:My Horse Blankets

Cold weather is here and many horse owners are about to, or already have, blanketed their horses. The practical advice concerning proper care and maintenance presented in this article should help both novices and veteran equestrians to extend the lifetime of their horse blanket(s).

Cleaning Horse Blankets:

1. Although it can been done, washing a horse blanket in your home washer is not recommended because of the considerable amount of dirt, horse hair and manure embedded in most horse blankets after a whole season of use. The sheer bulk of heavier horse blankets also means that your washing machine won’t function properly and your horse blanket won’t be thoroughly cleaned.
2. To clean your horse blanket at home, hang it over a railing or a stall door and manually remove dried mud using a hard-bristled stable brush. You can also use a shedding blade or special sponge to remove horse hair or simple beat the blanket using a rug-beater or old tennis rack. You may also use your home vacuum or a car wash vacuum to remove loose dirt and debris from the blanket. Remember to turn the blanket over to clean both sides.
3. The next step is to hose down the horse blanket with cold water (to reduce shrinkage) and scrub with baby detergent (or special horse blanket wash); the residue from harsh chemicals in most regular detergents will not only irritate the horse’s hide, it can also damage waterproof or all-weather horse blankets. For the same reason, do not use fabric softener, bleaches or stain removers.
4. Rinse the blanket thoroughly.
5. Air-dry your horse blanket. You may hang it in the barn or drape it over a fence, or even over your shower curtain – but never put it in your dryer. This will cause most blankets to shrink and the nylon in some types of blankets may melt.
6. After the blanket has dried, apply a waterproofing treatment (a layer of Scotchguard will do).
7. If your horse blanket comes with care instructions that say it is machine washable, be sure you put it through an additional water-only wash cycle so that it is rinsed properly. If you have access to a Laundromat that allows this, it is preferable to use industrial-sized washing machines.
8. You may opt to send expensive, heavy turnout blankets to a professional cleaner who can also disinfect the blanket.

In general, horse blankets only need to laundered once, at the end of the season. Any mid-season cleaning should be limited to removing mud and debris using a brush or rug-beater.

Storing Horse Blankets:

1. Make sure your clean horse blanket is completely dry before you store it or it may rot.
2. You can store your blanket in a tack trunk, draped over a rack in a dry, clean place in the barn, or folded neatly and tied (like a parcel) to be placed in a storage bin or on a shelf.
3. Using self-sealing, plastic bags is also an excellent alternative. Clean blankets hanging in the barn may pick up dust.
4. However you decide to store your horse blanket, make sure that it is out of reach of barn mice!

Horse Blanket Repair:

1. Rips and tears in lightweight horse blankets can be mended with a sewing machine.
2. Heavier blankets can be repaired using patches of heavyweight material to sew over rips. You can purchase repair patches in different colors. Denim patches are suitable for repairing cotton or canvas horse blankets
3. Small tears or holes can be sealed with ‘iron-on’ patches.
4. If you need to quickly repair smaller holes in a polyester horse blanket, you can actually melt them using a cigarette lighter.
5. Duct tape is also useful for quick, emergency repairs, but be careful to use it on the outside of the horse blanket so that the tape does not rub against the horse’s hide.
6. If the damage affects horse blanket fillings or inner layers, you may prefer to send the blanket to a professional seamstress.

Horse blankets today are available in a wide range of new, high-technology textiles that often are simpler to care for. Nevertheless, if your horse is blanketed throughout the cold-weather months, it is important to check its blanket daily to make sure it has not slipped or been ripped and that the straps have not come undone, all of which are potentially serious hazards.

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