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Staticky horses, synthetic blankets, owner mobility problems

Horse Care
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#1

Greetings folks. Apologies that this is long, but I know horsey people often want to help find alternative solutions, and I’d like to explain why a couple of them aren’t options. Other suggestions are totally welcome, though!

TL;DR: Horses need non-synthetic, “heavyweight,” waterproof blankets, in just one layer [no liner].
~~

  • Will NZ canvas/wool blankets be warm enough for this application?
    ** If so, recommendations for good NZ blankets I can find in the US?
    *** That won’t cost a mint, 'cause they’re only needed ~15 days a year?
    ~~
  • Is there another non-synthetic option?

~ ~ ~

I’ve recently found myself surrounded by critters with serious static issues when wearing/lying on synthetic materials (3 of 5 “pets,” 2 of them horses).

So allll these great lightweight waterproof blankets make my poor mares jump and squirm and squeak when I take them off.

And who knows how often they were getting zapped in the night? My poor static-dog, in her first winter, apparently got zapped repeatedly all night (she’d leap off the bed and run across the house). Until I worked out the problem, anyway–by touching her as she got zapped just before she bolted–and got her a cotton blanket, pronto. No more problem there.

That was just from laying on a synthetic blanket. Horses walk around, raise and lower their heads, lay down and stand up…geez, they’d get shocked all night long.

~ ~ ~

So, much like the static-dog, we put cotton sheets under the mares’ regular blankets, and, hey, no more static problem. It’s not ideal; the blankets slip around. But so far that has just been mostly an annoyance.

~ ~ ~

This year, my own upper-body issues are interfering. I can’t continue with the multi-layer approach.

I could manage to lift a heavier weight, at least for now. The difficulty is the repeated raising and extending motions required to put on, adjust into place, and buckle up multiple layers per horse. I need to get down to just one layer per mare, if I can.

~ ~ ~

Thankfully, both the static-mares grow coats more-or-less adequate for average FL winter weather. So they’re only blanketed in excessive/wet weather, and the blanket removes all their natural insulation [flattens their coats]. If I put a blanket on, it has to be a good warm one.

~ ~ ~

The upper-body issues are also why I can’t, for example, just lock them up inside when it’s storming. Cleaning stalls? Just not physically possible. And we do get several days [and nights] of continuous rain when it storms.

So yeah, waterPROOF is important. I’m willing to do additional waterproofing, tho, and to repeat as necessary.

~ ~ ~

I’ve been looking at the NZ-style blankets, the canvas with wool lining. My static-dog seems fine with wool [as well as cotton and linen], so the horses could probably wear these.

I found a thread here that suggests they are actually warm if you get good ones, but it didn’t explicitly say so. That thread did say it’s hard to find good ones outside of NZ, tho.

But are they really as warm as, say, a 300g insulated blanket? Would they work for what I need?

~ ~ ~

Is there anything else that’d have a non-synthetic lining on the inside, but would be waterproof and just one layer?

I found, for example, a canvas blanket at Jeffers that has 200g insulation and a cotton lining (never seen that on any other blanket with insulation!)

However, that particular blanket is not waterproof and is only 200g; does the canvas add additional warmth, you think? Or can I find something similar, a blanket that really is waterproof, thickly insulated, yet has a non-synthetic lining?

~ ~ ~

If a NZ blanket is my best bet, where can I find a good warm waterproof one in the US?

Aaaand, since I use these only a few times a year, and I need two of them, it would be great if I could find something somewhat inexpensive.

~ ~ ~

TL;DR: Horses need non-synthetic, “heavyweight,” waterproof blankets, in just one layer [no liner].
~~

  • Will NZ canvas/wool blankets be warm enough for this application?
    ** If so, recommendations for good NZ blankets I can find in the US?
    *** That won’t cost a mint, 'cause they’re only needed ~15 days a year?

~~

  • Is there another non-synthetic option?
    **Insulated, waterproof blankets with non-synthetic linings? Where?
    ** Maybe I could find someone capable of sewing a cotton lining into a premade insulated blanket? Is this realistic?
#2

NZ blankets are VERY heavy, so if you have mobility issues and can’t get a ‘normal’ rain sheet on a horse, then you’d never lift a NZ.

I can’t imagine that a horse in Florida would actually need a heavy-weight blanket like a NZ. I used them 20+ years ago up here in Ontario in the dead of winter.

#3

http://www.classicsaddlery.com/blankets/sheetsstable.htm
Rambo Newmarket Stable blanket, 200 g, cotton lining, outer shell water and dirt resistant, does not say waterproof.

#4

Will spraying with Static Guard resolve the static issue so you can use your existing blanket?

Agree that the NZ rugs are very heavy. Also don’t slide over the horse was well (kind of stick to the horse).

#5

Your horse doesn’t get shocked until the blanket detaches from the horse, as long as the blanket (like with the dog) is making contact with the object causing the static, your horse doesn’t get shocked. So if it’s just a matter of “the removal”, it probably bothers you a lot more than it bothers your horses. It’s discharging on their coat and not their skin (like it does on our skin) so for them it’s often a matter of reacting to sound, and since you only remove a blanket about 15 times a year they aren’t conditioned to the noise.

I’ve also noticed that the more expensive blankets discharge a lot less than the cheap blankets. So if you were going to replace your blankets, you should replace them with something lighter weight like the Rambo Vari-layer that also happens to have the type of more expensive lining that doesn’t discharge as much static onto the horse upon removal.

#6

[QUOTE=CHT;7866964]
Will spraying with Static Guard resolve the static issue so you can use your existing blanket?[/QUOTE]

I have no idea! The concept seems promising. I thank you.

With a previous static-dog, I could reduce his tendency to static-from-nothing-at-all by rubbing him with an anti-static dryer sheet every few days. So this could have potential :slight_smile:

~ ~ ~

I don’t know anything about this product, though; how effective is it? How does it, in fact, work? What’s the mechanism for reducing/preventing static?

The horses are generating static electricity by rubbing their coats against a synthetic lining; there is lots of surface contact, potential for static buildup is enormous. I’m having difficulty envisioning how something could prevent this static buildup, unless it somehow coats the synthetic fibers to prevent fibers rubbing against an antagonist [the horse’s coat].

Does it rub off? Does too much static overwhelm it?

Would it prevent static, say, if you sprayed a staticky garment and then ran it through the dryer? Or would the garment come out of the dryer all staticky, and need to be sprayed again?[1]

~ ~ ~

I’m looking at Static Guard’s website; I don’t see anything about the static prevention mechanism.

But. I note that, while it says “stop and prevent static” and “works all day,” there are several sizes of Static Guard available. One is “conveniently purse sized.” Which kind of suggests that it may sometimes need re-application before the day is over.

~ ~ ~

[1] I am curious, but, ah, please don’t take this as encouragement to experiment. Static Guard’s website says it’s flammable, and specifically mentions that it should NOT be used before putting garments through the dryer.

#7

Have you recently tried leaving them un-blanketed? As long as they have a nice, warm shelter + unlimited hay, I’d consider seeing how they do without blankets. I think that we tend to just anthropomorphize about standing in the rain shivering, when the horses tend to be just fine. Especially with your motility issues, it makes sense to eliminate what you can.

I agree with the posters who say that you’ll have difficulty with those heavy canvas blankets. I really don’t think the horses are getting shocked while wearing the blankets, though, just when they’re removed. Static guard is a good idea to try, though. I just rub those anti-static fabric squares on items that get annoyingly staticky.

#8

[QUOTE=Calamber;7866950]
http://www.classicsaddlery.com/blankets/sheetsstable.htm
Rambo Newmarket Stable blanket, 200 g, cotton lining, outer shell water and dirt resistant, does not say waterproof.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I did say I’ve only found the one blanket with a cotton lining, so it’s encouraging to know that others do exist.

That’s pretty much the same as the one I found at Jeffers; a 200g/mediumweight that isn’t waterproof.

It’s a Rambo Newmarket. Okaaay, drat, I’m not finding a Newmarket turnout; I’m not finding anything in waterproof/turnout by Rambo that has a cotton lining.

I do see several with an “antistatic polyester lining,” that’s intriguing, I’ll see if I can find more info about that.

(I note those are in the ~$350-$400+ range though, at least at your Classic Saddlery link. I’m hoping not to spend quite so much on two blankets that’ll get about a month’s use, total, between them, every year.)

~ ~ ~

Rambo’s Vari-Layer sounds sort of what I am kind of groping for in my very last comment up there, re: combining blankets; one blanket to lift & fidget into place & buckle up, but multiple layers. Except that I would want to find a non-synthetic sheet to attach as a lining inside an existing blanket, and end up a single blanket, rather than have a blanket with an attachable/detachable insulating filler, but still with a poly lining.

…
I do have a third horse, though, one with Issues regarding winter,. And unlike the static-mares, who need one blanket each for a few days here and there, she has an extensive wardrobe. [Argh. Florida horses shouldn’t NEED blankets. Why is this happening to meeeee?] I wonder how hard the Vari-Layers are to remove/replace?

#9

Static Guard worked brilliantly for me, all day long, but I don’t know why it works. The purse size is marketed (successfully :D) to folks like me who get to work in a long wool dress coat and skirt, and aren’t attacked by static until the coat comes off at the office. I’ve never had to re-apply during the day.

#10

Have you recently tried leaving them un-blanketed?

Having my horses “in my backyard” and being home almost all the time, I spend a lot of time with them. I generally go out first thing in the morning, and I go out about midnight before I go to bed. I do a nose count when I have insomnia. I go out and check on them in the rain, and the wind, and the sun, and the overcast. I see them in the light and the dark and the twilight. I know which pasture they’re likely to be in at which time of day. I know which patches of different types of grasses they prefer during which seasons. I know how often they drink. I know how often they play.

So yes, when I came to the conclusion that they need blankets for X conditions, it’s because I was right there checking on them in those conditions. Not guessing, not anthropomorphizing, not feeling sorry for them because I felt icky. Hell, I have severe heat intolerance and Reynaud’s; my personal temperature gauge is crap. How I am feeling doesn’t apply to any other living being.

But I am lucky enough to be able to check on my girls at all times and conditions, and so I can make direct observations about what they do and don’t tolerate.

I can’t imagine that a horse in Florida would actually need a heavy-weight blanket like a NZ.

I repeat:
Thankfully, both the static-mares grow coats more-or-less adequate for average FL winter weather. So they’re only blanketed in excessive/wet weather, and the blanket removes all their natural insulation [flattens their coats]. If I put a blanket on, it has to be a good warm [and waterproof] one.
~~
–> So, NZ blankets are “heavyweight” warm as well as literally heavy in weight? <–

How can I tell? The blankets with insulation list the amount of insulation [150g, 240g, 300g, etc]. The canvas blankets I can find for sale say “with wool felt lining for warmth” or similar. I’ve only found “canvas blankets with felt lining,” nothing actually called a “NZ blanket” by the seller.

if you have mobility issues and can’t get a ‘normal’ rain sheet on a horse, then you’d never lift a NZ.

I repeat:
I could manage to lift a heavier weight, at least for now. The difficulty is the repeated raising and extending motions required to put on, adjust into place, and buckle up multiple layers per horse. I need to get down to just one layer per mare, if I can.
~~
I’m not sure where you came up with the “can’t lift a normal rain sheet” idea. I didn’t bring up rain sheets at all. I am very perplexed.

And rather offended, honestly. I was clear that the problem is not weight, and that I can, in fact, lift heavier weights. All similar-sounding disabilities are not equal. Why are you inventing disabilities that weren’t anywhere in my post? I have enough genuine problems, thankyouverymuch.

Your horse doesn’t get shocked until the blanket detaches from the horse, as long as the blanket (like with the dog) is making contact with the object causing the static, your horse doesn’t get shocked.

Hmmm. You’re thinking of a shock, caused by a discharge, when an electrically insulated body is suddenly grounded by contact with something like a doorknob. But dogs and horses are not electrically insulated bodies. They do not, eg, stand on shoes with rubberized soles; they don’t have anything to insulate them from the ground. They are always grounded.

Rubbing causes static buildup. Grounding causes static shock. Detaching is irrelevant.[1]

For some reason, the animals with staticky coats are not continuously discharging the static, caused by rubbing, through the continuous ground. I’m not sure why, but it’s what I’ve observed in animals with staticky coats[2].

In the case of an animal with a staticky coat lying on/wearing something that interacts with the staticky coat, the static builds up continuously with rubbing. The static will discharge when the buildup is great enough. The animal with the staticky coat will have no idea why they just got a random shock.

~ ~ ~

The dog was getting shocked repeatedly, all night long, while on the synthetic blanket. She wasn’t doing anything but breathing, and that was enough to generate a static buildup. There’d be an occasional discharge, which would give her quite a shock, and so she’d jump up and bolt.

With the horses, I only personally observed the static when removing the blankets. I wasn’t able to stand by the horse constantly, maintaining contact, to see if I got shocked during the time the horse was wearing the blanket. What I was able to be sure of is that sliding the blankets off the horses, or even just repositioning them to begin removing them, created lots of static. A little shift of the blanket, and we both got shocked.

This was partially solved by removing contact with the blanket immediately: by first carefully undoing all the buckles and snaps, then lifting the blanket straight up and throwing it to one side. However, it didn’t solve the continuous motion of the horse’s body against the blanket while worn.

I had to go from what I was able to observe, which is that the blanket sliding across the static-horse’s coat, even an inch or so, does cause a static shock. Just lying on her synthetic blanket, the dog built static charge, which eventually spontaneously discharged with a static shock. The sleeping dog experienced this 5 or 6 times a night. A horse turning the neck will cause the skin over the torso to tighten and shift in place, and therefore shift against the blanket lining. And as I saw with my dog, even breathing rubs enough to eventually cause a shock.

From there, I can only extrapolate: contact between a static-prone fur/coat–on a living/breathing animal–and a synthetic material appears to cause repeated static buildups and discharges. While wearing a synthetic-lined blanket and breathing, moving around, lying down, standing up, grazing, etc, the static-horses are almost certainly getting shocked repeatedly.

~ ~ ~

[1] I may be disabled now, but my BS in physics hasn’t gone away just because my stupid body is breaking down.

[2] I’m sure you guys don’t want an extended digression on whether the animal’s coat and the air between the fibers of the fur, which causes thermal insulation, is also causing enough electrical insulation to prevent electrical current, until the static charge becomes great enough to travel through the air to the animal’s skin. Further, I’m sure my static-dog and static-mares would prefer that I not experiment to find out.

#11

The New Zealand rugs are pretty heavy by any standard, and to be honest when they’re wet I struggled with putting them on a large horse and I’m pretty strong, just short. Also wool can be staticky too.

#12

Heh, I’m tall; not so much a problem, 'specially since the girls are very helpful about blanketing when they’re cold.

But. Seriously. The NZ are not my first choice. If I can find a single-layer waterproof “heavyweight” that doesn’t have a polyester or nylon lining, I’ll be thrilled. I’d love to be pointed to one. I’ve been looking.

In the absence of such a possibly mythical beast, I wanted to know if NZ blankets are, in fact, warm. 'Cause you can more-or-less judge an insulated blanket by the listed filling weight, but “lined with wool felt” is not easily comparable. And hey, if they’re not warm, they’re not a potential solution anyway. But “they weigh a lot” is just not an answer to “are they warm?”

And then. if they are, in fact, warm, where can I find a good waterproof one?

…
But really, are there alternatives–including having a couple of blankets Frankensteined together–that are waterproof, “heavyweight” warm, and non-synthetic lined, that’d let me put just one blanket on each horse?

#13

I think most of the wool-lined ones are going to be comparable to a midweight, rather than a heavyweight. We used the canvas duck ones with wool lining a lot when I was a kid, and the trace clipped ponies wore them pretty much from November- April. They were not quite as waterproof as the good high-denier nylon ones are now, but they were okay in anything short of a monsoon and they seemed to be warm enough. They did give them huge rubs, though. Google turns up this: https://kensingtonproducts.com/shop/kens-i-tech-light-weight-turnout-rug/ and this, which is probably what you want? It has nylon lining only at the shoulders and cotton everywhere else: http://www.smithbrothers.com/upland-heavyweight-turnout-blanket/p/X3-242113/

#14

I won’t put NZ rugs on the horses - just too stinking heavy. It can’t be comfortable.

You aren’t going to find much with cotton lining. It tends to cause nasty shoulder rubs, and it grabs the hair and holds onto it - making it into a brillo pad over time.

What about a mesh liner? Rider’s International and Weatherbeeta used to make those.

#15

My Pessoa and Rider’s International never get static. They have a soft, fleecy type liner.
I’d know if they got static because I’ve used them in AZ and OK. Lots of static!
I have an anti-static spray for my dogs that works and lasts. Maybe spray horses before blanketing?

#16

Yeah! I did spot that, on Valleyvet’s site. Very intriguiing! with the outer layer substituted for the original canvas. I went to Kensington’s website to see if I could get more details. Not so much, drat.

But the reviews I could find made it sound like it was a light-to-medumweight. And Kensington’s own “thin wool lining” [emphasis mine] description was not promising. Good for other applications, perhaps, but hey, at least my static-mares don’t need full extensive wardrobes.

[QUOTE=Highflyer;7868810]this, which is probably what you want? It has nylon lining only at the shoulders and cotton everywhere else: http://www.smithbrothers.com/upland-...t/p/X3-242113/
[/quote]

Ooooooooooh! Ooooooooooooooh! Ordering! Right now! Hooray!

…drat, they’re back-ordered until Dec 15. Dover carries it too, and same backorder there. I guess I can live with that. Our yo-yo weather and cold storms usually start around the beginning of January.

Danger! Random Digression!
Interesting. Smith Brothers and Dover both have the same problems with their page layout conflicting with my minimum font size. And checking the CSS to fix it, hmm, they have almost exactly the same CSS. The fix is the same. Perhaps there’s a connection between the companies. Maybe if I could find it anywhere else, it might not be backordered.

…noooo, I can’t find it anywhere else. I can’t even find a manufacturer that might have a list of distributors. Drat.
End Digression

Thank you tons, both imperial and metric tons.

#17

Yes - Dover and Smith Bros. are the same company. One is the English stuff, and the other is the western stuff.

#18

Ye-e-e-e-e-es, I believe I have discovered that it’s hard to find blankets with cotton linings.

But you realize, I’ve been using a 100% cotton sheet as a liner for years on both these horses. You’re not exactly going to convince me that it can’t be done.

Cotton may not be as wonderful as the “extraordinary coat polishing soft nylon lining for comfort!” that so many blankets advertise, but surely my girls aren’t the only ones who get zapped by synthetics.

#19

[QUOTE=Doctracy;7868961]
My Pessoa and Rider’s International never get static. They have a soft, fleecy type liner. [/QUOTE]

'Tis unfortunate, but I do know that synthetic fleece sets off my staticky horses. I believe I mentioned my other horse, with the full wardrobe. I tried a lot of her sheets and blankets on the static-horses, trying to reduce the static levels. Synth-fleece was an absolute no.

All the Pessoa turnout blankets I can find list a nylon lining (not “absorbant” or “fleecy” or “wicking” or “soft”…just “nylon.”). Rider’s International has a really frustrating page at Dover; for most product lines, it says the sheets have poly/cotton linings but the blankets have nylon linings. (Again, no modifiers.) Still, if it’s nylon, even if it’s fleecy, it’s no-go. Sigh.

You know, I don’t have the vaguest idea what makes some animal coats excessively staticky, while others never generate any static.

One of the static-mares is the daughter of the mare with the full wardrobe [and who is happy with her wardrobe, has never had a staticky moment]. As far as I can tell, their coats have the same texture. Why does one have outrageous static reactions, and the other has none? I don’t know.

I’ve had two static-dogs; one had a silky sleek double coat. The other has a fluffy cottony single coat.

We currently have two dogs, both assumed to be cocker spaniels (pound puppies don’t generally come with papers, but their tails were docked). One is my excessive static-dog, the other has been with us for a decade and a half without any crackling.

It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with coat thickness, or texture, or breed, The only thing my static-dogs and static-horses seem to have in common is the shocking reaction to contact with synthetic materials.

#20

You are going to have to cave in on something or no one is ever going to be able to give you the answer you want. Either you price point is going to have to change and you can buy the blanket with the anti-static lining or try the static guard. Or complain more about how you’re incapable of repetitive lifting and reaching but keep asking about an extremely heavy blanket and say “oh i’m sure i could do it” but once you get it you’ll realize how heavy it really is.

Maybe if you’re struggling to do things like lifting or reaching, it’s time to have someone do some of the farm work for you? Because how much longer until you cannot lift it at all?

If you want a relatively light blanket to lift, the Vari-Layer is light. If you want a blanket that won’t shock your horse, the Vari-Layer has the anti-static liner. If you want a cheap blanket with the previous two qualifications, you’re living a DREAM.

flaunting a BS in Physics like it makes you superior is kind of sad. If it were a PhD I might be impressed. The fact that you have to be able to “complete the circuit” and that horses don’t discharge on the ground because it’s too far away from the initial source of the static electricity. So unless your horse is a pole licker or is drinking out of a metal water trough, the only time your horse is getting shocked is at the moment of blanket removal.

And beyond that, you’ve been nothing but difficult to help, and in the end the only one you are hurting is yourself.

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