I’ll have to check that out!
I’m in love with my 50 gram Amigo. It’s just right for a lot of my weather.
I’ve pretty much only ever used 100g liners and rainsheets for my lightweight blankets. This year I bought a 100g turnout and was surprise to find that the turnout didn’t seem to keep him as warm as the liner + sheet. Could be the difference in style, but I think the air gap idea does come into play, at least in my case. He’s got tall withers and the liner seems to conform to his back closer while the sheet ‘tents’.
Typically, I add necks if there’s going to be wet precipitation or very windy, where the temperature isn’t cold but the conditions have the potential to make it feel cold. I’ll also add them to bridge temperature gaps where it’s not quite cold enough to move to the next weight. When the temperature gets super cold (< -30*c), necks are always added. I find they really help keep things warmer.
I do all the blanketing myself, so only change once a day or every other day. I try to blanket for the extreme during that time, which means they might be a little warm or cold for bit. I’ll also err on the side of letting them be a little warmer overnight, vs during the day with the sun out.
Ultimately, it’s trial and error to find out what works for your horse and what they prefer.
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My old one will follow me around in the am if he’s a bit warm. Hey Mom get this thing off me lol
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Yes! Except they are usually naked during the day lol. I am trying to keep a better record of temps/blankets/how horses felt when I do night check and in the am! So far my data indicates winds make my horses cold (based on a grand total of two days lol)
How new is newer do you reckon? I have an elderly (maybe 4 yrs old) Weatherbeeta high neck medium that seems like it runs hot on the horses. Maybe it’s not a very breathable type? I had the medium Wug on the younger horse and the medium WB on the old one and left them blanketed in the morning for just a bit and old guy was not sweating but too hot under his and young horse was totally fine. It was interesting to me bc my old horse is always the first to get cold. But maybe he’s just old and gets hot and cold easy?
I’ve got my crew outfitted in Rambos that are all, oh, five ish years old? None are clipped.
I live in CT, and our weather is probably similar to yours? My crew has been in mediums for the last two weeks. Thought about swapping on that 55 degree day, but they weren’t overly warm so 
I live at the Canadian border in a tundra-like biome meaning we have extreme weather-- hot, humid summers and extreme winters. It’s been in the -40s recently with high winds (current temp is -35F with 21 mph). When there was that arctic blast a few winters again, we had the coldest region with -65F.
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The only horses blanketed at my barn are show horses. Horses will “puff up” to protect from sleet, snow, and rain. Even horses with a minimal winter coat. If the horse is sleek, shaved, older, or does not have appropriate fat levels, they won’t puff up. These horses need to be blanketed. That said, the risk of blanketing is that the horse can develop pneumonia because the horse will sweat and get hot. I tend to err on the side of caution when blanketing.
When I lived in the South, we only blanketed two horses (one of which was my older mare) who were “thin skinned” and older. I blanketed my mare with a water proof blanket from Schneiders when it was wet and rainy. The rain would go through her outer coat down to her skin so she was blanketed when we had cold, wet days. -
I’ve never layered blankets. I have one heavy 300 gram blanket and two sheets. All of my blankets are water proof.
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As far as when to blanket, much of this information is dependent upon your horse and the climate. I would shave my Fjord in your temps because she would be HOT. That said, she was running around like a wild woman the other day and sweated down to her undercoat, so I blanketed her with her heavy winter blanketed (300 grams, water proof) because she risked pneumonia. I pulled it the next morning and waited for her to puff up. If your horse has a winter coat and can puff up, honestly, I wouldn’t blanket the horse. I would let it puff up. Just because you’re cold doesn’t mean your horse is cold. I would feed extra long stem hay instead.
If the horse doesn’t have a winter coat and is struggling, I would blanket the horse with a lighter water proof sheet (like a wind breaker). It will protect against wind and rain. Still feed extra long stem hay.
ETA: the way to tell your horse is well insulated is if you have sub freezing temps, your horse will develop ice on its coat. It looks crazy to us, but that means the horse is warm and toasty.
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I would have thought you’d be colder?!?!?! Don’t you get snow n stuff? I live around Pensacola FL
I can’t imagine my horses could wear the same blankets all day without being too warm! Here’s our forecast
I told the horses we were doing trial and error. They said they would prefer cookies. 
I don’t have any cold like yours! Thanks for sharing! I appreciate the details about hood use.
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Is that because they are clipped?
My horses would melt if I dressed them like I dress myself. I wear snow boots in anything below 50 F.
Also, if I ever see ice develop on my horses’ coats, I’m moving to the Keys. Ice! On horses! Hard pass.
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Oh hahaha, I’m obviously mistaken–for some reason I thought you were in MA. 
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Nope! But I was like maybe I don’t know squat about CT weather. I was all ears.
@lenapesadie They’re blanketed to keep them sleek.
I get that! I live in hell and I dress like Randy from A Christmas Story.
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I try to keep mine under lights some in the evenings when daylight is shortening to try and help keep them sleek. Perhaps the blankets help too.
I examined their coats this am. My younger gelding has a plushier coat, the hairs are about 1/2” long. The older one has a thinner coat but his hairs are closer to 3/4” long. I don’t think they would puff much. It’s fortunate they have stayed relatively sleek as they would be overheated in our weather. If I was riding more strenuously they would need clipping!
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Your Florida weather sounds ideal (in the winter anyway!) It gets single digits here.
I am brand new to blanketing and 3 of mine are my experiments. 20yr old morgan mare wearing a 250 Rhino w/hood and hers seems the only one (so far i’ve ordered more of different kinds but they aren’t here yet) that fits without seeming too snug at her chest in the morning. and i’m pretty sure that is because the hood keeps it forward.
So, fit seems perfect on both the morgan and my older arab mare, but i want to know why the Rhino Wug chest fits so tightly on my arab mare’s chest come morning? It doesn’t seem like it could be comfortable…
The Rhino Wug on my narrow chested Standardbred also seems to move back on him in fairly short order. Though i’ve only tried it on him for size check.
I’ve ordered these shoulder things that might help, but still the tightness on their chests bothers me. It doesn’t seem good.
The Wug design is meant for narrower shoulders and higher withers so it fits more snugly. Rhinos in general also tend to run a tiny bit small according to some of my friends with stockier horses. I have a fairly narrow horse so the Rhinos & Wugs fit nicely!
Yes we live it up this time of year and then suffer come summer lol.
Blanket fitting seems kinda tricky like finding jeans for myself lol. To be sure I have more experience fitting fly sheets than winter blankets lol. Perhaps the ones that the Rhino Wigs are too snug in the chest or slide back might do better in a standard neck with the v closure? I have one Weatherbeeta blanket (dynamic plus model maybe) that seems fairly comfy for a blanket with straight chest closures. Also, are the surcingle straps tight enough? It makes a big difference in my limited experience in keeping the blankets from sliding back
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It’s most likely tight in the morning because it has shifted backwards and the most common reason for this is that the chest closure is sitting too low (ie the fit is too big in the neck).
When you first put the blanket on the horse, where does the chest closure sit compared to the fit on your other horses? You’re right though that a hood can stop this from happening even if the neck is too large. Blankets almost always slide backwards as far as they can until they hit resistance. The chest closure should ideally sit immediately below the fold between the base of the neck and the chest. Any higher and it causes pressure when the horse grazes, and if it’s too much lower then it can allow the blanket to slip back.
One other tip while you’re playing around with the fit - you need to monitor any pressure over the withers after the horse has been wearing the blanket for a while. With the horse’s head down in a grazing position, slide your hand between the blanket and the wither to see how much pressure the blanket is placing on the wither. On some horses this can be a problem area with the fit, and can cause significant problems. If you’re layering then you need to check the bottom layer as well as the top layer. This is quite often a problem when using fleece as the bottom liner, but many people don’t notice it. Also test pressure from the chest strap when the horse is grazing, after the horse has been wearing the blanket for a while and it has settled into place.
Sorry if all of this sounds pedantic, but I am pedantic about fit.
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My QH gelding is hard to fit and most blankets slide back on him and end up being too tight over his shoulders. The answer for him is a Rhino Wug. My other gelding is a TBx and he fits very well in a Rambo regular neck turnout. His shoulders are too deep for the Wug style, which causes the front buckles to come up too high on him.
According to what I have read, the Wug should fit the TBx and the regular neck should be a better fit for the QH. I don’t know why that doesn’t work for my guys but blanket fit is all about trial and error for me. It can be a painful process.
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I bought a Rhino Wug for my Friesian x bc normally blanket neck opening are wide and gape and slide back. The Wug doesn’t do that but I have to set it just right when putting it on him (making sure it is fairly forward and that the surcingle straps aren’t too loose) or it slides back and is a tiny bit snugger than ideal over his shoulders. I’d be hesitant to buy another Wug for him unless maybe the Rambo or Amigo is for sure cut a smidge more generous. My OTTB is wider and the Wug is way too tight on him regardless of how I set it. I have an Amigo with the front disc closure, it fits both horses nicely somehow. I was reading on the Horseware site like a poster above recommended, seems like the “sure fit neck with v closure” maybe a good one for me to try next for the Friesian x.
What cracks me up is I got the Amigo for FREE and it fits the best of any blanket I own 
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General Update:
I’ve been keeping a journal of weather conditions, blanket choices and my observations of the horses’ comfort in said weather and blankets.
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My old OTTB gets both colder and hotter more easily than my other horse. He seems to do best if blanketed a little earlier but in a lighter weight than the other horse.
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Adding a hood, in dry calm conditions, seems to add some warmth without risking over heating like moving up in blanket weight would.
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My WB turnout sheet plus WB 100 liner is noticeably warmer than my WB 100 with their version of vari layer.
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My Rhino Wug 250 with vari layer is both warmer and more breathable than my WB medium (200 or 220) high neck
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Wind makes my horses a lot colder than calm conditions.
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The 50 gram sheet is super useful for my short coated horses in FL.
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Sunshine warms my horses up fast.
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I need MOAR blankets
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