The Dirty Horse NJ Blog

The weather here on the East Coast in New Jersey has been crazy this year. We have had one of the mildest winters with temperatures hitting the mid-50s in January and February! The flowers are starting to come up and horses are beginning to shed their winter coats earlier. If you blanket your horse, it’s smart to wait til temperatures stay in the 50s consistently before removing heavy blankets. On days when it is unseasonably warm, with no wind chill factor, you might want to replace the heavy with a lined sheet. I have even seen horses with no blankets on days when it was warm. Most owners launder their heavy turnouts starting in early April. Always keep a rain sheet and/or a lined sheet on hand just in case. Horses that show, and are clipped, might need a medium turnout on those warmer days. Depending on where you are in the USA, will determine when you take those blankets off.

Horse blankets have been around a long time. In New Jersey, most owners blanket their horses when the weather turns cold; usually in December. But, there are people here who never blanket, and just provide a run-in shed for their horse. Horses will develop a heavier coat if they are left outside year round without a blanket. The choice to blanket or not depends on your horse’s lifestyle and age. If you show your horse and clip the coat, you most likely will also blanket and keep him in a stall. Pleasure horses are typically the ones you see without blankets; living outside year round. The age of the horse is also a factor, because seniors need more attention and care. If the horse is old, and has never lived outside fulltime, you may not be able to change his lifestyle without first consulting your vet. However, I’ve seen senior horses in their late 20s, outside with a run-in, who get blanketed when it gets very cold, and do just fine. If you are thinking about trying your horse outside year round, make sure you start in the warmer weather and let him/her develop a heavier coat as the climate changes. Some horses are better living outside, and these are usually the ones that kick the stall walls, or chew on the wood. But others prefer a stall, and want to come in to eat, if it gets cold, or rains. You will find pleasure horse people, who don’t blanket tell you that this is natural for horses, and blankets can cause accidents; sometimes fatal. While show horse owners will say that if their clipped horses didn’t get blanketed, there would be a lot more fatalities from illness. So, the final decision to blanket or not depends on your horse’s lifestyle and personality. You have to determine what’s best.

Most blankets that we get need a repair; minor or major. If your horse’s  blanket is old, with lots of patched holes, and/or rusty hardware, you may have to decide if repairing it “again” is worth the expense. Keep in mind that most blanket laundrys have to wash the  blanket first, so add on the wash cost to your repairs. Minor repairs can run from $10 to $30, but major tears, replacing surcingles and hardware will be more. You may be looking at a bill of $70 plus. Weigh the cost of repair and the cost of a new blanket. Many online websites offer great bargains on blankets starting as low as $39. True, it may not have the name brand “tag”, but 90% of blankets are all made in China or India. The less expensive blanket for $39 versus $390 may serve the same purpose. Tack shops add on to the wholesale price they pay to cover “overhead”, while online tack stores have virtually no”hard” overhead costs. The tack store pays even less depending on how many blankets they buy in “bulk”.  So shop around for sales, and good deals before you spend hundreds for a blanket. If the old blanket can be basically repaired, but at a reasonable amount, you might keep it as an under sheet. If it’s too expensive to fix, scrap it or maybe it can be used to repair your newer blankets.

Most horse owners launder or wash their horse’s blanket(s) once a year usually when the weather gets warm. How often you wash the blanket depends upon several factors; your personal decision, how dirty it is, and does it need repair. We do have owners who launder their horse’s blankets in the winter if they get dirty. These blankets not only include heavy turnouts but stable and baker blankets as well. If dirt is on the outside of the blanket, most owners will let it dry, and brush it off before putting it back on. But if the dirt, pee or mud gets under, and on the inside of the blanket, it’s a good idea to have it washed. Believe it or not, we have clients who only wash blankets every two or three years. When we get them in, we don ‘t even  know what color the blanket is until it goes through several rinses just to remove the layers of dirt. This is why many equine laundries charge extra for “rewashes”. With that in mind, if you have a really filthy blanket, and your laundry charges extra for a rewash, it’s a good idea to ask upfront how many rewashes your blanket will need. On the other hand, we have clients who get their blankets washed if they see any dirt on it. Most blankets that show up in the winter for laundering are those that require a repair. Like most equine laundries, we can’t repair a dirty blanket; with mud, stall shavings, or hair on the fabric; they are washed first and then repaired. Most owners who bring blankets in during the colder months need them back as soon as possible so it’s wise to ask how long before your blanket is returned. Our turnaround time is always 10 days or less, but some laundries can require weeks or months, especially if they are shipped out of state.

Most horse people with blankets to clean assume that all horse laundries offer the same services just different prices. This is not true. It’s important to ask what the laundry fee includes, because some advertise a low price, but then add on for extra services like cleaning velcro, brushing hair off, rewashing a dirty blanket, or removing stains. There are laundries that only do a rinse, wash and that’s it; no extras. These places are ideal if you want to get the heavy dirt off, but keep in mind that you may still see dirty surcingle straps, dirt stains on the lining, or leg straps with impacted mud. Laundries that do full service which includes everything mentioned as “extras” may charge a set fee, and only add on for waterproofing. The full service laundry will usually return your horse blanket in a storage bag, while the less service one will return it in no bag. So, you have to consider what kind of service you want and need, before selecting a horse laundry service. The lower price laundry that adds on for “extras” may end up costing you more if you need the “extras”. Make sure you ask what the fee includes. We do full service, and when we get customers who are just looking for the budget wash, we refer them elsewhere. If you want the dirt washed off the top layer of your horse blankets, and don’t care about a thorough washing, you might just want to get the garden hose out and do it yourself. Most horse  people get their blankets cleaned once a year, but there are owners, who clean their blankets when they get dirty; several times a year even in the winter. When and where you clean your horse blankets depends on your budget and the kind of service you want.

It’s easy to tell if your waterproof blanket needs to be redone. Place the blanket on the ground or over a fence and pour a glass of water on it or spray a hose. If the water goes through and it is damp on the underside, you need to waterproof. Depending on the weather, and if your horse is outside in a run-in or comes into a stall, you may not need to waterproof that often. Most blankets in the past were waterproofed by the laundry, which required re-washing in a waterproofing liquid. But today,  there are many products on the market that make it easy for you to do it yourself. We sell a product called Water-Guard Extreme. It comes in a spray can. Once your blanket has been cleaned and is dry, lay it over a fence or on a table outside and spray the entire outer fabric only. You have to let it dry for 48 hours so make sure the weather is clear. The directions are also on the spray can. This product can be used on boots, umbrellas, luggage. outdoor clothing, and more. It’s very easy. You can find it online or go to your local sporting goods store and see what products they carry.

We just got a new blanket in for repair. The owner said she didn’t know how her horse did it, but he ripped both steel rings out of their fabric sockets. The rings were clipped to fasteners on the other side of the blanket’s front, which kept it closed. Both rings and the fabric they were attached to, were still hanging from the fasteners. Upon testing the thread on the torn fabric, it broke very easily. As suspected, it was not heavy duty, but light or low grade. If a person can tear the thread with their hands easily, a horse doesn’t have to do much to pull them out. This was a name brand blanket, and unfortunately, like most blankets, they are made in China or India because labor is cheap and supplies even cheaper. We get a lot of straps torn off blankets, and nylon lining with large tears. Although the horse can be part of the reason, cheap thread is the major contributing factor. Also, some straps are made with light fabric, and can easily rip so you want to look for a blanket that has solid, heavy strap material similar to your car seatbelt. You might want to take it out of the display bag, and test the straps to see if they are sewn on securely. Most blanket straps made in China or India are sewn on with cheap thread and the thread criss-crossed to make it hopefully secure. Comparatively speaking, we get few Baker blankets in with strap rips and fabric tears. We are not advocating these, but making the point that Baker type blankets are sewn with hardy thread. The bottom line is; check the blanket thoroughly before you buy it.

Minor repairs of hardware like missing “D” rings on your horse blanket can easily be repaired or replaced. You can save yourself time and money by fixing these little things yourself. Go to your local hardware store and buy a pack of “D” rings; they always have them in a variety of sizes. Next, stop in at the local sporting goods store and ask for heavy duty thread or twine. Make sure you get a needle that will handle the thread or twine, and buy a thimble to push the needle through the heavy fabric. Now you can sew the “D” ring onto the blanket by going around the ring and into the fabric many times. You want to make sure it holds firmly. A professional repair would usually include a  piece of fabric put through the “D” ring and then sewing that fabric to the blanket. But, in a quick repair case, you just need strong thread or twine. Better yet, if you have a sewing machine, you can buy a small piece of heavy fabric and loop it through the “D” ring. You can then sew the fabric to your blanket. Again, make sure you get the proper thread and needle. Your sewing machine should be able to sew through heavy layers of fabric.  Most “D” rings are sewn under the blanket so are not obvious, but if your repair is on the outside layer, you want to make sure the thread matches the color of your  blanket.

Winter is here; it’s cold and blustery. Your horse just came in the barn for the night and he somehow tore the surcingle hardware off one side of the strap! Luckily you found the piece in the paddock, but how can you attach it back onto the ripped material?95% of surcingle strap hardware is the same size, so if you can’t find the original, you can take one off an old blanket. Go to a fabric store that carries all kinds of thread. Make sure you ask for “heavy duty, outdoor” thread and not the typical garment thread. Also buy a pack of needles that can go through heavy fabric or your household needle will break. This is all you need to temporarily repair the surcingle. IF you don’t have a replacement hardware piece, you can tie the ripped fabric ends together and loop a piece of bailing twine through and tie that to the surcingle hardware that’s still intact temporarily. I have seen people cut a hole in the blanket fabric and tie the bailing twine to it.  This idea may work, but now you have a hole in your blanket that will have to be repaired too! It’s a good idea to always keep surcingle hardware from old blankets as a backup. We do carry surcingle hardware packs which includes the 3 pieces you may need. If you need extra fabric to re-attach the hardware, make sure you buy something similar to the strap. Keep in mind that when your horse rolls, his weight will pull on this strap. Surcingle hardware that is rusty, or bent out of shape, should be replaced.  Give us a call if you have an emergency repair and maybe we can help. 732-505-9700.