There are several different things to consider when blanketing your horse. Every brand and style has a different combination of variables that work together to determine how well the blanket will suit your horse’s lifestyle. Here are the main things to take into consideration when choosing what your horse should wear:
First to consider is where your horse will be wearing his blanket. For indoor use, Stable Blankets of various fills will do nicely and tend to be more economical than turnout sheets. They are typically not water proof or tear resistant, but they work well in a stall or as warm layers under their more weather proof counterparts – Turnout Blankets.

Fill: Fill is how much warm material is inside your blanket. With everything ranging from 0g to 450g, this one is the most temperature dependent option. 0g rain sheets will keep your horse dry and protected from wind, and are generally the best option for chillier autumn and spring temperatures before it ventures into the below zeroes. For slightly cooler temperatures or horses that are sensitive to cold or don’t grow a coat, you may want to venture into the 100g fill styles. Lots of horses (even those living outside full time!) do well over a Canadian winter in 200g & 300g fill blankets; but for those who need a bit more there are 400g options as well as Horseware’s innovative Varilayer options, which have 450g fill at the points where horses lose the most heat.

Material: Your next most important consideration, in conjunction with Denier. The material of your horse’s blanket determines the longevity of it’s life, and also quite often the cost. A blanket made of ballistic nylon will be one of the toughest blankets you can buy, will last the longest even if your horse is in a herd of troublemakers and blanket-tag players, tends not to rip even if it does get snagged, but also tends to be one of the higher cost options on the market. Ripstop polyester is probably the most popular material amongst blanket manufacturers. While the ripstop action is nice – you’ll notice a raised square weave on the blanket – because it tends to mean the blanket can get ripped in a small space but it can’t go too far, or it will rip in a square and therefore easier to repair manner – the strength of this material is greatly dependent on denier. Polypropylene is also a durable material that some blankets are made of – sort of a middle-of-the road strength between polyester and ballistic nylon.

Denier: The denier of a fabric is the thickness of the threads which make up that fabric. In essence, the higher the denier, the thicker and therefore the stronger a material is going to be. Turnout blankets range from 600D to 1680D. A 600D blanket will be perfectly serviceable for a horse who is on individual turnout, is the top of his herd, or whose paddock mates don’t play much. On the other hand, if you have a horse who lives out year round in a large group that tends to get rough and tumble upon occasion, you may want to stick to something with a higher denier and possibly the stronger materials.

The most durable blankets we carry are the Horseware Rambo and the Bucas Smartex & Power Turnout options, followed by the Horseware Rhino line. These are made of the toughest materials in the highest denier and can stand up to some pretty rough treatment for a long time. Horze makes excellent quality, durable blankets in high denier ripstop polyester that are very reasonably priced and will stand up to wear and tear almost as effectively as Bucas and Horseware.

Closure: There are lots of different chest closure types available, and the one you choose will help determine ease of taking on and off as well as adjustability in sizing. T-buckles and the v-front snaps are pretty easy to use – the v-fronts can be undone one-handed! - but can’t be adjusted to widen the chest portion of the blanket. Straps can easily be adjusted to change the fit of the blanket but do provide an extra “thing” for other horses to grab on to when in the field. Horze straps have a buckle on them so that once you’ve fitted it to your horse they’re really easy to take on and off without having to remember which hole you have to do it up on.

Therapeutic Blankets: We carry the full line of Back On Track horse items, including their blankets, coolers and quarter sheets. Back On Track uses a material called Welltex which reflects the body’s infrared rays back at the horse, stimulating circulation. This aids in injury recovery, muscle healing after exercise, and regular use of these items can keep your horse feeling her very best. We also carry the Horseware Ireland Rambo Ionic line, which contains finely ground tourmaline. The tourmaline creates negative ions, which work to aid circulation and speed up metabolic rates, which in turn hastens recovery and reduces pain.

Coolers, Flysheets, Scrims, etc: There’s more than just warmth when it comes to horse clothing! We also carry various coolers for keeping your horse covered when you’re getting ready to ride or on a trailer trip, flysheets to protect your horse from those evil biting fiends, quarter sheets for your winter riding needs, and neck attachments for a wide variety of our blankets for the more cold-susceptible horses among us.