This is what we have. https://www.doversaddlery.com/rambo-…et/p/X1-24208/. It’s a turnout sheet with detachable liner. The liner can be used as stable blanket. Weatherbeeta seems to have similar shape as this Rambo, but not as well made. Our draft cross used to wear it. He passed many years ago.
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My pony has a similar build to your mare with respect to how low her neck ties into to her chest, and have found that high neck blankets accommodate that build better than anything else. My favorites are Bit of Britain house branded ones that are a couple of years old - sadly, BoB doesn’t seem to sell them any more (I’ve looked). My back up plan is to replace them with the high neck Dover Northwind, one of the Schneider’s high necks or the Wug styled Amigo if I need to. I’ve also considered the SmartPak Rockin’ SP styles, as they’re supposed to be cut to fit a stock horse build, but the high necks really seem to solve the problem better than anything else.
If I have to use a more traditionally styled blanket, I always snug up the lower chest straps and leave the upper one as loose as possible.
I can tell you that you absolutely do NOT want to try to fit her with one of the Hug styled blankets that Dover used to sell - my pony hated that style because it did cut across the base of neck.
Hi TWH-
Yes, I see it doesn’t make a distinction between their different brands/models.
When I found the instructions, they were on the distributor’s page for the Rambo product, so I just went with them.
I did have some notes from an article at stablemanagement.com, which I’ll copy here in case anyone’s interested:
“Weatherbeeta recommends going down a size. Horseware Ireland recommends going up a size for their Amigo and Rhino lines. However, their Rambo blankets run large so the company recommends subtracting four inches from your measurement, and choosing the size closest to that number.”
The article is dated 2012, but I think might still be true for Amigo and Rhino since I don’t think significant changes have been made to those models.
Oh yes - thanks Gloria. That would be the Turnout version. The stable blanket I liked, with the U shaped chest piece: I figured out later it connects with the Optimo Stable Sheet. So that’s why it had the statement that it’s “liner system compatible.” It fits with the Optimo Sheet, but not the Optimo “Turnout.” 
@bdj -
Thanks!
I was in fact just looking at some high-necked models and was able to try them on her in person, with the carrot-held-low-to-the-floor test. They were several models of Weatherbeeta.
The one that turned out the best was called Freestyle Orican High-Neck. The Freestyles have the shoulder vent pleats in the front instead of the sides, which works better for my horse, and the Orican High-Neck left a sizeable bit of slack/air gap between the top point of the collar and her hip. When she put her nose down to the ground, this slack space was used to keep the top of the blanket completely off her wither. I may have found a winner!
So now I’m basically talking to myself, but it may be of interest to someone googling this subject in the future.
Yesterday I discovered the “perfection” of the Weatherbeeta Freestyle Oricon High-Neck Turnout Blanket.
Today I discovered they no longer make them and no one is selling them. Except the odd size 69, 74, or 78. 
So yeah, back to the drawing board. The Freestyle High-Necks have been replaced by the “ComfiTec Plus Dynamic High Neck.” “Freestyle” meant that the kick pleats (they work like kick pleats), or gussets, were at the front of the blanket, in front of the front legs. “Dynamic” means the return to “standard” gussets, which are on the sides of the blanket, behind the front legs and positioned at the outside plane of the shoulder. In most pictures they are shown fully opened, as if there’s no pleat to them at all. (How they look on my mare).
“Standard” gussets were on the last four blanket models that failed for us. I was really looking forward to the front piece of the Weatherbeeta Freestyle. As much as the high neck with the cushioning at the withers.
In reading past threads I discovered a lot of complaints about this style “gaping” at the front. (The very feature I was hoping for!). No doubt this is why Weatherbeeta has returned to what they call a “full embrace wrap for a huggable fit.” Yes. Here’s me, praying for a free-hanging front piece, one that doesn’t carry the full force of the blanket like the yoke of a wagon.
I came across a thread from 2008 (thereabouts), where some folk were having the same problem as me with the stress on the wither. They’d pretty much given up on blanket styles and had fallen to discussing homemade remedies. Ways to sew pads into the sides of the withers, maybe cut a piece out of an old wither-relief half pad, etc.
Tonight that’s what I’ve been thinking about. :lol:
I don’t know how seriously. I have all the materials, but the energy for it … hmm,… no.
Anway, having to hoist the blanket along with some sewn-in contraption would only make the barn manager’s job harder; probably it wouldn’t go on straight, pieces would fall off, etc.
Maybe I’ll break down and order the ComfiTec Whatchamacallit. It won’t break the bank. Worst case it gets added to the pile of stuff to be got rid of.
Or look at the Wugs again.
I wonder if there are sewing persons that work on the heavy material of blankets? Like, I could collect the blankets that have at least one of the “right” features, cut out the good parts and combine them into one blanket with all the right features . . .
Or get someone to make one for me, to order. A professional horse blanket designer/maker. They could even be online. You fill in a form with the features you want in the blanket, the size of your horse, a bunch of pictures from different angles, and they build it for you.
Meanwhile mare is out there suffering in the cold temps, high wind, and sleet. Maybe not from wither pinch though, since she’s probably dozing in the shelter with her head up, not nose to ground. All toasty with her 4 buddies around her. There’s that.
<sigh>
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My mare is a Perch/Arab cross…its been interesting to find things that fit her. The Shires brand fits her the best blanket wise. Big enough for her draft horse booty but not too big for her arab shoulders. Both the turn out and the medium weight have held up really well and both were reasonably priced. I did have to get a pattern which I am not crazy about (old school H/J girl so anything that isn’t navy, white, or tan, is loud to me).
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The ComFiTec is today’s Freestyle in terms of fit and quality…https://www.statelinetack.com/item/weatherbeeta-comfitec-dynamic-high-neck-med/E016751%2081%20HNT/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7924rPHZ3gIVSb7ACh1pgg0vEAQYAyABEgIGz_D_BwE
For Wugs- size up in Amigo or Rhino. I have Rambo blankets, but no Rambo Wugs. The Wugs fit a bit differently/more snugly.
I have had hard to fit horses in the past, and have spent many hours obsessing over the perfect fit and messing around with dozens of different brands and styles. I’ve spent a fortune buying rugs (I’m an Aussie) and sending them back when they don’t fit. Here’s what I’ve learnt about fitting them, and the easiest solution for me …
When you’ve got a hard to fit horse like yours appears to be, it is almost impossible to find the perfect fit off the shelf.
The solution I found was to just buy one that was long enough in the back (covered about 4 inches in front of the wither) and way too big in the neck. This usually meant going up a size or two. Then I would have a new buckle fitted above the existing ones at exactly the right height to suit my horse’s build. Once I discovered this, I could buy almost any brand and make it work. Finally I could buy based on the quality of the materials for the price and reviews on how waterproof they were etc. Doing it this way was a really cheap way of getting a customised fit.
As you know, the further in front of the wither they sit, the less pressure over the wither when the horse puts their head down. The problem is that rugs will always pull back as far as the chest size allows them to. If they can pull back far enough that they don’t stay about 4 inches in front of the wither then you’ll get a lot of pressure over the wither and also on the top chest strap. This really just means that the neck is too big, so by deliberately buying too big in the neck and adding a new chest strap at the right height it worked perfectly.
Sorry, forgot to mention that you obviously need to start with a rug that has enough material above the existing buckles to allow a new buckle to be sewn in. This isn’t that hard to find though.
I bought one of the new Weatherbeeta’s. 1200D model I believe and it is not Waterproof. My horse came in wet underneath the other day. I ran out and bought a cheap 600D Amigo sheet, and he stayed dry.
He is the same size in Amigo and Rambo, but cannot wear Amigo or Rhino wugs, only the Rambo seems to fit. So I think they they do run more generous. I notice a slight difference between his other Amigo and Rambo blankets, but noting so significant that I have to change sizes. He is a PRE with a more upright build. The Wug works and doesn’t rub his withers or mane (but I keep it braided).
