system is terrible to check and swap in and out, not only because the neck loops are tricky to hook but also because it is hard to gauge which liner you have (ie. 100g, 200g, 300g are all the same colour).

If you know the barn will be warm, easiest is a stable blanket (basically a liner with belly straps), with a turnout over top. Keep the stable blanket whatever weight you need (here in the great white north 200 g works for clipped horses, maybe 100 g for non-clipped in the midst of winter), add another blanket overtop. A sheet for warmer days, a mid weight if you’re dropping to -15C or whatever is cold in your area.

I like the idea of paying extra for custom blanketing if you can arrange it and are not too parsimonious. At a previous barn for one of my horses, a fellow boarder who lived nearby offered blanket changes for $5 a day. It was well worth it, since I lived a good hour’s drive away. The barn owner had no problem with that - she had noticed my horse shivering and was the one who brought up the idea.

At my boarding barn, one blanket on/off daily is included in the monthly board (typically, throw a rain sheet on for turnout and take it off once stalled for the night).
If the boarders want custom blanket changes, they have the option to pay a $60 supplement monthly.
When I was working at this barn, I hated having to fiddle with liners, stable blankets and whatnot. Liners would twist and turn, horses needed to be untangled in the stall or paddock, it was so annoying and a waste of our time. Some boarders over blanket their unclipped horses at the littlest change in temperature, it gets ridiculous.

My goal is to keep things simple for everyone, so I typically use 3 blankets: one no-fill rain sheet, one 100 fill rain sheet, and one Medium Weight turnout sheet. My mare grows a decent winter coat, for a Tb, and has not needed anything more, even in our New England winters. She is rarely blanketed at night - the barn rarely gets colder than 20F and my horse gets plenty of hay.

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Sounds like you have a blanket ordered for him already but wanted to chime in from a mid-west tundra. I’m not a boarding barn but own a dozen+ horses and have a bit of a commute to a full time job. So blankets don’t get swapped out often and they’re most times left on for 2-3 months at a time throughout winter. They’re checked often for rubs and fit. But winter between november (sometimes earlier) and february doesn’t allow for blankets to come off for any amount of time. All horses live outside with shelters.

I mostly have Schneiders Storm Shield contour collar blankets because they’re a bit cheaper than the fitted V-tek blankets. I have very few rub issues. In fact, the only one that gets even minimal shoulder rubs is a TB (built more like a QH) who is injury prone and manages to destroy/catch/snag her blankets and is simply hard to live with sometimes. I just find her to be an anomaly.

The remainder only end up with rubbed out manes where the collar hits. Otherwise they’re fine with keeping their clothes on for months at a time. I have a few, and love, the fitted V-tek blankets (the QH model). It sits a little further back and leaves their mane completely uncovered ; which is great if you show and don’t want his mane rubbed out. I have had zero other rubs and issues with this model and would love to outfit everyone with these. I may slowly replace my counter collars with the V-teks over time.

I agree with JB and avoid stable blankets and sheets. I find these to rub the most. Even my show horse kept in a heated barn has a turnout sheet so that he may have lined shoulders and gussets. I’m betting a midweight for inside and a heavy to add for turn out, or two heavies, would suit him well. If he’s truly a wuss, a heavy at 40 degrees isn’t likely to make him sweat. My show horses at home get heavies below 50 and do just fine as long as they aren’t ripping around like idiots.

I agree. But if you live in a really cold climate, that may not be an option.

My solution to this problem is to switch between different styles of blanket every few days - and the more different the styles are, the better it is. So you might go back and forth between (say) a Rambo and a Weatherbeeta, changing and washing any liner or stable sheet you may be using underneath at the same time.

I don’t think you’ll find barn staff that are ready to do all this, OP, so maybe you could change blankets yourself, when you come to ride or groom? it sounds complicated, I know, but you have to change occasionally anyhow, just because of ice or mud or some such thing, so you might as well lessen the chance of rubbing at the same time.

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@Pico_Banana I have the same fitting problem with one of my horses and have found the Rhino Wug to be the best answer for him.

I love the Wugs and find that they keep the horse drier and warmer than a regular neck turnout, so in my SE climate they negate the need for a neck cover no matter how much rain we get. The downside to them is that they do not accommodate the Horseware liner system. Still, if I had to choose just one turnout it would be a 100 gram Wug.

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I’ve successfully used Horseware liners under Rambo and Amigo Wugs for several years, although last winter my 3 year old did manage to remove his liner twice in the pasture. The liner has never budged on my older horse. I just clip the tail strap of the turnout to the rear rings on the liner.

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Really? Good to know! Thanks.

This! I’m in Ontario, Canada and it’s VERY cold in winter. My small bank barn is very warm and comfortable, so the horses only need light blankets indoors and range from medium to heavy depending on how very cold and windy it is. It’s a bit cumbersome to have to change back and forth from the different outdoors , mostly in terms of storage, butnwithn2 large wheelbarrows I unblanket in order by stall and leave them in the wheelbarrow overnight and blanket in reverse order so it’s easy. They can be hung overnight in the wash stall to dry if needed. LOVE LOVE LOVE summer!,