I’ve typically kept four weights of turnouts for each horse (don’t judge…lol). I need to replace two of them for one horse, and I think I’m going to upgrade her to the Rambos. Is adding/removing a liner any more of a pain than switching out the whole blanket as I normally do?
I haven’t used the liners before, so I don’t know if they are pretty easy to manage or if they are a huge frustration.
Thanks for your feedback.
How often do you think you’ll be swapping out liners and changing weights?
The Rambo system is pretty simple, but doing it twice a day would be a PITA. For frequent weight changes, it’s mucho easier to just pull blanket, grab other blanket, redress horse.
Doing it sporadically would be fine.
Most people find the liners more difficult, but I disagree. I use closed-front blankets/liners when possible (Schneider’s is my brand of choice), and I can remove a liner in the morning, if needed, by simply pulling it out from under the top layer - use nylon liners, not fleece! In the evening, pulling a turnout sheet off momentarily to add a liner underneath takes me no more time than swapping blankets entirely.
It’s personal preference, really. I like liner systems because they’re a bit more versatile, less bulky/heavy on the horse, and easier to wash. Others prefer just to swap blankets to keep things simple, especially in a boarding barn/large facility.
I use the liners for my horses at home and most of our changes are done during grooming time, so switching out liners is easy since the blanket is already off to groom. But I can see where they would be a pain in a boarding situation if they had to be changed often. One thing I do like with the liners is that I can wash them more often than my waterproof outer turnouts, and they fit well in a standard washer (unlike a big bulky blanket).
I don’t find the horseware ones particularly difficult. It’s more of a pain than just changing a blanket, but cheaper than buying one million blankets of varying weights. I like to make sure I switch up the style/cut of blanket my horses wear over the winter (high neck vs reg neck etc) so they are less likely to develop any sore spots etc, so I often go with that rather than the liners, but I do have several horseware blankets with liners that come in handy.
Basically for the HW ones, the liner is attached via velcro loops through metal holders at the neck (exactly like the hoods). It’s not so bad,
It takes me less than 5 minutes to switch out the liners. I don’t do it that often, just when temperatures change significantly to go from light- to mid-weight or vice-versa. I already had a heavy-weight blanket for the very rare occasions we get that cold. I’ve been using the liners for ~5 years now and LOVE them. It’s the only system I will use now. As mentioned above, it’s so much easier to wash just the liner instead of the whole blanket and I can wash 2 or 3 of them at a time!
I just switched to the Horseware liner system. I find it a little more annoying than switching from one well-designed Horseware blanket to another (where have v-fronts and tail straps been all my life!), but not as bad as switching out blankets with less user-friendly hardware (chest buckles and leg straps and the like). It’s a few velcro tabs at the neck and chest and two snaps at the hindquarters.
There are two velcro tabs that you feed through D-rings (one on either side of the neck), and then snaps that snap on to the rings by the tail strap. Then when you put it on, there is a single velcro at the chest on the liner.
I think they’re pretty easy - but I don’t change them every day. I have a 100g California weight shell, and add a 300g or 400g liner (depending on horse) to make it a heavy. It’s super rare that we’d need those two in a day. I have separate medium weights and sheets.
BM here, and I HATE dealing with liners. (And layers in general.) There’s nothing like trying to change liners on a field-boarded horse in single-digit windchills and gale-force wind. Can’t work the velcro with gloves on, can’t work my own fingers with gloves off. Horses getting zapped by static when the liner gets pulled out. It’s no fun at all. It sucks slightly less on stall-kept horses, but it’s still something I quietly resent.
The Horsewear liners are a step up from layering random blankets. At least they hook together, fit right, and don’t shift. But I still strongly prefer just pulling blanket A and tossing on blanket B. It’s faster, usually less stressful for the horse, and I don’t have to take off my gloves.
Understand your frustration, @findthedistance , but I do my own blanket changes, not the BO/BM.
So I didn’t even think of it your way, since it’s not the method in our barn!
I also normally change liners when I’ve finished riding, or grooming at the very least, so generally the blanket is off, or mostly off. Then it’s a cinch to put the new liner on, remove the old liner from the sheet and put the sheet on to connect the new liner.
Interestingly, my BO/BM JUST bought a new sheet+liner for her horse because she liked MY system so much! 
@fanfayre, if the horse owner is doing her own blanket changes, I officially don’t care what they use for blankets! :lol: I do find liners much easier to add/remove when the blanket is off the horse, and the washability factor is a plus for some. The liner of my blankets is never the gross part, so that hadn’t crossed my mind.
I just find liners to be a total PITA in a situation where I’m doing 15-20 blanket changes twice a day, and doubly horrible to change in the field. I’m also in a climate where it is quite normal to have big temperature swings. We can’t put on a blanket and just leave it like I could when I lived in a colder climate. As with everything in life, YMMV.
For clarification, my horses are at home, so I’m the one doing my own blanket changes. I wouldn’t say I’m in an area where there are huge fluctuations in winter temperature (although it’s in the low 40’s this week and forecast to be in the mid-60’s this weekend), but definitely wind and wind-driven rain are factors in which weight blankets I use throughout the winter.
Thanks for yor feedback. I went ahead and ordered a regular medium-weight. I think it might make sense for me to buy a regular sheet and then a 100 g liner for the lighter-weight days.
This varies a lot by individual/barn. My current boarding barn prefers layering to pulling blanket A and putting on blanket B – so much so that they charge a significant monthly fee for the latter. When I was the one doing the blanketing for a barnful of boarders I found certain blanket designs to be more of a pain than layers. To each their own.
I find the 100g liner to be the most versatile – you can add it to a sheet when it’s not quite medium weather, or to another layer when you can’t be there to switch blankets at the ideal time and need to split the difference between a couple of different weather/temp conditions. Or just beef up a medium for the coldest nights if you’re not in a climate cold enough to justify buying a heavy. Sounds like you’ve got a solid plan.
When my horse outgrew his heavy, I bought a 100g blanket, had a 200g blanket, and I bought various liners. I think they help in the following ways:
Maybe it’s just my horse, but I always found the liners to build up a lot of static. At one point I could barely get the liner off because it kept shocking my poor horse 
This was the Amigo, I ended up getting rid of the blanket because it wasn’t really usable for us. Doesn’t sound like others had that issue, but thought it was worth mentioning if your horse is sensitive to that kind of stuff like mine is.
I just put the liner on the horse, then the sheet/blanket on the horse too, and attach everything while on the horse. I find this to be quite easy. Same for detaching. I undo the velcro and snaps, take the top layer off, than the bottom. It does not take long at all.
Agree with the general sentiment that changing blankets is easier than swapping liners… but if you are going to do liners the newer HW is the easiest type around. Two rings at neck, two clips at tail, and I’m done
Completely agree. I have two shells and three liners. I leave a liner in each shell so often I am just switching whole blankets.
i LOVE Horsewares liner system. I have a liner in every weight (100 thru 400) and then I just have 2 sheets (can get by with 1 sheet really) and 1 medium weight for each horse. I can have a sheet while the other is a heavy with the 300 or 400 liner, then when its really cold and I need to ‘double blanket’ I add the 400g to the medium weight and voila - double layers without the bulk of multiple blankets. At the end of the season - wash all the liners, the sheets and the mediums (all fit nicely in my washer, whereas ‘heavy’ blankets do NOT) and all good to go - don’t have to send anything out to be washed, and if a liner or sheet gets damaged its WAY cheaper to replace that then having to buy a new heavy weight etc.
FWIW, I have my horses at home and do all the blanket changes myself, so its not a big deal. I have mastered pulling out the liner from underneath as well as flipping the top layer up towards the neck and sliding the liner in underneath, so I can get it done without taking blankets off the horse completely. If I had a bigger barn with more horses I would not be so willing to do it.
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