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Hanging Blankets Inside Stalls

I think if hanging blankets inside their space will work or not greatly depends on the horses you have and only you can decide if it will work.

I can say it would not work with mine. I have one horse that plays with everything. Any random thing in their space needs to be picked up and pulled on and swung around, etc.
I have another horse who likes to back up to the wall to manure, so blankets hanging there would get gross.

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I’m sleep deprived so if the answer is obvious, forgive me. Why can’t blankets be near dressage horses?

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Can you attach something high up on the walls or from the roof? If so, could you do something like this - a pull down cover rack? They are quite common in angle load horse trailers here in NZ.

Or is there another way you could have something suspended from the roof that you could raise/lower on pullies?


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In my barn/run-in the blankets hang on twine along one wall and the horses don’t touch them. There used to be a young horse in the herd and he would occasionally pull a blanket down.

Is this your first time having horses at home? I think that 3 blanket changes a day will change real quick :slight_smile:

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Haha @Warmblood1 maybe not obvious; but every one of them plays with, eats, gets tangled, the list is endless. I swear the blankets are a red flag to a bull! Even my halter hooks I can’t use four about four horses or they end up pulled in stalls or flung about.

I have yoke gates so they can stick their heads out and two cross ties have to now be tied back so they don’t play. They get into everything even tho the most playful have balls hanging inside out out of their stalls.

Cracks me up because the event horses literally never ever bothered anything… professional eventer for 10 years with about 30 horses in barn and 12 years now just straight dressage with about 15 horses. Just funny to me how different the horses are.

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I dunno. I’ve been keeping horses at home for 15 yrs less a couple year break boarding when I lived out on the beach. My horses regularly get 2/3 blanket changes a day. I try to stick to 2, night blanket off day blanket on in the am and then the reverse in the pm, but noon and night check blanket changes happen frequently as well.

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I put my horse’s in whatever blanket will be appropriate for the average temp. Going to be mid 40s but in the teens in the am? They’ll wear a sheet. They won’t die.

I have horses at home but I have a full time job and I don’t have the time to be running out changing blankets.

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My older horse would shiver off a 100 lbs if I left him in a sheet in the teens. Everyone’s mileage is different and totally plenty of horses survive just fine naked but 2/3 blanket changes a day isn’t an uncommon routine. Especially for a small home herd, blanket changes don’t take that long. Even working a full time job.

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I admit, this discussion is making me happy that my horses are not so temperature delicate.

With horses at home I still can not do that many blanket changes a day. The darn job thing gets in the way.

OP, could putting one of those patio storage containers right outside the run-in be an option for your blankets if your horses are not the type to leave blankets hanging in their run in alone?
They come in locker type styles, so that would make it easier to take blankets in and out.

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It certainly won’t hurt to do that many blanket changes, but it’s unnecessary. 15 - 40 is typical here. I would at most do a change in the morning and evening, but equally, I might leave the same blankets (which would be a medium or a heavy) on if the forecast shows they’ll need them on in the future.

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This subject is sorta “close to home”, given the very-winter weather we have been . . . enjoying . . . the last month or so. So I’ll toss in my comments just FWIW:
During the off season, winter turnouts are stored on a wall-mounted blanket rack mounted in a relatively low traffic corner of the barn. They share the space with the fly-sheets, some large boards and pieces of plywood, and a couple of automotive drive shafts hangin’ on nails.
When we are doing the “Blankies on, blankies off” routine, I just toss the garments over a convenient stall panel, in the sun if available, inside-out so they can dry off and air out a bit. I also fasten a couple of their straps around a rail at the bottom to prevent the wind, or the Equines from tossin’ them into the snow/mud/poop.
I only stock heavyweight blankets; my crew are furry enough (and they have access to stalls in the barn) that “normal” winter weather (~20°F low, 40°F high) doesn’t require blanketing for them to be comfortable. Honestly, tho, they all like their turnouts, and would, I’m sure, happily wear them 24/7 all winter long if that was in the game plan :-D.

Something like this ?

You don’t need that many slats and you could secure your rope outside the stall.

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Nope. I’ve always had them at home, except for a brief period this past three months. I was an FEI groom before getting my big girl job. It’s not everyone’s management style, but it’s how I keep mine!

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I’m sure you’ll muddle through the where to store the blanket issues!

As an aside, I’m expecting to change my TB’s clothes 4 times today. I took his heavyweight blanket off this am and turned him out in his 50 gram sheet. Around 11 I’ll pull the sheet for a few hrs while it’s the warmest part of the day (60 degrees) and then put the sheet back on him around 4 when the temps start dropping and then change him to his 100 gram with hood around 8pm. :woman_shrugging:t2:

I used one of those for years.
Worked pretty well.

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I use a Patio Deck box too. It was actually used originally to store road salt at the foot of our driveway. That thing has been a box of many hats - I bought another that is only for blankets, and one that stores electric/fencing materials.

15-40F is where I’d leave them in a 100 weight and call it a day, if I didn’t leave them naked in the first place. Of course it’s different if your horses are clipped, but these days with the improved breathability of modern blankets I find they can tolerate much broader ranges, so I typically blanket for the median temperature and haven’t had issues. My 100G is my most used blanket. Unless the horse is clipped, has metabolic issues, or is in the process of some sort of recovery, most horses don’t even need to be blanketed at all in 15-40F if there’s no precipitation.

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Not the question asked, but For long term summer storage I place each blanket into vacuum sealed bag, and suck it down untul it is flat and hard. They then just fit uoright into plastic Husky tool rolling work boxes from Home Depot like putting files into a file drawer. The boxesi have lid gaskets and are waterproof and I just roll them away to the garage for the summer.

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Good luck! I just stopped blanketing my mare this winter because I haven’t been riding her and she’s well… let’s call her an easy keeper. I’m doing the “shiver off some pounds” program.

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I’m changing blankets far less now that everyone has a 100g. I even kept them in their 100g for an entire week recently without needing to change weights. That has never happened in recent memory!

Many years ago I tried to store blankets in an outdoor deck box. Moisture got in towards the end of the season as it was warming up and the blankets molded badly by the time I pulled everything out to be laundered. Maybe deck boxes are more water tight these days?

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