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?