Choosing the Right Blanket
By Sue Woodward

With so many blanket types, brands and styles to choose from, it can get very confusing choosing the right one for your horse.

Which blanket suits which breed best, what type for what weather, how heavy, how thick and what waterproofing is best are just a few of the decisions that must be made.

I've found Weatherbeeta brand has been the most popular one bought; they also make the most styles and types too. I used to find that they had a lot of factory defects, such as decaying of the webbing/beating, tears at the shoulder pleats and tearing where the belly straps attach to the blanket. Now they don't have the bad webbing and there isn't as much tearing or stitching opening at the shoulder pleats.

My favorites are the Weatherbeeta original, and the Sympatex rain sheets. Yes, I said sheets, they are waterproof, and unless you shave your horse or you really need a short coat for a show horse, they work great.

The Weatherbeeta has a lot to choose from. Make sure you measure your horses from where you want the blanket to lay on the neck/withers down to the dock of the tail, and also the middle of the front of the horse's chest midsection, along the side of the horse to the buttcheek. Not too far under; you might get a blanket that is too big.

Also, if you measure the horse from the shoulder down to where you would like the blanket to go to, maybe just to the girth or four to five inches below the girth. It is really up to you.

Some Weatherbeetas can ride really low and you end up with the muumuu affect; this could cause your horse to get his hocks caught up in the back leg straps. Always make sure that the back leg straps are loose enough for the horse to move around, but not so loose that they can get caught up in the legs; it is also good to put the back leg straps looped in the other one. This makes it so they don't hang down on the hock.

The Sympatex brand is great for the shorter-backed breed of horses and they also don't ride so low on the horse. They are made more form-fitting, much like the older Big D blankets used to be. They are a lightweight blanket and really well made. They are advertised as more breathable, but a nylon fabric is a nylon fabric--all breathe the same and as with all blankets, they should be taken off of the horse when the day gets warm. If left on, the horse will sweat and start to rub and then tear its blanket, also the sweat will get into the fabric and seams and this will deteriorate the blanket.

Most repairs I do are from the blanket being too big for the horse so the back leg straps get under the horse's hocks when it lays down, and when it gets up it then pulls on the straps and tears the blanket. Next, of course, is the horse that likes to rub; again it could be because it gets warm or it just likes to rub.

If you have a horse that keeps getting its blanket chewed on by another horse, an old method is to spray Lysol disinfectant on your blanket. The horses hate the taste. It has a nice smell; the horse smells it and then takes a bite and boy, it is nasty, and the next time it goes to bite/chew on the blanket it doesn't. This also works on training horses to stop chewing tails, manes, tail bags and other things. It does wear off, so you have to keep spraying until you train the horse to stop the bad behavior

Horse Attire can be reached by calling 760-789-7340 or emailing horseattire@cox.net.