1621: Top 5 Tips for Successfully Blanketing Your Horse

Hello, everybody.

I'm Justin Long, host of Straight from the Horse Doctors' mouth, and I want to talk to

you about something every horse owner dreads, emergencies.

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You are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network Family.

Greetings, everyone.

Coach Jen here, and thanks for tuning in to Horse Tip Daily, episode 1621.

In the studio, oh by my lonesome today!

So here are my top five tips for blanketing season.

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First, get the best fit you can.

Just like the favorite pair of jeans that you wear or breaches, you've got to match the

blanket to the horse's body type, and even within a given brand, the fit can be different

with the different price points and styles.

So investigate different styles and cuts that might best fit your horse.

Does he need shoulder darts or not?

Does he need a high neck or an adjustable neck?

Does he need leg straps that cross in the back or does he do better with just a little tail

cord?

Or even a belly band versus surf singles?

All of these things affect how the horse feels inside of his binky, and if it doesn't

feel good, he's not going to be very happy about wearing it.

Number two, use the right blanket for the job.

Cotton sheets do not make good coolers.

Stable blankets are not a good choice for turning your horse out, even in the end or arena,

and putting a 300 gram turnout blanket on your horse and heading off on an 8-hour road

trip is not necessarily a good idea.

If you feel like you don't know how to dress your horse, you can hit up your favorite

manufacturer's website, talk to the local store owners, or you can stay tuned to

horse tip daily for my horse wardrobe essentials tip coming up soon.

Number three, keep your horses closed as clean as possible.

And this doesn't always be washing them on a weekly basis.

Yes, a laundering is essential once at least once a season, but you should be brushing

the dirt off with a good stiff brush every day and hanging the blankets up so that they

can breathe.

Now many of us use turnout blankets for indoor and outdoor use these days, so if you're

one of those folks have two.

So that one of them has a chance to get cleaned off and aired out, if not laundered.

And also your horse is a lot less likely to develop skin funk if the blankets are kept

clean and fresh.

Having your blankets professionally laundered at the end of the season, however, is an excellent

investment.

Number four, be consistent.

If you're not able to commit to changing your horse's blankets as often as he needs them

to be changed, perhaps you should opt for the wookie look this winter.

If your horse is getting overheated under too many blankets sometimes and then getting

chilled others, are you really doing him any favors?

Probably not.

Think through it before you go down that path.

And number five, take your horse's blankets off every day.

There are a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is you need to find out if your

horse is harboring any injuries under there.

Yes, he can get injured underneath of his blanket and there's no evidence on top.

And blanketing does not absolve you of keeping an eye on your horse's weight.

We've all heard the stories where old Thunder wore a nice toasty warm blanket all winter

long.

And then the owner is shocked come springtime.

He takes the blanket off and there are his ribs hanging out.

So you take the blankets off every day.

And as I mentioned, stay tuned for this to this space on horse tip daily.

And I'm going to have the horse blanket wardrobe essentials coming up soon.

Well, there you have it.

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This is Coach Jen and I will be back again soon with another tip.

Until then, go ride your horse.

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statements paid by guests on the horse tip daily.

Please use your own judgment when listening to the tips on this show.