Living in the northeast United States horse blankets are a must for our equine friends. Of course not all horses need warmth but unless they are pastured with a run-in shed, wind and precipitation make it necessary to provide shelter from the elements. Turnout blankets and/or sheets can provide such a “mobile” shelter much like the shell of a turtle.

The choices are numerous – brands, designs, cost and colors. The ultimate decision is yours to make. Consider the following guidelines when browsing the aisles of your favorite tack store or the pages of your favorite catalogue.

Breed differences can be a good, although incomplete, indicator of what sort of blanket your horse should wear. Thin-skinned, thin-coated horses such as, but not limited to, Thoroughbreds, and some of the lighter warmblood breeds really need warmth as well as waterproofing. Draft ponies and horses, draft crosses, Morgans and many other assorted breeds of horses tend to grow more coat so may only need a waterproof sheet to get them through the winter months. Surprisingly, considering they are desert animals, Arabians seem to grow quite a thick coat and do very well in the cold. These are, of course, simple generalizations and each individual horse must be assessed for their own ability to withstand the cold. All horses however should be protected from becoming wet during the months when temperatures dip into the teens and below. Even the most hearty-coated horses can become wet if outside long enough. The snow sits on top of their coat but as their body heat melts that snow it can penetrate and soak the skin – once that happens the animal will become chilled which creates the same sort of physical challenges that wet and cold conditions can produce in people - susceptibility towards illness, mucsle cramping and gastric upset. Once wet it then becomes a huge job to warm and dry them, unless of course you have access to a heated area or they have a place in your house.

Most turnouts made today are waterproof and breathable – a huge improvement over those canvas rugs that weighed more than the average groom. The level of warmth is determined by the amount of fill – sheets have none and heavy filled blanket can have 300 gms of fill material or more. The outside layers also vary in material quality and level of waterproofing. Some brands of turnouts are warranteed for three years, some for one and others not at all and this is where you see the differences in cost and quality of the top layers of material. Some are rated by “denier” numbers and this can best be described as thread count like you see in bed sheets – the higher the number the denser and tougher the material. It is recommended that those horses pastured with others that may consider blankets a play toy purchse high grade denier - this will bear up to fairly rough play as well as maintain its waterproofing for longer than materials of lesser quality.

Once you have your turnout you must follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions. Washing waterproof material in detergents will remove the waterproofing and void all warranties. Professional horse wear laundry services will do a good job of not only cleaning but re-waterproofing but you must ensure that they do so without detergent and preferably with an eco-friendly waterproofer such as Nikwax – this penetrates the fibers as opposed to just sitting on top as a silicone product would.