"quick dry" blanket liner vs cooler under blanket

[Ceylon_Star]

This is going to be our first winter at an outdoor facility in almost 8 years, and I’m trying to get ready in advance for our typical soggy west coast winter.

I don’t have a stall at the new barn, just a paddock and shelter he shares with his small pony BFF, so won’t be able to toss a cooler on and put pony in a stall with hay for an hour to dry after a wet ride, and walking out in the rain in a cooler is just going to get him soggier. So I’m trying to decide what to do.

Fleece coolers under a turnout just seems like a recipe for static electricity, and wool is getting harder and harder to find. Pony isn’t a fan of quarter sheets, so I don’t want the lesson kids having to fuss with one of possible.

I’m seeing these nifty blanket liners (ex, Horseware/Rambo) that claim to dry a wet horse while also keeping the blanket dry. Do they actually work? Are they worth the expense or would I be better off to track down a wool cooler to use under his turnout?

I suppose I could blanket him heavier and just do a bigger clip, but clipping is incredibly stressful for him, and dorm gel makes him sweat too much to clip him after dosing him with it, so I usually manage a modified trace clip at best, and then he’s pretty happy in a 50g, with a hood for the coldest days.

[Demerara_Stables]

Oof.

Any way you could try another drug (ace, CBD) or more training to clip him more? I’m also on the West Coast and I never clipped mine until I moved here but I just have to with the warm temps. Unless you can keep him in light enough work that he doesn’t sweat, I don’t know that there’s a good solution other than removing the hair. I’m very much against layering in turnout as I’ve seen too many blankets shift. I know people do it a lot where it actually gets cold but it just makes me nervous.

[Simkie]

Modern blankets breathe well enough that I don’t worry putting them on a slightly sweaty horse.

If he’s getting really wet with work, he really does need a bigger clip job. Clipping them wet is a thing–some people prefer it even. If he gets sweaty with sedation, just hose him off, scrape, and clip away.

[RedHorses]

Static isn’t the problem with fleece coolers. Fleece is stretchy and high friction and will crawl backwards on the horse. It can’t move forward against a winter hair coat. This puts a lot of pressure around the shoulders, and often withers depending on the cut of the neck. If the chest buckles are the plastic, side squeeze release type they can pop open under the pressure. I saw this had happened to a mare once, and the cooler had wadded up behind her bum. It was like that long enough for the mare to urinate at least once.

Where I live it’s cold enough for the sweat to turn to steam and evaporate through the turnout blanket. I don’t have a problem putting blankets on damp (not soaked) horses. This might not work if your temperatures are staying above freezing.

[Equibrit]

Use a cotton mesh scrim.

[Ceylon_Star]

I should have clarified: it isn’t the sweat that concerns me, it’s getting soggy working in the rain, and then having to go back to the paddock. A trace is enough to deal with the sweat, but the west coast rain is a whole other ball game

[Simkie]

I don’t worry at all putting a blanket on a wet but not hot horse, and often do when I’m surprised by those fall storms that wind up a lot colder than expected. Modern blankets breathe very well.

[Ceylon_Star]

Thank you! That’s a relief. It’s been drilled into me for 20-something years that you never ever blanket a wet horse, and it definitely got me overthinking, haha!

[JB]

Old blankets/sheets weren’t nearly as breathable as they are today, so it wasn’t a good idea then to trap moisture under a blanket

Modern ones are highly breathable. I put a medium weight on a cold wet horse a few times a year when the rain and/or temperature surprises me. I’ve also put a medium weight on at 10pm when it’s 70* (but obviously not sunny), as I’d rather have a horse a little damp under it for a few hours, than have him spent from 2am-7am cold and shivering in 40* rain

[Simkie]

@Ceylon_Star

Thank you! That’s a relief. It’s been drilled into me for 20-something years that you never ever blanket a wet horse, and it definitely got me overthinking, haha!

Ikr?? It was a lot different with the old traditional New Zealand rugs or whatever! But the synthetic fabrics and waterproof but breathable membranes are a game changer. One less thing to worry about

[luvmyhackney]

Towel dry and throw the blanket on. Pony will be fine and dry out just fine. I’ve thrown a lightweight blanket on my wet pony many times with zero issues

[Demerara_Stables]

@Ceylon_Star

it’s getting soggy working in the rain, and then having to go back to the paddock.

What’s his issue with the quarter sheet? That seems like the best option. I use them all winter.

[Ceylon_Star]

The best way to describe it is that they cause sensory overload, like someone with autism/sensory processing issues getting irritated by a tag on their shirt or something. He’s reluctant to go forward, clearly irritated, and pushing forward just makes it worse. He’ll tolerate it for low key walks down the road, but anything more than a slow saunter gets a very clear “I don’t like this, please take it off”. So I just don’t fight him on it. And with him now being in a hunter/jumper program with mostly kids, it just isn’t worth fighting him over when he is so willing to say yes to countless other things.

I’ve tried fleece (both cheap/thin and heavy/Rambo), fleece lined nylon/poly, nylon lined nylon/poly (waterproof hiviz Amigo), and even wool (with his driving harness, not a riding one, but still), but he just isn’t a fan and makes it known.