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What to Consider When Buying a Horse Blanket
Size
Perfectly fitted rug is a must. Poorly fitted rugs will cause undesired scratching, wounding and discomfort to your horse. Rug which is too small might prevent the blood flow and result in asymmetrical muscle atrophy. Rugs that are too big, might fall off the horses side, asymmetrically laying on your horse’s body and causing unwanted back pain. If you are unsure what rug size to buy, measure the length in centimetres from the wither to your horse’s tail (along its spine).
Additional features
These additional rug features provide your horse with an extra comfort and solve issues that might arise during winter turnout season.
- Shoulder gussets: prevent restriction of movement and let your horse move around freely
- Adjustable leg straps: keep the rug in a good position, preventing it from falling to either side
- Wither poliester: prevents damage to the mane and the coat
- Double buckle in the front: makes the rug more solid and prevents it from moving around
- Tail flap: reduces tail damage
- Neck material: keeps the horses neck warm, especially useful with horses that have a full body clip for the winter
Materials
Detailed information about Tough1 blankets’ materials is provided further in the article. Generally speaking, the indoor/stable rug should be soft, preferably with a polyester inner lining. Outdoor/turnout rugs should be made out of high quality ripstop and waterproof materials such as denier nylon.
Price
You must have heard way too many horse jokes and seen too many memes about horses destroying and ripping apart their new rugs, to know it’s true. As nice as it is to invest in super high quality rugs, it will affect your wallet. Moreover, you will need to invest in a few rugs: light, medium and sometimes heavy weighed rugs as the season proceeds.Therefore the price is a big factor when investing in horse blankets.
About Tough1 Horse Blankets
Materials
The composition of materials that make up a horse’s blanket depends on the specific model/type of the rug. The main things to look at when buying a winter turnout blanket:
Denier (D) number
Turnout waterproof rugs are described in units called deniers that describe the linear mass density of fibres (or in easier words: how many fibres of polyester or nylon are packed into your rug). Tough1 produces rugs labeled with 420D, 600D and 1200D. As the number of deniers increases, the weight of the rug increases and so it’s ability to keep the water off. Rugs labeled with a higher denier number are also more solid and less likely to tear, rip and get damaged.
Filling
The medium layer of the rug is made of polyfil. The filling is described in grams and the more of it is inside the rug- the warmer your blanket is. Light rugs (0-100 grams) are ideal for early autumn days when the temperature only drops slightly. Medium weight rugs (100-250 grams) are perfect for winter days for horses that are unclipped. Clipped horses in the middle of the winter might require a blanket with a filling of over 250 grams and an additional neck material to keep the whole body warm.
Inner Lining
Inner lining directly touches your horse’s coat and thus it is important for the material to be pleasant to wear. Most Tough1 rugs have a denier 70 nylon inner lining. This material is somewhat waterproof, providing another level of protection from the rain. 70D material is softer in touch than the outside layer of the rug, but it is not as soft as polyester or fleece. It is a great material for a turnout rug, but not the best one for a stable/indoor rug.
Wither material
Tough1 rugs have a wither fleece, which prevents your horse from getting scratched and pulling out it’s mane.
Design
Tough1 rugs come in many different designs. Their most popular rugs are two toned, with the darker color on the lower side of the rug. The simple and basic design might not be the most fashionable and eye catching but will do just fine for your horse on the field. Turnout blankets don’t need to be the prettiest- there is a very high chance they will end up covered in mud and dirt. Tough1 also releases seasonal designs, which include floral patterns. Unfortunately the company lacks other fashionable designs.
All of the blankets are equipped with adjustable leg straps, to prevent the blanket from slipping to either side, a tail flap that prevents the tail damage and shoulder gussets to give comfort during movement. The wither has a softer material made of fleece, preventing mane damage and scratching. The overall design can be highly rated as the manufacturers clearly put the horses comfort as a priority when designing the turnout blankets.
Price
Tough1 horse rugs are significantly cheaper than many other available horse rugs, providing the same, if not better, quality.
Other Considerations
Tough1 has an impressive size range of their blankets. They will dress up any horse from a miniature shetty to a shire. The company does not only produce turnout blankets, you can also find fleece blankets, stable rugs and anti-insect blankets.
Conclusion
Tough1 undoubtedly produces high quality turnout blankets for a good value. The materials are ripstop and waterproof. The design of their blankets might not be the most fashionable, but provides your horse with all the necessary comfort. You will find your horse’s size without any trouble, as their blanket size range is big. All in all I would recommend Tough1’s turnout rugs.