rain sheet

My appy gets very cold whenever she gets wet (ie rain or bath), but she will not come in out of the rain (neither well sized run-in shed or open barn aisle will do). A rain sheet sounds like a solution, BUT she also sweats heavily and quickly. I would love to get her a sheet, but they all sound too thick, I just want something to keep the water off her, as long as she is dry she is warm.

Any suggestions? Should 600D be thin enough, am I just being paranoid?

Does she actually shiver? If not I wouldnt worry about it.

Oh yes she shivers strongly, otherwise I wouldn't assume she's cold. All our other kids live uncovered and never respond to the rain, that's why her shivering really set off bells for me.

I guess that was a really stupid question If you have a horse that tells you she's a bit chilly, I want to meet her. I would say yes you should be putting a sheet on her. Check Dover saddlery http://www.doversaddlery.com/ they have some nice ones. I am a little against the ones with the nylon lining as they cause static to build up under them. [/u]

They all seem too heavy though. She only ever shivers when she is wet, otherwise she sweats bullets at the drop of a hat. I put a cooler on her once and it made her sweat even more!
I could just bite the bullet and stall her when it rains, but she far far prefers to be out, she's been raised very naturally, so I prefer to try to keep things that way for her.

I have no clue what the thicknesses listed for the sheets mean. 600 sounds like a very big number to me, but maybe that's no thicker than my jogging shorts??

Hi,

Rain sheets arn't 100% waterproof in heavy rain. I have one. I instead brought a jersy. That sounds really warm aye, but its only a lil warmer than the rain sheet. Inside the rain sheet is some meshy stuff, and the out side is usually thin canvas stuff. With the Jersy, it is only lined with a solid cotton. It is water proof.

Other wise I would lock her up in a stable, and just chuck a light summer rug on her. Sweating is better than freezing cold in my books!

Cheers. Oh yeh the jersy is a lil dearer too ($30) AU

I haven't had a horse I had to blanket in years but I think the numbers are like thread count in sheets. The higher the number the closer or heavier the thread. You may look into supplementing her. Sometimes its just something in the diet (unless she is a warmblood). Maybe getting some alfalfa cubes and giving her some on rainy days. It helps produce heat . Do the sell it in NJ? I know they do here, called a bale in a bag or something like that. Its just small cubes of compressed alfalfa. Your in a catch 22 situation with her since she is going to be wet either way.

What really never heard of that one lol weird!! :o

Why not just go with an unlined light canvas rug? They're water proof but not heavy enough to be hot it's what I use on the 'weird weather' days during spring.

I got this from the ADM on equine nutrition http://www.admani.com/AllianceEquine...tCenturyV.htm:

Metabolism of feeds produces body heat. Metabolism of forage results in the greatest amount of heat, with grains resulting in intermediate heat production and fats the least heat production. Therefore, in winter, it makes sense to increase the forage rather than grain. This is contrary to the old tradition of adding more ‘corn for extra heat’ in the winter. In summer, it makes sense to increase the fat content of the concentrate rather than adding grain.