Winter is here. Most of your horses have probably been wearing their blankets for about a month. If you're lucky, you have just went to your trusty storage bin and pulled out last years blanket. But if your like so many who are the lucky owners of blanket destroyers or that long-time blanket is reaching the end of it's life, you're probably looking or have looked at the many available, colorful, classy or new tech blankets on the market today.
I enjoy blanket shopping. The price, I am not a fan of. But in most cases you get what you pay for. And in most cases, Horseware (to name one of my favorite brands) owners are quick to point out their 3,4 or 5 year old blanket with pride. Maybe your horse (A) wears it's blanket like a dream. Kindly cradling it around, avoiding the tiniest part of fencing out of line within it's 10 acre pasture that any horse (B) would otherwise use to destroy and free itself of the confines of it's blanket.. So in that case you could probably tell me, "why buy such an expensive blanket?! This one (enter affordable brand here) has lasted me two winters so far!" If your horse is like example B, I am sure you would laugh and point to your trash bag filled with yet another "affordable" blanket down the drain..
I am not saying that you can't find an affordable blanket that is well-constructed. No, I am just saying that if you look at the long-term, affordable might not be realistic.
Enough with my blabbering. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite blankets.
One of my most favorites is the Rambo Wug. I'm not sure how long this blanket has been around, but I've seen it for at least a couple years. My most loved features are the high neck. It also has the two buckle closure, which I quite like. It now comes in three new colours; Plum(?) and silver, a blue and silver and soft chocolate with silver. It features all of the great quality and weather protection from the Rambo line of Horseware.
And now, for something different...
May I introduce you to TurtleNeck.
Here is what their website says;
"
The TurtleNeck® concept was developed by our founder Glen Hathcock because he wanted a better turnout for his own horses. His comments below give us an insight into his motivation.
“We had a genuine problem finding blankets for our show horses that fit properly and did not rub the shoulders or the withers. When we tried to use larger sizes for our horses they had gaping holes in the neck opening and they hung dangerously low. We once had a colt hang a hoof in a nylon belly strap while rolling and the ensuing panic it caused was the last straw. We were in a position to do something about it and we did.”
The company set out to create a turnout rug that would resolve these issues and provide a high degree of safety for horses. The first change was the installation of detachable elastic belly and leg straps to eliminate the possibility that any horse would ever be bound by unbreakable nylon straps. Our next change was redesigning the pattern with extra room in the shoulders and neck then we added heavy elastic binding in the neck to keep it from gaping open. The stretch in the neckline was tested and a ratio determined that kept the neckline snug against the horse yet comfortable. Finally we added the elastic binding in the shoulder gusset to allow it to stretch in conjunction with the elastic in the neckline and straps when the horse ran and played. The result was a blanket that moved and stretched with the horse in every direction but remained snug. An added benefit of the new snug design was that it kept the horse’s body heat inside the blanket and prevented wind, rain, sleet, or snow from entering through the neck opening. After extensive testing the first TurtleNeck was brought to the market in 2003. Our brand is now recognized by many horse owners and retailers as being a uniquely superior product that stands up to our motto “The Ultimate in Protection and Safety.”
So those are only two of my favorite blanket Top Picks for winter. What are yours?
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