Winter Blankets???

[SaraR]

Who uses them? What brand do you use? What are the pros/cons of using them?

I've always been told that you have to be super careful using them cause they could catch a cold. That and in TN i don't exactly need one. But now that we are in ND and will be stalling them a lot more this year i need advice... Thanks in advance!

 

[SallyQZ]

I'm in California so technically we don't NEED blankets. But I body clip my horse every fall, so I then have to blanket him. He's in full training at a dressage barn, so he gets worked 5 days a week. A damp, sweaty horse is more prone to chills and illness so the body clipping helps him dry faster after a workout. Because we seldom get below 50º, I only use the lightweight blankets (less than 200 grams of fill). I have a midweight blanket (approx. 300 grams of fill) for those rare days where it's raining and damp and below 50º.

Schneiders has AWESOME blankets - not too pricey, various cuts to fit different builds of horses, and they have great guarantees. I've used my lightweight Schneider turnouts for 3 years in a row and still haven't got a tear or rip in them. And my horse is rather opinionated about his blankets. When he's too hot, he grabs them in his teeth and manages to wriggle out of them. I find them in the bedding, all buckles still done up, first thing in the morning. With him, if I don't use leg straps, the blanket is off by morning.

In Canada, I NEVER blanketed my horses. It would get down in the minus 30º range but they were fine. I did make sure that they had shelter to get out of the wind and snow, but they grew a thick winter coat and were happy outside all year long. None of them ever got sick either. However, I only did light trail riding in the winter - never sweated them up so they weren't at risk of getting a chill.

 

[BethySue]

I blanket my horse. He's a thoroughbred and definitely needs a blanket, especially since our last couple winters have been colder than normal. If he's being worked heavily in the winter, I do a trace clip and then the blanket is even more necessary.

The blanket I use is a Weatherbeeta Orican Freestyle, with a 1200 denier and 220 g polyfill. I think that's it anyway. It's either that or one of the other Weatherbeetas. I really like this blanket, though I could have gone a size or two smaller. Weatherbeetas run big, and even knowing that and adjusting for it, his blanket is still too big, but it's not so big that I can't use it. I like it a lot better than his old blanket, a hot pink Tough-1, which he managed to get a big tear in the first week I had it.

The pros: He stays warm, obviously. He also stays clean, mostly. When he rolls in the mud, it gets on the blanket, not him.
The cons: It's a pain in the butt when winter is finally over. It needs to be cleaned and stored (oops...mine STILL hasn't been cleaned). Really, that's the only con I can think of. I don't find the extra step of putting it on/taking it off to be troublesome or anything.

 

[MaximotheMacaw]

I blanket my horse. I have a very 'prissy' horse. He likes to be stalled, he will literally pace back and forth until he gets in his stall. He HATES mud. He LOVES to be shaved he will literally put his head down for us to reach him and fall asleep while we shave his whiskers.

At my online store we have some blankets. We have different kinds and tons of different brands not sure if all of them are uploaded.

I agree with Bethany the only con is its hard to wash at times.

 

[SallyQZ]

I used to wash my blankets in my own washer (which my husband HATED) but I got tired of dealing with the leftover hair, smell, and little dents from buckles. So now I take all my blankets down to my local consignment tack store - they have a lady who washes them, and repairs them if necessary. She charges roughly $20 per blanket so I think it's worth it to save the wear and tear on my washer (and my marriage - hubby is much happier this way )

I have a second set of blankets so while one set is being cleaned, I use the other set. It gets me through the winter just fine.

 

[Archiesmom]

I'm in MN, so we DEFINITELY use winter blankets on our horses. Especially our showstring. They spend the time in the barn during the day, and so when we let them out to play in the snow, they really don't have the coat quite built up enough to deal with the cold.

I'm good friends with the owners of Corcel...have you ever heard of them? WONDERFUL, CUSTOM products. Plus, they use that 3M thinsulate in their regular blankets, and the primaloft in their severe winter blankets (which is what we have for our outdoor horses...its military grade insulation!) You should check them out, their prices are fairly reasonable. www.corcelinc.com

 

[SaraR]

Thank you so much guys and sry i posted and ran i got pretty busy with some stuff. i will definately check out those sites and one more question. Do you keep the blankets on them all winter? or do you take them off if you turn them out in the pasture? i have 2 horses right now so while it makes perfect since to have 2 so i can get one set washed i don't think it's in the budget right now. i'm just trying to get them at least one.

 

[SaraR]

oh and i'm in ND and i think it gets colder here than in MN so i probably should. they weren't blanketed at all last year and hardly wanted to come in but we weren't required to bing them in like i am at the barn i'm at now.

 

[MaximotheMacaw]

I only blanket mine when its cold and take it off on the days its not. I leave mine on in the pasture if its that cold.

 

[Archiesmom]

We don't keep ours on unless its a really cold day. In the barns, they have regular old sheets that we'll put on them if it's really chilly, but since our barn has radiant heat, we leave the blankets off of them inside most of the time, and put them on when they go outside where they don't have as much shelter. We have six winter blankets at the farm, but 8 horses, but it works out. If they go out and its cold, the blankets are on. When we rotate the horses to bring those that have been outside back into the barn, the blankets come off and go onto the horses going outside. It's a pretty good system

 

[SaraR]

yeah in the winter here in ND it's friggin freezing the whole time!!! and we don't have any heat in out barn on the base....so i'm thinking they will stay on the whole winter...