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How many/what type of blankets do you own?

Sheet, 150-200g, 350g. I prefer neck covers, for extra warmth or too remove as needed. Cooler and scrim, for you, too.

Yep this is what I used in Ohio, and layered up the 350g + 200g sometimes on clipped horses.

Oh, thank goodness. I’m going to copy this post, and show it to my barn manager. You also have more rugs than I do, because you do stable blankets and I do not. I am glad there is one person in the world who has more rugs than I.

I’m going to post this on my horse’s stall when I bring the rest of his wardrobe:
image

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All the best horses are well-dressed Bernie supporters.

We’re there for you, Renn_aisance. :+1:

Every Bernie’s crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed horse!

In any case, OP, one of the most valuable ways you can understand how many and what type of rug you need is to keep a sharp eye on your horse. Can you be at the barn at turnout/turn-in to see how she is when she comes in- is she tight in her muscles (too cold) or damp at her chest or between her back legs (too warm) or warm to the touch in her brisket, able to move freely, and in a good mood (just right, baby bear!) Is her weight consistent over the winter? As she drops weight, as many horses do since the forage available in winter is not the same quality as many of us have in summer, you may need to rug up, as she may find herself less comfortable with less insulation.

Since you asked “how many” and we’ve already established that I have a lot of rugs, I will add that I’ve found it very useful to have two lightweight layers- an unlined sheet and a 100gm. These two are practically interchangeable in many weather conditions and it means that if the one sheet gets sopping wet in driving rain, and it doesn’t dry in time, I can use another. My goal with my blanket/layering system is that I always have a way to accomplish having a dry, warm horse in any weather, even if my horse rolls in the water trough and soaks whatever he was wearing last night.

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I will also add a plug for the Rambo/Amigo layering system. You buy an outer shell and neck and then liner to go underneath. The shells originally came in 0g or 100g, but then they added the attachment points to almost all of their blankets, so you could really pick any outer you want. The liners come in 100g, 200g, 300g, and 400g regular, and 250g and 450g in the Vari-layer (which is thicker on top and thinner on bottom).

The liners have a single velcro at the chest, two velcros at the neck that attach to the shell, and two clips at the rear that attached to the shell.

At first I thought these were the best thing ever. I ordered the Rambo Duo for each horse. Then I realized how much extra time it takes for the barn to change layers.

So, I still think they’re great, but use them differently now. For example, a sheet can double as a heavy with a 400g liner added. You are rarely going be switching between those in a week. Then you have a separate medium - since you may need to alternate sheet/medium or medium/heavy on alternating days. It saves you many, many, changes of liner - but lets you get double-duty out of the shell.

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Thank you all for the helpful advice! Where I’m at now, temps rarely drop below 50 - maybe 45 a few days of the year. Despite her short coat though, my mare’s never been bothered by the “cold” so I’m feeling pretty good (have to point out however that our winters are very sunny.) At least, she’s gonna have a much easier time adjusting than me I’m sure LOL :sweat_smile: I’ll definitely be keeping watch over her often for the first winter to see how she copes. I never realized winter could be so expensive :joy:

One of my horses - a huge, leggy, hard-keeping TBX - was shipped to me in Maine at the age of three and and half, having spent his wayward youth in California.

Well. People tell me that a horse won’t grow a thick coat if he comes north after the age of five, but my big goober never grew a coat either, and hasn’t to this day. He’s now 14, and perfectly happy in cold and snow, but I still blanket him more heavily than the guys born here in Maine, and he clearly appreciates it.

Your experience may differ, of course, but do keep in mind that your warm weather transplant may require a bit more coddling than your neighbors’ horses, at least in the first few winters.

OP you’ve gotten some great answers here! I’m enjoying reading this thread. Personally I use the Horse ware layering system and like it. I buy one super expensive water proof 0g turnout sheet that fits him beautifully and layer liners underneath it. Most of my liners were bought used on eBay for about $40 each. Would defiantly recommend trying a few used blankets that first winter to see what fits your horse and your barn schedule. Blankets that don’t fit well can cause body soreness as well as rubs ( I missed that my first year until a chiropractor assessed my horse). But beware of buying used turnout blankets online, if not washed right they loose their water proofing. Professional blanket cleaners can be expensive between $20-$75 to clean and rewaterproof a big heavy blanket. Once someone has used normal laundry soap and stripped the water proofing off a blanket it really can’t be fixed, the reproofing they do when they wash just helps update the water proofing it won’t replace it. The nice thing about the liners IMO is that I can wash them at home in my washer when they get dirty and only do the waterproof sheets once a year. You’re right winter is expensive :grin:

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My normal horse has a 0g Rhino Wug, a 200g Rambo Wug, a 100g liner, and a 100g with 150g neck rug Amigo Bravo 12. He spends most of the winter (Eastern Ontario) in the Rambo, and gets the Amigo over it for nasty storms and very cold snaps. He lives out and gets a modified trace clip (belly left unclipped).

My chilly horse has two 0g Rhino original rugs (because he’s at the upper end of the 75" and needs a 78" to keep the heavier quilts covered), a 0g Amigo neck, a 200g Rhino neck, a 150g Amigo insulator quilt, a 200g Horseware liner, a 280g quilt and a 340g quilt (I didn’t use either the 280g or 340g last year, I just added the Amigo insulator under the rainsheet with 200g liner). I have found the neck rug really helps to keep the horse warmer without going really heavy on the blanket insulation.

For you just starting out (IF you aren’t doing a body clip) I recommend three blankets - a 0g rainsheet, a 200g turnout, and a 200g quilt/liner. In the fall a rainsheet offers wind and wet protection. The midweight is good for below zero but not freaking, bloody COLD temperatures. Putting the 200g quilt/liner under the midweight takes care of those days. :wink: From this base set you can add as needed, what’s needed. For example if you need the 400g combination often then it’s worth buying a 400g turnout.

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I had my Paint on pasture board all last winter. She didn’t get a turnout blanket until we got snow in January. She definitely got much more hairy than the other winters when she is in a barn with runout, same climate. She had a beard, feathers down her thighs almost like a golden retriever, and guard hairs all over her shoulders. And a tufty “snow mane.” So they can grow more hair if needed.

I have three red horses myself, and I approve this message.

I think this is very practical starter kit, OP - and you’ll only have to sell one of the children. :grinning:

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The horse I have currently is pasture boarded and he grows a thick coat (at least thick for South Georgia standards). The only time I blanket him is just a turnout SHEET before it is forecasted to be cold AND rainy. He shivers if he is cold and wet, so I try to get the sheet on him beforehand.

OP, just reassuring you that you don’t have to get a full set of blankets at once. Start with a no-fill turnout sheet, for staying dry when it’s chilly and rainy, or just chilly and windy. Then you have a month or two before you need a medium-weight. Then you have another month or two before you need to break out the heavy-weight.

Also, I think you’ll get to know what makes your horse cold and then you can blanket for that … my horse doesn’t care if he’s wet, or if it’s in the single digits, Fahrenheit, for a few days, but, his “kryptonite” is wind. A blustery wind on a cold day, and he gets chilly.

Remember, too, that the adage, “What they don’t know, won’t hurt them” may possibly be relevant to your family vs. you secretly washing horse blankets in your washing machine at home.

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LMAO what are your numbers like?? We should compare and enjoy since this is the only place I can happily talk about alllll my blankets without getting weird looks or being guilted for spending $$$ LOL

I think I am at 8 or 9…per horse…I have 4 :rofl:

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Gaaahhhh! Gotta figure out how to use Quote in a reply :thinking:

Anyhow, I jumped back in to add that my WB was bred in Queensland, Australia with a Florida-like climate, then shipped to FL @ 6 to live for the next 9yrs before I moved him to the Midwest.
He arrived with showslick coat & just an unlined cotton sheet on December 1.
Thinking he’d freeze, I gave him my (former)TWH’s blanket - a midweight 78 that gave him Plumber’s Butt on his 82 body :roll_eyes:
Through testing his ability to stay warm unblanketed, I determined he was fine without.
He never in the 5yrs I had him, grew more than a plushy coat and as in my original post, was fine through Winter w/o a blanket of any kind.
YMMV, I blanket according to horses’ need.

Highlighting the text you want to quote and clicking the “quote” button that pops up is the easiest way, but hit up the FAQ in tech help for the full run down :slight_smile:

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:+1:

4 turnout blankets (sheet, 100gm, 250gm, 450gm)
3 hoods (no fill, 150gm, 250gm)
2 stable sheets (I need to sell these. We never use them anymore.)
1 cotton waffle light cooler (he won this, it’s not my fault)
1 Irish knit (anyone need a Triple Crown Irish knit in green and gold, size 75?)
1 wool dress sheet
1 wool quarter sheet

Of these, in winter, the turnout rugs and hoods are on his stall, the wools are in my trunk, and at least one of the waffle or the Irish knit is in my car. Just in case.

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I might add an alternative viewpoint that politely disagrees (as always, depends on the individual situation). Here in the mid-atlantic, we went from 70 degree days and 60 degree nights this week (so no blankets) to the mid-30s tonight, so midweights. The weather is getting so erratic that I don’t know that these timelines hold true anymore :frowning: You probably do have a few months before you need a heavy weight, but we have been getting some pretty dramatic swings that sheets and midweights are out, and we just got an email from the barn manager to bring our heavy weights as they might need them in the next few days :woozy_face:

Yes, a lot of this is YMMV! Since the OP is blanketing in a climate that will be new to her, I’d suggest asking the barn manager and new barnmates for advice on this front. :slight_smile:

I will say that this is a great time of year to pick up blankets because of holiday sales; January and February are also good as by that point, stores figure that people who need rugs have rugs already, and they start to clearance out last year’s colors.

I’m also in the mid-Atlantic. WHAT EVEN IS THIS WEATHER AND HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ACCLIMATE OUR HORSES TO THIS.