Selecting a Turnout Blanket for Your Horse

Factors to consider when selecting a turnout blanket for your horse.

By Jayne Pedigo

Which Features Should I Look For?
As a rule of thumb, always go for the very best quality you can afford. That bargain blanket may not be such a bargain when the buckle on the leg strap breaks or when your horse is shivering because rain seeped through the seams.

For turnout blankets, the traditional ripstop canvas "New Zealand" rug is a good choice, but not the only choice available nowadays. Waterproof nylon outer layers are also popular. Look for a blanket that doesn't have a seam at the top where water can leak in. Usually, the canvas rugs are a very distinctive green color, although I have also seen them in blue and black. Nylon and other synthetic materials are available in a myriad of colors and can be selected to match your stable's colors.

Linings can be full or partial, wool or synthetic. If you live in the north, (well anywhere other than Texas, where I live, I suppose) you may want to get one with a thermal lining. In addition, blanket liners can be purchased separately. The deeper a blanket is, the warmer it will be for your horse. Many rugs come with tail guards, which can protect your horse from wind (horses always like to turn their hindquarters to the wind and rain)

Turnout blankets may come with bias (or cross) surcingles or with a central surcingle and leg straps. Whichever design the blanket you select has, make sure to adjust the straps correctly for the comfort of your horse and also to help stop the blanket from shifting in use. If your blanket has a central surcingle, be sure to use a pad underneath it where it crosses the spine and also stretch your horse's forelegs to unwrinkle the skin - the same way you do for the girth.

Avoid blankets with the leg straps attached either too high or too far back. Your horse is going to be wearing his turnout blanket at his most active time and it is going to have to withstand all sorts of wear and tear as your horse rolls, runs and plays with his pasture mates. It is important to make sure that it is comfortable for him and that it does not slip.

Other useful features to look for are shoulder gussets, which give the horse room to move and alleviate pressure on the shoulders, and a nylon lining in the shoulder region, which lessens the change of the rug rubbing the hair and causing bald spots. Avoid blankets with over-large neck openings as the rug will tend to slide back and pull more on the horse's shoulder.

Measuring your Horse for his Turnout Blanket
The way to measure a horse for his turnout blanket is the same as for stable blankets, anti-sweat sheets or summer sheets. The measurement is taken from the middle of the horses chest, all the way back to the tail.

This height chart will give you an additional guide:

Horse Size (In Hands)	Rug Size
11 1/2	58" - 60"
12 - 13 1/2	64"
13 1/2 - 14 1/2	68"
14 1/2 - 15 1/2	72"
15 1/2 - 16	74"
16 - 16 1/2	76"
16 1/2 - 17 1/2	78" - 80"
18	82" - 84"