I had and wanted to love a Schneiders Teknofleece, one of their high neck turnout options. I cant remember the specific model now but it was 1200D, black with red binding. I LOVED the weight and breathability. I didn’t love the fit or waterproofing. It stayed waterproof for about 18 months–basically 1.5 winters. Came out one day and without warning I had a soaked horse. I also had a horse manage to get his jaw stuck on the front strap of this particular blanket–not sure I blame that blanket specifically or just horses being horses, but he hasn’t replicated the incident with any other blankets since.
In terms of temps, I am in Northern CA in a valley that gets some Delta influence. The lowest we usually get is high 20s a couple times a year, but most of the time our lows will fluctuate from low 30s-low 40s, and winter highs will range from high 40s to mid 60s. Being within a couple hours of the coast, we’ll get relatively warm storms (50s or so) but we can also get some wet, windy, cold drenching storms with gusts upwards of 60mph, pouring COLD rain, etc. It varies pretty widely.
The horses have free access to hay and I almost never blanket when it is dry (horses are clipped VERY early Fall, like late Sept/early Oct and are rarely reclipped) unless it is very windy, the lows are looking to be in the lowest 30s or 20s, or we’re expecting substantial fog/cold moisture. A nasty morning can pretty quickly give way to a lovely sunny midday, so I try to pull blankets as soon as rain is off the table, or no later than 9am if it’s going to be even slightly sunny. Of the four horses, one runs very warm, two are pretty normal, and one runs cold.
The one who runs warm, he gets a blanket clip and I use a 70g on for rain or cold. On him I can get away with low 60s if cloudy or rainy, low 50s if its sunny before he starts sweating. If it is a particularly nasty cold or storm, I will layer his back on track mesh sheet underneath. They were blanketed yesterday and overnight for a storm that lasted until about 9ish this morning before the clouds broke. I pulled blankets late, around 11:00am due to a meeting, and he was definitely a bit toasty–the morning rain had broken to a sunny day, I think it was around 54 or so when I pulled his 70g and he was a bit sweaty on the shoulder, but not drenched by any means.
The two normal guys have 100gs they wear in pretty much the same circumstances as above. When I pulled their blankets this morning, they were warm but not sweaty. They each also get a BOT liner if the weather is expected to be unusually nasty.
The cold fellow gets a 150g or his 100g with BOT, in the same circumstances as above. During dry cold when the others are often naked, he’ll usually get a sheet with his BOT on overnight, pulled in the morning and put back on around 7pm. In exceptional cold he gets the 150g with BOT. This morning he was in his 150g when I pulled blankets and again, warm but not sweaty.
I’m not sure if this makes any sense at all, or is just rambling. Hopefully it makes some semblance of sense, if not I’ll try to clarify when I’m not typing on my phone!