The Complete Handbook of Horse Blankets & Sheets

Chapter 1: Understanding Horse Blankets & Sheets

A horse blanket is a piece of equipment. A stable sheet is a piece of equipment. But understanding what they are for, and why getting the choice wrong can cost you money and compromise your horse's welfare, requires a bit more nuance than that. This chapter moves past the simple definitions found in catalogs to ground your understanding of these items in their real-world function: they are tools for managing the microclimate around a horse's body.

Horses are remarkably adaptable creatures. Their natural thermoregulation system relies on a thick winter coat that traps air, and a summer coat that is sleek and sheds heat. The coat, however, is not enough in all situations. A horse in a pasture with no shelter will experience a different temperature range than a horse in a heated barn. A clipped horse will use energy to stay warm that you would rather see used for performance. A horse with a thin hair coat, an older horse, or a horse recovering from illness may not generate enough body heat on its own. These are the situations where a blanket or sheet becomes more than a luxury; it becomes a tool for managing health and condition.

Let's be specific. Consider a show horse that lives in a stall at night. To keep this horse from growing a long winter coat, which would make it dull and slow in the show ring, you clip it. Clipping removes the insulating layer of