What weight blanket does my horse need?

There is no single right answer, and the guides do not agree exactly, so treat any chart as a starting range. The table shows how the guides we read line up for a turnout blanket: our own tools, a university extension bulletin, two more extension programs and a UK magazine. Temperatures are Fahrenheit. Horse & Hound's Celsius bands are converted.

The gap between guides is usually one weight. At 35°F, an unclipped horse is in 'no blanket, or a rain sheet if it is raining' in the University of Maine bulletin, 'no rug, or 150 to 200 g' in Horse & Hound, and 'medium, 200 to 299 g' in our calculator. Some of that is climate and audience, since the Maine bulletin is written for Maine winters and Horse & Hound for UK horses. Some is just judgment.

Manufacturers mostly do not publish temperature ranges. Horseware's blanket guide says horses may need blankets when temperatures fall below 40°F, depending on clipping and cold tolerance, and puts a horse's thermoneutral zone at 41°F to 77°F (5°C to 25°C). WeatherBeeta's warmth-options page lists fill weights with no temperatures. We found no temperature chart on a Shires page.

Go by the grams, not the name. Fill is measured in grams, and it tells you how warm a blanket is, not how heavy. Brands draw the lines differently, and our Blanket Weight Calculator notes that some blankets sold as 'medium' have 150 g of fill.

Horseware's Vari-Layer works a little differently. It stacks the fill, with the heaviest layer over the top and lighter layers down the sides, so the gram number on those blankets is the fill over the back, where it is thickest.

Yes. A clipped horse usually needs more blanket for the same temperature. Horseware puts it this way: the more hair removed, the more fill the blanket needs to make up for it, and once temperatures drop or a horse is clipped, a heavyweight may suit better than a medium. The University of Maine bulletin says clipped horses need several blankets at about 40°F and below, indoors and out.

Our Blanket Weight Calculator goes up one weight, and only one, if the horse is clipped, older or underweight, or thin-skinned, however many of those apply. A cold snap that is colder than your horse is used to calls for a liner rather than a heavier shell. Horse & Hound counts a low trace clip as unclipped, especially for good-doers or overweight horses.

Other things move the answer too. Penn State Extension lists a very young or very old horse, a horse that has not acclimated (for instance, one moved from a southern climate) and a body condition score of 3 or less as reasons to blanket sooner, and says a woolly horse with a thick coat is sometimes better left unblanketed. Maine's bulletin says horses from warmer climates that have not grown a winter coat should be blanketed like clipped horses, and that it can take one or two winters for them to adapt. The University of Georgia adds that shelter from wind and rain changes how cold a horse feels.

If the weather is wet as well as cold, see can I blanket a wet horse? And once you know the weight, which cut fits his build helps you choose the shape.

Both work. The choice is mostly about how many pieces you want to manage. Horseware says that instead of layering several blankets, you can attach liners to liner loops in the blanket, and that liners are easy to clean and work in both stable and turnout blankets. our Horseware blanket guide describes a liner-compatible turnout plus a liner as a light, medium or heavy blanket from one shell. Horseware liners come in 50, 100, 200 and 400 g, and the liner attaches at the neck and clips at the back so it does not slip.

The University of Maine bulletin lists a stable sheet or liner as 0 g and quilted liners as 100 to 300 g, notes that liners and stable sheets are generally not made to get wet, and includes a liner in the setup for full-coated horses below 0°F and clipped horses below 15°F. A liner earns its keep in a cold snap, since you can take it out when the weather eases.

The other side is simplicity. One heavyweight can be easier when other people handle the blankets, as this rider found.

Put a hand under the blanket at the base of the neck and behind the shoulder. Dry and comfortable is right, sweating means go lighter, and shivering means go heavier. That is the check in our Blanket Weight Calculator. Rutgers says the same, and adds to check a short time after blanketing.

Signs he is too cold: the University of Georgia lists skin that feels cold under the coat, a hunched posture, stiff movement and huddling with other horses, and says a horse that is not shivering is likely not cold. The University of Maine lists shivering and a horse that will not leave his shelter.

Signs he is too warm: Georgia lists profuse sweating, hot skin and rapid breathing as heat stress and says sweating under a blanket without exertion suggests it went on at too warm a temperature. Maine's bulletin warns that a blanket put on at 10°F and left on at 40°F may cause sweating, and then shivering at nightfall. Penn State says to take the blanket off on warm days so he doesn't sweat and end up wet underneath.

Horses differ. Take the blanket off at least once a week to groom and look for rubs, skin problems and weight changes (Rutgers). If a horse shows signs of heat stress, or seems unusually cold, lethargic or unwell, call your vet.

Yes. Use a tool for the first guess, then check the horse. Our Blanket Weight Calculator takes the temperature and a few details about your horse and suggests a weight. The Blanket Selector narrows blankets by horse and weather. The calculator ends with the same advice as the guides above: when in doubt, blanket lighter, because a horse that is too warm sweats under the blanket and a damp coat chills him.

Revisit the choice when the forecast changes, when he is clipped, or when his condition shifts. A weight that was right last month may not be right now.