i did a short ride the other day and came home and put on the pf
blanket/cooler after removing the saddle. i then walked her for a while, let
her loose and came back an hour or so later. top of the blanket was wet and a
little chilly. underneath, she was bone dry and warm (not hot). i wish i
would have bought that blanket sooner. best $55 i ever spent (and then i
found the same blanket mail order for less than 40, of course).
i am looking to make a full length (ears to tail) cooler if i can get a hold
of some cheap polar fleece from a fabric store here in seattle or down in
portland.
liz (& ariel)
maple valley, wa
http://members.aol.com/lazyjarabs/Ariel.html
----------
> Subj: Winter Coats
> Date: 97-10-01 14:00:32 EDT
> From: Halfmeyer@cc.ucsf.edu (Katja Halfmeyer)
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
>
> Hi Lauren and ridecamper,
>
> concerning winter coats I felt like giving my 0.02......
>
> German winters can be unpredictable and since my guy grows the thickest
fur
> ever seen, I had to make a decision last winter that worked fine for us.
>
> First of all you have to make the decision of whether you want to do full
> training during the winter-time and have the opportunity to do so, means
do
> you have enough ridable trails or a covered arena?
> Next thought should be whether your horse lives indoor or outdoor?!
> If you really want to do full training and it is possible for your horse
to
> wear a blanket all day without having buddies around tearing it off and no
> one seeing it, than you should go ahead and clip your horse ASAP in those
> regions, where he/she sweats mostly.
> You should do it as soon as possible, because this way you can get rid of
> the worst winter-hair, but still some hair will grow and your horse will
> not be completely naked for the rest of the winter.
> The style of cliping is more or less up to you. I just did the neck and
> from the loin down last winter, which looked really funny, but it worked
> well. The idea is to leave as much winter-hair on your horse as possible
to
> reduce the risk of a flue or cough etc.
> For training you need something like a polar fleece blanket. On really
cold
> days I walk my horse with the blanket on to warm up, before I take it down
> and start trotting <in an arena that is>. The polar fleece is the best
> choice for letting the horse cool down and dry underneath the blanket. As
> you might have seen already, the blanket will get wet with sweat on the
> outside and a dry horse under it, really neat!!
> You should make sure that the horse is completely dry before you put the
> heavy duty all-day-and -night blanket on. Someone on ridecamp suggested a
> special company, unfortunately I forgot what it was...
> On last thing at the end <this is getting too long>, the first couple of
> days after the cliping you should be a little careful exposing the horse
to
> cold wind and rain, he/she might get a sore throat <happened to my guy>.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Katja
> with Nanak <Jahan>, who has never seen a clip-machine in his life......