This was spot on…I planned on putting his sheet on Wed- Fri this week and his med weight turnout on Saturday, and thats exactly what the app recommended. Either the app is smart, or I am…
The app doesn’t quite seem equipped for Canadian weather…it’s barely going to be below zero (celsius) this weekend and they’re recommending a heavyweight.
…the heavyweight comes out when it’s -25C or colder. Not 0!
Okay, so. It seems like the horse being outside throws the results the most, perhaps even more than if the horse is clipped or not.
I clicked the extra info icon when it recommended a turnout sheet for my horse in pretty warm but drizzly weather and it said a turnout was key to “protect (horse) from the elements.”
So if you have a hardier horse that lives outside I’d probably mark them as living in a barn but that the barn is NOT significantly warmer than outside.
That being said, I think this app is more for horses that are regularly blanketed vs. the ones who live outside/furry with minimal intervention.
Like I said, I downloaded it for fun, just to see what it says. I certainly haven’t been turning to it for advice! I can’t remember what it said for clothes tonight, but I’m pretty sure neither of mine are in it!
I don’t really agree with the results I got. I think it did better with my hairy beasts than with my “show coat” horses. I tried messing with different settings but couldn’t get what I wanted for my gelding that tends to shiver and get belly aches when it gets to 45.
That said, my biggest complaint is having to scroll through the horses to find the one I want, and having to wait for it to load before moving on. I guess my phone is slower than most (iPhone 4), so maybe those of you with newer phones don’t have this problem. I’d personally like a drop-down menue. Or maybe I need fewer horses. Is it a sign?
What I would really like is an app that would let me choose blankets based on temp & precip, that would let me send my own schedule to my barn slaves. If I had any. (I’m going out of town soon and my barely horsey parents are in charge!)
Downloaded this but it won’t work on my iPhone
6. I was able to put in my horses info but then it crashed, now when I open it it crashes immediately
I don’t have the app, but someone at my barn does. From what I’ve heard, it makes bad recommendations that are being shared with whoever is at the barn as “what you need to do.” Gah.
I hope she’s just enthusiastic right now, because if I have to spend an entire winter explaining that no, I am not going to put a heavyweight blanket on an unclipped horse in HOUSTON because SmartPak, the bastion of bad recommendations, says so, I might go insane.
It wanted me to put a sheet on my horse yesterday when it was 55 degrees and sunny. My horse lives out, but is unclipped at the moment (trying to make it as long as possible so I only have to clip once!). I thought it was a little overenthusiastic about blanketing.
Although…this app has me changing my guy into stable sheets at night because he comes in. Sorry, I board and can’t do that. I do the blanketing so he’s stuck with what I put on him until I change it or remove it. It’s kind of fun, though not totally reliable. Who has the fun job at Smartpak coming up with this stuff??!
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;7839095]
Waaahhhh. I want to download it, but I do not put a lot of apps on my cell phone (I have a limited data plan). Can it be downloaded to a computer?[/QUOTE]
Why not download it and open it up when you’re in range of WiFi to save on data? Then you’d know what to put on before you leave for the barn. Just a thought.
I have it just for fun. My mare is old, retired, happily overweight and lives outside. We’re in Michigan & I do blanket her in the winter. I probably “over blanket” compared to a lot of people with pasture ornaments but she has an old hip injury with quite a bit of arthritis in it. I find that keeping her hip dry & warm helps to keep her comfy. And nobody wants an uncomfortable and therefore CRABBY old Thoroughbred mare. She might as well be chestnut if that happens… 
Its nice that you don’t have to check the weather and THEN think about it. I like that. Just sort of reminds me to do so, and I can see the forecast at the same time and make up my own mind.
Mine are at home so if the weather looks really bad I can just bring in.
I wish they’d had this last year. I’m currently horse less but this time last year I went from my never-grows-a-coat, injured and slightly underweight OTTB who was always cold to a slightly hairy, runs warm but needed weight OTTB. The latter ended up sweating a bit the first night :lol:
For the most part it seems alright. It tends to blanket more than I am used too. What was absolutely disagreed with was the Heavyweight at 40 degrees and sunny. Umm no.
