A Horse Blanket Is An Essential Tack Item

A horse blanket is an essential luxury to replace your mare’s clipped winter’s coat. Horse blankets are not only ideal for keeping her warm, but they are fantastic for helping her cool off slowly, or protecting her from flies. It’s recommended to keep many horse blankets to cater for her changing needs. The composition of horse blanket fabric varies enormously from heavy to very light weight.

Always wrap your mare in more than one horse blanket depending on what the temperature dictates. Many layers of thin blankets are definitely preferable to fewer thicker ones; as thin blankets provide more flexibility to add or remove making it easy to cater for all circumstances. Thick blankets can cause a horse to sweat incurring many associated health risk.

Blanketed outdoor horses should be regularly monitored including, the inspection of strap wear and blanket chaffing of their shoulders and back. Should your mare sweat on a sunny winter’s day, then she is most likely carrying one or two blankets too many. Waterproof blankets are fantastic for wet weather but are not recommended for regular use because they will prevent natural skin breathing.

Stable blankets are the most regularly used horse blanket. They are kept in place by chest and stomach straps and are not waterproof because they are meant for indoor use. They come in fabrics of various weights comprising plain cotton or cotton blends. Some are cold weather quilted.

Flysheets comprise a very lightweight breathing material which protects a horse from gnats, mosquitoes and other flying pests. They are fantastic for both indoor and outdoor use. They fasten securely to make them perfectly safe when your mare rolls or lies down.

Turnout blankets provide the heavier protection ideal for cold and wet weather; they have a lining that is quilted beneath a waterproof outer fabric. They come with many straps for going around the chest, the stomach and the tail. These hold the blanket firmly in place when rolling, lying down or galloping around.

Coolers or anti-perspiration sheets are horse blankets used on racehorses and competition horses that face short spells of intense activity then rest. To prevent these horses from going sore or stiff they require walking to cool them off slowly under supervision. Anti-perspiration sheets and coolers regulate cooling by slowing the evaporation rate and stoping issues caused from rapid body (especially joint and muscle) temperature changes.

Anti-perspiration sheets, much like turnout blankets, have a firm snug fit, whilst coolers have a loose fit. One must not leave your mare unattended with a cooler on as it will definitely become entangled when she lies down or rolls.