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Blanketing question - whats the difference?

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  DressageIsToDance 
#1 ·
My paint pony grows a winter coat to make a bear jealous, so I've never blanketed him, because he just sweats. The only blanket I've ever used is a wool lined one that was a hand-me-down.

So what blanket is used for what?

I know coolers/fly sheets are used to help keep them cool in the summer, and keep the flys down.

So what is the difference between a turn out, stable, and light, medium and heavy sheets?
 
#2 · (Edited)
Turnouts are waterproof, stable are not.

The light, medium and heavy just refers to ho much "fill" is in the blanket. The more fill, the heavier the blanket and the warmer it is.

Some horses get cold more easily then others. Older horses tend to get cold a lot easier. My trainer went out to her barn to check on everyone the other morning and the 2 oldest horses in the barn were cold and shivering, while everyone else was fine. A sheet warmed up the one horse, the other needed her heavy blanket.
 
#4 ·
Turnouts are waterproof, stable are not.

The light, medium and heavy just refers to ho much "fill" is in the blanket. The more fill, the heavier the blanket and the warmer it is.
Thank you! That answers me question :)

@tinyliny - You are right, coolers are to keep them from cooling off, I was thinking fly sheets and coolers were the same, but they are not. Fly sheets help keep the horses cool, though.
 
#3 ·
Coolers are not used to keep them cool, I think. Rather to help them not cool off too rapidly when they are either wet from a bath or from sweat and are in the process of drying. Correct me if I am wrong.
I don't hardly use any blanket. I have a wool cooler that I sometime put on the horse if he's sweaty when we come back from a winter ride, but I am not able to stay until he is totally dry so I put it on, rub him through the blanket to absorb as much sweat as possible and let him cool off with it on him for about half an hour. I end up haveing to put him away wet still, sometimes, and if so, I go to the feeding shed and through out some good hay for him so he'll have the calories to keep warm and willl be out of the winde eating while he finishes drying. No other blankets ever used, no shaving either.
 
#5 ·
Pretty much all of the 20+ horses at my yard are rugged in the winter, because almost all of them get clipped to some degree, from just a bib clip to a full hunter clip, so they need the rugs to keep warm. The only one who doesn't get clipped is the 30yro, who needs a rug anyway cos he's old :-p
 
#6 ·
I consider a "sheet" anything that has no fill.

Light, Medium, and Heavy I would call blankets and as has been said, they refer to the amount of fill, and how warm they are.

And of course, turnouts are waterproof, stables are not, as has also been said.

Most people I know just use turnout blankets. They will keep them just as warm inside as outside, so why spend money for two blankets that will do the exact same job, one of which can work in both places. Stable blankets are not nearly as hardy as turnouts.

I have a turnout sheet, and a medium/light blanket. 50-60 degree weather, she wears her sheet. 40-50 degree weather and she wears the blanket. 40 and below she wears the blanket with the sheet on top. Most of the owners as well as the barn trainer/manager do about the same as I do.
 
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