blankets/coolers questions what do other drivers use

[shorthorsemom]

I have a 32 inch driving mini that I would rather not clip and blanket this winter. I don't have a stall I can put him in while he dries off after a work out and I need some ideas for a good blanket/cooler to put on my boy while he dries after we come back from our lesson. He has quite a thick coat and today it is taking quite some time to dry fully.

Luckily it was warmer today (why he sweat so much in the first place), but it did get cold outside last night and I am thinking about winter and trying to keep him warm while he dries off come January. Any ideas? I thought of a trace clip, but worry he will requre a blanket if I start shaving hair off at this point. He is out of shape now, but we are working on that and I am hoping once I get him in shape he won't sweat quite so much.

I moved this from the other forum discussion after I realized it is more of a question for driving experienced forum members, what do you do in the winter to cool your horses out if you are not clipping and blanketing or stabling but are still driving and making sweat. thanks

PS, he never looked cold but my driving lesson was at 3 pm and he was still damp well after sunset last night. We didn't work all that hard, mostly at a walk and a little trotting and not all that long. He is just really out of shape but we are working on that.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I moved this from the other forum discussion after I realized it is more of a question for driving experienced forum members, what do you do in the winter to cool your horses out if you are not clipping and blanketing or stabling but are still driving and making sweat. thanks

PS, he never looked cold but my driving lesson was at 3 pm and he was still damp well after sunset last night. We didn't work all that hard, mostly at a walk and a little trotting and not all that long. He is just really out of shape but we are working on that.

Walking in harness is actually more work for a horse than trotting is - great low stress way to get them in shape as long as it is on good ground and they aren't staggering around trying to keep the cart moving.

If you can't clip and he is getting sweaty make sure you walk him till he is cool, may still be damp but if you check him between his front legs and back legs he shouldn't feel hot, you can then blow dry him dry. I have an old hair dryer that I use in the barn to get them dry. I walk them, turn them out so they can roll and dry themselves as best they can and then I blow dry them if they are still damp. If I am in a big hurry I skip the roll.

Even if you had a stall you could put him in leaving him standing wet in a stall at this time of year would be worse than turning him out.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Thanks for the reply.. I never thought to blow him dry. I have an extension cord and if he will tolerate it I will try that. He wasn't hot, I had cooled him out well, he just stayed so darn damp. He did enjoy his roll too.

We are not doing hills yet and he doesn't seem to have any trouble pulling me and the cart easily on flat ground, he just gets wet. I actually gave him a squirt of electrolites last night as a precaution.

 

[RhineStone]

We have wool blankets that we bought from the local Army Surplus store for "coolers". The wool wicks the moisture from the horse's coat. If they are really damp, we replace one blanket with another until the horse is dry. We use some spring clips to keep the blanket close to their coats, like at the neck and under the belly. The best thing about the army blankets is that they were about $10/blanket, which is a whole lot less than I could buy the fabric for!

If I think about it, I'll take a photo of our horses in their "coolers". This is the time of year this question comes up.

Myrna

 

[shorthorsemom]

Thanks Myrna, I think I have some blankets laying around to use. I never thought to make a cooler out of a blanket. I have an old full sized horse cooler too. I bet I could make a couple of mini cooler blankets out of that!

 

[shorthorsemom]

I love this forum! Somebody sent me a pm and they make miniature horse coolers from polartek fleece. They were very reasonable in price and so beautiful that I ordered one rather than try to make my own. I love my new mini cooler. It is so pretty and worked so well yesterday when I had a lesson at keeping my boy from getting a chill while he dried and cooled. The fit was perfect and it has little velcro closures in the front and a loop for attaching to the halter to keep it pulled up on his neck too. A little fanny rope too just like the big boys wear. really neat.

I loved the wool blanket idea that Myrna posted but I am totally allergic to wool which is why I started shopping same theme but in polartek fabric. thanks everybody

 

[Lori W]

"Somebody sent me a pm and they make miniature horse coolers from polartek fleece. They were very reasonable in price and so beautiful that I ordered one rather than try to make my own. I love my new mini cooler. "

I'd love to have a mini cooler, too. Can you point me to where I can find the person who makes them? Thank you!

 

[RhineStone]

We had a different use for the wool coolers yesterday. On Saturday night, we had a blizzard warning, but since it wasn't going to be THAT cold that night, I turned the big horses out. They have an awning to stand under but the snow blew around so much that they came in wet and just a little chilled Sunday morning. (Our filly has a REALLY fine hair coat.) I spent the whole morning putting on wool blankets under regular horse blankets, and then whisking away the wet wool blanket and getting out another one to put under the horse blanket until the two big horses were mostly dried off. It wouldn't have been a big deal to just leave them in the stalls out of the wind, but I had to get them dried because it was really cold last night and today. I have blankets laid out all over our heated shop/garage drying!

I think I need to go get more wool blankets!

Last night, I rearranged the horses again so that the big horses could be "outside", but could stand in the inside stall attached to the outside run. The minis aren't that big of a deal to leave in, but the big horses would rather be outside unless they are cold. They make a big mess of the stalls, and give me the "just turn me out" looks. I had used a wool on our coming 3 yr. old filly Saturday evening to dry her off, but she kept trying to take it off.

But Sunday morning, she was perfectly happy to leave it on!

Myrna

 

[MiLo Minis]

Polar fleece works amazingly well for wicking moisture away from horses coats! I was really suprised as I didn't think a synthetic would do such a good job. I use it for bath sheets, coolers and under winter blankets or summer sheets when I want just a bit more warmth. It is great stuff. I buy it when it is on special, end of rolls or out of season/dated fabrics - the horses don't seem to mind if they are not the height of fashion! When used as a cooler it gets soaked and the horse is dry and fluffy. You do need to keep an eye and remove it at that point.

 

[uwharrie]

Are you getting the "high tec" stuff or just the regular fleece found at the fabric stores? I noticed that JoAnnes and the other fabric stores have some awesome deals on fleece right now.

Polar fleece works amazingly well for wicking moisture away from horses coats! I was really suprised as I didn't think a synthetic would do such a good job. I use it for bath sheets, coolers and under winter blankets or summer sheets when I want just a bit more warmth. It is great stuff. I buy it when it is on special, end of rolls or out of season/dated fabrics - the horses don't seem to mind if they are not the height of fashion! When used as a cooler it gets soaked and the horse is dry and fluffy. You do need to keep an eye and remove it at that point.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Polar fleece works amazingly well for wicking moisture away from horses coats! I was really suprised as I didn't think a synthetic would do such a good job. I use it for bath sheets, coolers and under winter blankets or summer sheets when I want just a bit more warmth. It is great stuff. I buy it when it is on special, end of rolls or out of season/dated fabrics - the horses don't seem to mind if they are not the height of fashion! When used as a cooler it gets soaked and the horse is dry and fluffy. You do need to keep an eye and remove it at that point.

That's really interesting and good to know! I've always been skeptical of polar fleece coolers because my polar fleece jackets are the worst possible thing to try and dry my hands on or wipe off wet glasses on as the water just smears around instead of getting absorbed. Guess I never gave it long enough!

I still don't like the intense static I get with polar fleece, but maybe if the horse is wet that won't be so bad.

There are lots of places to get polar fleece mini coolers online. Try Schneider's Tack or any of the mini catalogues.

Leia

 

[shorthorsemom]

I got mine from pond lake stables. Cyndia is her name. she has a web page. She also makes mini foal blankets and some other items.

 

[MiLo Minis]

They are static-y thats for sure but once you pull them off the static goes away

I thought the same way, no absorbency, till I tried them. I just use the regular stuff from the fabric stores, comes in different weights and I just buy whatever is on sale. It doesn't take a lot of fabric for a Mini sheet!