I’ve always worn layers of fleece when riding in colder weather and never worried about its propensity to attract hay, hair or dirt around a barn until someone recently mentioned that concern to me. I’ve always looked to fleece for its ability to provide warmth without restricting my limbs and general mobility. But now I can’t help but wonder how many others don’t want to mess with it! Any thoughts?
Is the Pope Catholic? I think polar fleece gets as dirty as anything else, but it is definitely a hay magnet. Do not handle hay whilst wearing fleece unless you wish to be a snack cart for your pony. However, polar fleece worn under a different material such as a windbreaker gives you the warmth without the magnet effect- and will also block the wind. Happy trails.
Define too much. You have to weigh the pluses and minuses like with most things in life. For example I will wear a fleece jacket to the barn but threw away my fleece cooler. I could keep my jacket relatively clean but could never get the cooler clean after the first use.
I wear fleece, but never as the top layer. Too much hair and hay in about a minute flat! Don’t wear lip gloss to the barn, either, for the same reason.
And don’t even get me started on spring shedding season. Definitely a no-fleece zone then.
I do intentionally avoid it at the barn, despite my dad giving me some fleece thing every year with the comment “to keep you warm in the barn”. I like wool, which also can get messy, but for some reason seems easier to deal with.
Depends on the fleece. Some micro fleeces aren’t so bad. The fuzzy fleeces attract more stuff. I have some micro fleece that are great for the barn, but some of the heavier, textured fleece are so bad about hay winding in to them, I don’t wear them at the barn.
I try not to wear it as the top layer either. And I try to keep barn clothes separate from stuff I would wear in public.
A good low-pile fleece is worth its weight in platinum!
IMO warmth w/o weight is Heaven.
I have a 15yo jacket from Uniqlo that is my Go-To barn jacket (under a windbreaker as Mukluk suggests) & machine washes clean of hair so I can wear it on the street as well.
OTOH, the fleece cooler & saddle pad worn by DH’s Strawberry Roan still have traces of his hair some 10yrs later, despite numerous washings.
Never, ever, wear LuLu Lemons to put up a load of hay!
Fleece is great for the barn if you don’t mind that you will NEVER get all the hair out of it
I have barn ONLY fleece and NEVER GOES TO BARN fleece
like the idea too of fleece is not the top coat
I have fleece coolers for the horses and just don’t fuss that they will ALWAYS have leftover hair in them no matter how much you clean them - Hey, they are for horses
IF I needed a show dress coat (which thankfully I don’t) it would NOT be fleece
but you choose you options for what is best for you
Yes.
I figure they sell it in the tack catalogs for the girls who have grooms. :lol:
I never wore fleece as an outer layer to the barn! Always a jacket with nylon outer shell–especially during shedding season (only it had cotton knitted cuffs, which attracted long hair like a magnet).
When it got really cold I would slip into a pair of nylon ski pants with bib. Ah, those were the days! :lol: I wish I had taken some pics… 
Cuddl Duds makes long underwear/outerwear called Smooth Plus that is smooth nylon outside and brushed fleece inside! If I had a horse now I would definitely own at least a couple pair of the leggings. Comes in black and chocolate brown only.
I pretty much ONLY wear fleece. I will have other layers under it, and often a vest on top. I always wear a lower pile fleece and have really never noticed anything sticking to it much (well more than anything else - in shedding season there isn’t a surface that is free of flying fur!).
I agree that any horse clothing made of fleece will become covered with unremovable hair, hay and shavings as soon as worn, besides it’s terrible static properties. For me, I have a couple of ‘heathered’ fleece pullovers for the barn.My favorite is a heathered charcoal that doesn’t show my gray mare’s hair! Barn clothes and street clothes are not interchangable, tho.
I’ve mostly traded in fleece for wool and down. But, this is one of the reasons why I pretty much have 2 wardrobes. One that is appropriate for the barn and one that won’t get me too many weird looks in the rest of life.
Hmmmmm … Its the shavings factor as well. I don’t know if there is enough fabric softener in the world to fight off the charismatic appeal of fleece. Everything LOVES velcro’s cousin fleece (hay, shavings, cat/dog/horse hair, dust)
Does Fleece Attract Too Much Hay, Hair & Dirt Around A Barn?
Yes.
And when the hay gets inside your fleece pants, it HURTS! :eek: 
I have a fleece pullover from Old Navy, it’s really old. I don’t have a problem with hay, but hair loves it. I’ve worn various fleece gloves too, and the hay loves those. So I’d say it depends on the fleece, although hair is going to love any type of fleece.
I wear fleece all the time to the barn. The only time I find it an issue is during shedding season- I try to remember to avoid it then. Other than that, it does not seem to pick up more dirt than most other fabrics and, while it picks up more hay, the hay brushes off, so no biggie.
