punxsutawney phil predicts: more winter shopping!

That's what the off season is all about anyway, right? Buying stuff to make us feel better about the cold and/or to get us pumped up and excited about the future!! Or something like that!!! No February spending freeze happenin here lol....

modeling a cozy 100g liner by Horseware of Ireland

I wrote last week about how fluctuating temperatures (and precipitation) have been complicating the blanketing game with Charlie. Basically, the long and short of it is that, to date, Charlie has owned a sheet and a medium that can be layered together to make a heavier weight blanket if needed. He also has a Back on Track mesh sheet that I often use interchangeably with the regular sheet as a liner.

he's wearing an 81. i freaked out at first bc his butt hangs out a little bit, but i think that's by design so it doesn't get wet from peeking out underneath a top layer

This has worked well for our region and typical climate, for the most part. Except when we're dealing with frequent rain and one of the layers isn't drying out quickly enough. So after a little brainstorming, I picked up two new layers:

- Horseware of Ireland 100g blanket liner
- Mio turnout sheet

velcro closure at the chest, and extra velcro tabs on top of the shoulders should you be inclined. no belly straps.

My thought process being: Even when it's been extremely cold here, Charlie's done fine with layers as opposed to a single heavy weight blanket. And the layers give me more options with varying temperatures in wet and dry conditions. So buying more interchangeable layers seemed like a my best bet for always having something(s) on hand no matter the weather.

new cheapie 600D Mio lightweight rain sheet layered on top

The liner seemed like a good choice bc it's in some ways lower maintenance. For instance, it can be laundered in a normal machine with normal detergent bc it's not waterproofed or sealed. It works with all of my current blankets by clipping onto the surcingle straps, and works great with Charlie's anti-rub shoulder bib.

So I can layer it under the medium instead of my sheet, or use all three together for extra bundling. Or it can layer with just a sheet alone if the medium is wet, for instance.

the Mio just has an adjustable tail strap, no rear surcingles. that's fine. the Horseware liner has clips to attach and prevent slipping.

The reasoning behind getting a second sheet is just to have an alternate for instances when our normal sheet (the Smartpak Ultimate turnout blanket, with the 10 year guarantee) is wet.

Plus this new sheet is actually quite a bit lighter in weight than the Smartpak (it's only 600D and not lined, compared to the 1000D nylon-lined Smartpak) so it may end up getting more use in warm spring or summer rain showers. Assuming it doesn't get shredded by any of Charlie's pasture buddies haha.

if i had composed this picture a little better with the color block line in charlie's sheet level with the horizon, it would have turned into camouflage lol

And as far as I'm concerned, it's reassuring to have additional options in various weight configurations during all this spastic weather.

snowy mane!!!!

So that when I decide to squeeze in an early morning trail ride to beat a pending snowstorm, I don't need to worry about whatever layers I put on the horse afterward knowing he'll wear them for 36+ hours straight.

and see, charlie does prick his ears on the trail! just... not when he's mindlessly following another horse i guess

And speaking of that trail ride.... It was short and sweet, and just me and Chuck. No better way to pass a strange Sunday morning, as far as I'm concerned.

cute ears too <3

And it makes me so happy that Charlie is as willing to strike off on his own solo trail adventures as he is to go with a buddy or two. He's also basically got the paths memorized by now so I mostly just sit there with my legs off, reins on the buckle, and either chat with him or enjoy the ride in silence. It's peaceful.

and a surprising coverage of snow speckles even just from our short jaunt

Our only little bobble was crossing the deeper stream - it was iced over pretty thickly, such that the ice didn't immediately give way under Charlie's weight. So he took a stutter step on the ice before it broke and he crashed down through. Which.... naturally upset him a little bit and he thought maybe we ought to turn around and go home right that instant.

A few pets and words of encouragement tho, and some sniffing of the water's edge, and he was willing to give it another try. Good boy. He was a little snorty after that, and had to trot and canter through all the rest of the little tiny stream-like depressions in the trail... But that's ok haha.

it all got rained away shortly thereafter tho.... ick

We kept it pretty short tho all the same - cutting back to the barn through the summer pastures that are all lying fallow over winter. Considering the snow was getting heavier and I knew freezing rain would follow shortly after, I wanted to get home before the worst of it.

were it not for the sleety snow i could have gotten better pictures. sorry!

It was good tho. Even tho it had taken a little convincing to get out of bed that morning to make it out for an early ride, I definitely felt better for it through the rest of the day. No regrets there!

but i finally replaced my DIY hackamore noseband with something a little sturdier....

And we also got to try out a new hackamore noseband while we were at it! The DIY version I made for Isabel has held up remarkably well.... But the closure I used on it just isn't strong enough. It's a simple hinge-constructed suspender clasp.

It was strong enough to hold everything together on Isabel, who was extremely respectful of the curb chain (so much so that I always kept it covered with sheepskin). But.... Charlie's a little more dull in that department. Plus about 400lbs heavier so.... yea.

the DIY version held up admirably over the years, but that suspender clasp was just no match for freight train Charlie...

The suspender clasp was allowing the strap to slip through during a ride. And I just *knew* we'd eventually end up with the whole thing falling off Charlie's face at what would surely be a very inopportune moment. Thanks, but no thanks.

So back to a more traditional, commercial noseband we go. Luckily Brita had a friend who had a spare, so I didn't have to buy a whole new set of cheek pieces and chain and everything, I could just change out the noseband. 

charlie's all snugged up in his new liner. bc ugh, this precipitation is never ending....

And who knows, maybe I'll fuss around with trying to put a proper buckle on my DIY version so that it might hold up better for Charlie. We'll see.

Maybe if this cold rainy weather continues I'll have nothing better to do with my time than dream up unnecessarily fussy / complicated DIY project haha. Maybe.

At least in the meantime Charlie will hopefully be all snugged up in his new layers! Does your horse often wear layers? Or do you have a specific blanket for every occasion? Or no blankets at all?