So I have had a long love affair with the witney newmarket blanket I think they just bring so much class and tradition to the stable. I am however wondering how people are using them? I know how to do the fold to secure it under a stable blanket or sheet but are they best used as coolers or temporary warmers or have people left them on all night like that? I am opposed to leaving fleece coolers on over night as they seem to shimmy backwards and become uncomfortable but I am not sure about wool. If anyone has left one on over night or uses one regularly Id love to know your thoughts!
I have two traditional whitney wool blankets. Ive used them under blankets if a horse wasnt cool yet or for a thermal layer. They stay in place and dont bunch down on the withers like fleece.
I also have a quarter sheet that I use when cool. I dont like fleece.
Mine are all old. The two blankets were consignment shop finds. The quarter sheet was a gift from my trainer that she picked up in england over 20 years ago. All heavy melton wool. Hard to use in FL but I wont get rid of them because I wont find the same quality again for what I paid.
I get asked all the time about where I got my rambo coolers in wool. I always laugh and let them know about my finds. Love them and wouldnt trade for the world. Good quality and excellent wool that wont die.
A tad OT, but I recently scored a Whitney wool rug. These modern ones are made by Shires and they are thick. I have waited a helluva long time for one. I, too, won’t do fleece, though the Rambo version of fleece is kind of OK. Kind of.
OP, I think the only tough thing about using a regular square Whitney blanket is that you’ll need a pretty tight and stout surcingle to hold it in place. It seems to you that you’d need something all leather (with some pads to keep it up off the withers, or something like an anti-cast surcingle. I dunno. It seems like a lot of money and trouble. Back in the 19th century when you could choose between wool and cotton (like the thick Baker blankets), and when Whitney was one of the many companies producing thick wool square blankets for all kinds of purposes, those made more sense.
But if you want to truss up your horse all 19th-century fancy, I’ll admire a picture of it.
