Blankets? Any Suggestions for CA weather?
This summer my family, and I moved from Virginia to Northern California. We bought my horse with us. Since we are coming into winter soon I want to blanket her but I only have a heavyweight blanket from the freezing Virginia winters. She is boarded in Sebastopol, which is 1 1/2 hours north of San Francisco and 15 minutes from the beach so it gets pretty chilly with the wind. I am currently talking with my riding instructor about giving her a trace clip since she gets very sweaty with her winter coat on (she’s ridden a minimum of 4 times a week). The barn owner suggests between a 100 and 200 gram rug. And then she also suggested keeping my heavy rug just in case it gets really cold some nights. My horse lives outside in a pasture with 2 other horses and a shelter large enough for all of them. I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions of brand? Or even a blanket that they use and love? We are on a bit of a budget, (nothing over $100). Thanks!
I’m in Southern California. Weather here is generally in the mid to upper 40s at night (usually with cloud cover, we tend to see mid to upper 50s) I’m also in more coastal climate as well, so we have on-shore breezes.
Because it’s SoCal, and the weather is generally pretty nice and warm during the day, my Haflinger doesn’t really need his born-in-Ohio winter coat. So he generally gets a trace clip (although this year, I’m tempted to take more off for a blanket clip). Although winter doesn’t have snow here, most horses are kept in pipe corrals or mare motels or stalls, so they really can’t move around that much to keep warm (and there’s also a whole thing with how many flakes of hay they get a day, so it’s not always free-choice, and eating hay would help generate body heat.) Because a lot of CA horses get clipped, you’re taking the hair away, so they do need a layer of warmth and protection in the form of a blanket.
I have an ultra-lightweight at 80 grams (Got it from Stateline Tack, I don’t think they make it anymore) and a mid/light weight Saxon that’s 180 grams. Horses in California won’t likely need blankets over 100 grams most of the time even when clipped which is why I use my ultra-lightweight a lot, but on nights when we do get down towards the lower 40s or if it’s raining, I’ll swap blankets to the 180 gram.
The Weatherbeeta Saxon midweight that you can get at Horse.com is 180 grams. Same brand as I have. They say it’s good for clipped horses down to the 40s. I’m pretty sure it’s under $100. I’m not sure how it would hold up in a pasture with two other horses since the denier isn’t very strong, but I’ve been satisfied with it for my pony in his pipe corral.
Good luck finding something.
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