To Blanket or Not to Blanket- That is the Question

The weather is turning cooler- Fall is in the air! 

To most people Fall is a welcome change, I am not one of those people. I like summer.

Oh sure, Fall smells amazing with Pumpkin Spice and Apple Pie and drying leaves and such.

But Fall is the beginning of Winter and Winter means mud in my world. Not a fan of mud.

Fall also is the time when you need to make a decision about whether you need to blanket your horses or not.
Most people have pretty strong opinions about blanketing. Since you are reading my Blog, I'm going to sally forth with mine.

I like to blanket my horse.

Why?

Because I am lazy. I don't like to scrape mud and pee and manure off my horse before I ride.  As a kid, I used to walk over 30 minutes to reach the stable, then I had to catch my horse, then I had to scrape the mud off of him, then if there was time, I could get in a ride. While working and as a young mother,I had only two hours to get out to the Boarding stable, brush, ride, and cool out my mount. Every precious minute counted. I didn't want to waste any time on mud-scraping. Now even though I am old and retired, I still blanket.Some habits die hard.

I also like that my boys coat doesn't get faded, sun-bleached or spotty. He's a roan and when a roan horse gets a good enough scrape, his coat will grow in darker, not lighter. I don't like that either. 

I like to blanket older horses, or horses that are compromised somehow, as well. Most horses, healthy young horses, can get all the heat they need with a good winters growth of coat. The coat grows in two  layers. Short hairs lie next to the skin,trapping a 'bubble' of warmth. Then longer guard hairs  fold down over the short hairs, sealing in the warmth and sealing out the rain. It's called 'loft'. When a horse shivers, he uses energy to create warmth under his hair. Nature at her finest!
A horse that is old may not have the healthiest coat. He may not have the resources in energy to create enough warmth. I especially like to help those oldsters out by giving them a comfy blanket to cozy up in. I think they deserve it.

There are a few things you need to know about blanketing before you decide whether or not to do it.

You don't need to clip your horse to use a blanket. I don't. BUT Clipped, or half clipped horses HAVE to be blanketed. You have taken their resource away, it's up to you to put it back. If you are going to clip your horse, you should do it before Thanksgiving. It has to do with the Winter solstice and circadian rhythms, darkness vs lightness. And it will mess up your Spring coat if you do it much later.  So just don't.

You need to decide what kind of weather you are going to try to keep at bay. Is it going to be sub freezing? Is it going to be rainy? Is your horse turned out - and if so, will you be there to take off and put on the blanket? Is your blanket tough enough to survive in a pasture condition? Is your horse hard on his blanket?
Buy your blankets accordingly. A high Denier count is going to be denser fabric, more durable and more water resistant. Rip stop will resist tearing well. Turn out rugs will let your horse have less restriction in his movement so he can romp in pasture.  There are so many types of fill, materials, buckle arrangements and styles. That is your call- fashionwise. Stores like Stateline Tack will also give you information on the materials, waterproofing, and correct fit.

Here is the biggest mistake that people make though. They buy a water resistant blanket and what they need is a water proof blanket . If your horse has on a blanket, and that blanket gets wet; soaked all the way through, it is just like submerging yourself in the cold waters of the ocean and then standing in a wind storm.  Even if your horse has not been clipped your horses coat cannot loft up enough to keep him adequately warm.  BAD PARTY!
If the blanket you use is quilted,( Like a Stable Blanket- made for being inside a stall) or has any seams along the topline, or is just cotton or nylon, you do not have a waterproof blanket. A Waterproof blanket will be one piece across the top, no seams. Your horse should be dry as the proverbial bone underneath the blanket, next to his skin. If he isn't- take off the blanket. It's better to have your horse be wet with his natural coat, than be blanketed and wet underneath!

A few last things about blankets.

Be sure you make the length of the straps correct. Not too long, or your horse may catch up a leg. No Bueno! And not too short, or it may rub a sore.

Make sure your blankets don't rub a sore on their withers either. It's easy to forget to check, but just like having a saddle weighing down on the wither, a heavy blanket can cause the same pain and 'gall'. Fleece padding along the wither can usually stop this.

Check under the blankets frequently. I knew a girl once that didn't check under her blankets, and when she finally did her horse had a huge oozy sore the size of a dinner plate from something that had gotten underneath the blanket. It was ugly!

So to Blanket- or not to blanket-

It's a Personal Question!
I hope this helps someone out there!
Happy Trails!