Cooler Recommendations

[rockonxox]

It’s getting to be that time of year (hopefully) that I’ll need a cooler. I have a massive sweating horse (doesn’t matter the weather, he sweats) and last winter it would take hours to get him dry. What we have now is just your basic fleece over the ear tie behind the rump cooler, and it does not absorb enough for him or get most of his body dry. Works great for the other horses, but not mr. sweat like crazy. We went through 2 coolers a night last year (removed the first once it was damp and put the next one on).

I’d like to invest in a cooler that has a neck piece and also buckles under the stomach so that as much surface area as possible is covered. He needs an 84". I’ve found a few and was wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on them? Are there any other suggestions that aren’t over $125? I will probably have to end up getting two so I can rotate them every other day.

WikSmart Cooler (my favorite based on how it is put together, but does a large actually fit large horses?)
WeatherBeeta Fleece Cooler Combo Neck
WeatherBeeta Fleece Combo Neck Cooler (cheaper than above, difference is that neck is permanently attached?)
Centaur High Neck Turbo Dry Sheet
Amigo All In 1 Jersey Cooler (has a polyester outside, fleece inside… not sure I like the polyester part)

[outerbanks77]

I really like the Weatherbeeta Wick-Dri coolers, but they don’t make the combo neck anymore. You MIGHT be able to hunt one down in an 84". IME, the fleece coolers tend to keep the horse too warm unless it’s really cold, and are too thick to really wick the sweat away.

I don’t have experience with it, but if I need to buy a new cooler, I’ll probably try the Rambo Dry Rug. I like that the neck part rolls up and it sounds like it’s a lighter wicking material than some of the fleece coolers.

You might try a scrim in combination with your cooler too, to allow for more air flow underneath.

[Scribbler]

I find a real wool cooler is more effective at drying off a horse than a fleece. It wicks the moisture tonthe outside and the surface next to the horse feels dry even when the outside is beaded with water drops.

[Horseman15]

I have a few different coolers but my go to, especially when pressed for time, is my Turbo Dry cooler. My horse is like yours but that helps dry him off the fastest of the ones I have.

[luvmyhackney]

I purchased the WikSmart cooler. It works really well by itself. It doesn’t slip or move and I don’t know about sizing cause I purchased the pony one and it fits decent.

My second cooler I go to is my thick wool cooler and clip it with blanket clips to cover everything.

If its very cold, I use the wool cooler under the Wik Smart Cooler.

If my pony is extremely sweaty, I just break out the blow drier. It works the best.

[IPEsq]

There aren’t many non-custom options (Schneider’s may have one) for wool or wool blend with a neck piece, but I think wool is much better than fleece for a sweaty horse. Sometimes, I even pick acrylic blends over fleece. I think they are more breathable.

[rockonxox]

@IPEsq

There aren’t many non-custom options (Schneider’s may have one) for wool or wool blend with a neck piece, but I think wool is much better than fleece for a sweaty horse. Sometimes, I even pick acrylic blends over fleece. I think they are more breathable.

I found the Dura Tech-Contour Wool Blend Cooler that is 80/20 (80 wool, 20 acrylic). It is within my price range. That might be something for me to look into.

[joiedevie99]

Besides body clipping, the only thing that really makes a different for these super sweaty beasts is a two-layer system.

Put an irish knit on underneath - either cotton/poly, poly, or the newfangled Rambo Airmax (which I love). I’ve never liked the all cotton ones.

Then put a mid weight fleece cooler over the top. I have a few Eskadrons that I like, and a few of the striped Rambos (which are heavier).

Then you can pull the bottom layer out after 10 or 15 minutes.

[Larbear]

I like the Rambo Dry Rug:

https://shop.horseware.com/product/rambo-dry-rug-supreme-no-fill/

You can use the neck cover or you can roll it back like a big collar and I love how it wraps around the horse’s body I have one for my guy and he looks all snuggly cuddly when I put it on him

[rockonxox]

I’ll look into doing a clip for him this winter. I had looked at the Rambo Dry Rug and the opening in the chest just seemed weird, but it has a lot of good reviews (and recommendations here) so worth a look as well!

[theresak]

@rockonxox

I found the Dura Tech-Contour Wool Blend Cooler that is 80/20 (80 wool, 20 acrylic). It is within my price range. That might be something for me to look into.

I have this one for a horse that wears a size 84/87 turnout and it works great. I also have the Schneider’s quarter sheet in the wool blend as I don’t like using fleece to ride because of the static.

You will want 2 coolers though - probably one wool or blend and one can be fleece or an Irish knit. Layering helps when the horse gets really sweaty on a cold night. You just pull the under layer when it gets wet.

[Mukluk]

I like the wool coolers. They don’t collect everything (bits of hay et al.) like the fleece ones do and they look so nice. They stay warm even if wet.

[RedHorses]

I have boarded at a bunch of different barns over the last few years. It was quite surprising to me to find that I needed different cooler set ups in different barns.

Too much cooler in a warm barn keeps the horse too warm and can cause him to start sweating again, even if he was cool when he came back to the barn. A cold barn makes whatever cooler the horse is wearing wick better.

I have used wool, fleece, my quartersheet, a mesh WB wick easy cooler, square, fitted, and even used a hairdryer.

I developed a bunch of techniques to help my horse cool and dry faster. The most basic being, put your cooler on as soon as you come back to the walk the final time. This allows the sweat that is steaming through his hair to condense on the outside of the cooler instead of his hair tips.

Walk the horse cool before going back to the barn. Look for that sweat steam and keep walking until it stops.

When riding we often tend to end with canter work. Moving the canter work earlier in the ride and finishing with trot means the horse is not as hot when you’re done.

Take breaks more frequently. Watch his hair coat on his shoulders and lower neck. As he works it first flattens, then turns, and then he gets wet. Watch for the turning hair, and take a walk break.

Do the harder/faster work in shorter pieces with walk between (walk work, you don’t have to loose rein dawdle around for this to work). This keeps the horse from getting as hot.

Back in the barn keep checking your horse to make sure he’s not heating up again. I found that between the hind legs gives me a better sense for how hot the horse is than the chest. If your horse does get warmer in the barn - get a lighter cooler.

I found that a modified trace clip (belly hair left unclipped below a straight line between elbow and stifle) gives me the best compromise between a warm horse outside and a cool horse under saddle/cooler. Sometimes the belly hair feels wet, but on close examination I found that the sweat steam had condensed on the hair tips and the hair close to his skin was still dry - unless I pushed the tip wet back I to his coat (like with a towel).

I hope some of these tricks help you!

[RedHorses]

:mad: Argh! CoTH deleted all my paragraph breaks AGAIN!!!

And now won’t allow me to edit. :rolleyes: I will try to fix it tomorrow. Sorry.

[SonnysMom]

I like this one: Centaur High Neck Turbo Dry Sheet. I will also layer with an Irish knit to help.
Clipping really does help a lot. I do a form of a chaser clip. For my guy I draw a line from the withers to the stifle and clip everything in front of the line except the front legs. Not my horse but like this:

For a friend’s horse that was on field board I left the top of the neck and the top of the withers more like this. I took her horse a little higher over the elbow and on the belly. (Not her horse) [IMG2=JSON]{“alt”:“jasmine clipped”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“height”:“225”,“title”:“jasmine clipped”,“width”:“300”,“src”:"http://www.competitionponies.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/jasmine-clipped-300x225.jpg)

The second clip really helps them stay cooler and dry faster without really impacting how much you need to blanket.

[RedHorses]

If you live in a climate where winters are very cold clipping the belly makes a big difference to how warm the horse is outside. More blanket weight will be needed than if the belly is left hairy.

The traditional clip patterns come from England, where they have muddy winters with the occasional freeze. Working horses would kick that mud up onto the horses’ bellies which made a mess for cooling out and drying off. Where I live we don’t see the liquid side of freezing point for more than a few days between December and March. And when we do, we still don’t see mud except in the rare minimal precipitation winter. We don’t need to clip bellies, and it’s not a high sweat area either. But a bare belly is a heat sink for a horse standing outside for hours in the cold.

[CatPS]

Love love my Centaur Turbo Dry!

[rockonxox]

Great tips. Yesterday it cooled enough (high 60s) that I borrowed a cooler from another rider. Our “barn” coolers are still packed up since yesterday was the first cold day. Lunged for about 15 minutes and rode for 20 minutes (mainly just at trot), but still had a decent sweat going on. We’ve only just started growing in the winter fuzz! I’m still weighing options on what style to get, but I’m going to order one this weekend.

I may have to just get a big ol hair dryer. I’ve definitely thought about it before Convince the barn to install some heat lamps and go the whole 9 yards.

[soloudinhere]

I like my premier equine premtex cooler. Like the thermatex but less expensive. I think there is a neck cover available but I clip so I don’t use it.

[2DogsFarm]

Old School Trick:
Stuff hay under the cooler - between horse & cooler.
The added airspace helps them dry quicker.
Bonus: they can then eat the “stuffng” once they’re dry.

I prefer fleece over wool (have both) for the ease in washing.
Especially if your horse is a bigtime sweater that wool is gonna get stinky quick.