Tailored Attire

I know there was a reason that I felt the need to inimediately ensure that I had at least a basic wardrobe to fit Stitch when I brought him home.

We had a full day of slushy rain last week and about 30 hours straight of rain this week. The good news is that this should significantly lessen the wildfire risk in the area for atleast a little while. I saw some scorched earth along the highway to the barn this weekend so concerns have been mounting.

Soaked at the 24 hour mark.

Stitch is still in the gangly young horse stage of having more leg than body. He's narrow with no boobs or ass - Kim Kardashian, he is not.

I don't want to spend a bunch of money on blankets that will only fit for a year (actually, I want to spend the money, but for once in my life have decided to be financially responsible). I suspect that in a couple of years he will fill out and will fit into my very extensive collection of 75" attire that I've acquired for three consecutive horses. I just need the basics until then.

The smallest thing I own is a 76" Century rainsheet. Cisco only wore it a couple of times - it was a bit snug on him so it became a backup that I never needed.

On Stitch, it was fine lengthwise when snugged up in front. But his lack of cleavage meant that the buckles sat a bit low. Also, the stomach straps were miles too long. They were knotted to shorten them from Cisco wearing it, not a chance that it would fit Stitch.

So, I did some repairs. Not sure if I mentioned this on the blog previously, but last fall I convinced my mom that we should get a heavy-duty industrial sewing machine. This thing powers through 6 layers of webbing like it's butter. I've been doing repairs for myself and some barn-mates all winter. I love it. 

The beast weighs something like 70 lbs by itself - it's staying at my mom's house.

Originally,  I planned to do the strap/d-ring thing like Schneider's blankets have along the neck to be able to make it smaller. A Google search suggested a different idea of just pinching the webbing at the neckline and stitching there. This creates a dart, doesn't stitch through any fabric other than the webbing, and would be easy to remove once the horse fills out.

Just a little dart did the trick.

The stomach straps - well, they were really long. It took me three attempts to get them the right length. Should have used a measuring tape in the beginning, I guess. First, I cut 6" off them. They were still way too long. Next I folded up about 10" and stitched that above the slider. Still long. The final version involved folding the previously folded part up against the blanket, and stitching through the 5 layers of webbing. That was finally the right length, and when he chunks up I will be able to pull the stitches out and expand the straps. 

That's 5 layers of webbing on two straps, and 6 layers on the back strap where the leg-strap d-ring is attached. Your home sewing machine won't manage that!

Since the plan is to hop on Stitch a few times in the fall and then let him grow until spring, he's not going to be working over the winter, which means he won't need to be clipped, and won't need to be blanketed except in extreme weather, which, realistically, will be more for me than for him. Thus, his basic wardrobe will consist of his rainsheet for the crappy summer days, his new Champion 100g blanket for the cool and wet days, and I'll add a layer to that with a vintage 1990's BMB stable blanket that fits him well enough when we get the -40's that we get every year. 

This was originally Farly's, who wore it for many winters but was super easy on his blankets so it's still in great shape.

He's set, right? Lots of horses live perfectly happy all year round without blankets. I can have a naked horse in the winter for the first time in 30 years and that won't make me a terrible horse mom, right? Right?

The Secret to Horse Training

 I have found the magical piece of equipment that has turned Cisco into a fancy prancing horse!!!

I wanted to try it for a long time and finally found a cheap one that made it worthwhile to see if it would work. I spent a whole $12 on this magikal, prancing unicorn-making device. 

What is this revolutionary product that must be made of fairy dust and the tears of middle-aged amateur horse-owning women? 

Are you ready for this? Can you contain your excitement??

Here is my secret:

Soundproof ear covers.

Cisco is so much better in this bonnet. He can concentrate so much more, and because he's not worried about something going on around him (like a pigeon that might potentially flap up unexpectedly somewhere in the ring) he's gotten steadier and more consistent. I think he's only spooked maybe three times since he started wearing it, and they weren't scoot spooks, more of a plant a leg quickly for a step kind of spooks. Huge difference.

I know, I know, it could all be a coincidence - he had a chiro adjustment last month (another one this week), most of our rides have been with other horses in the arena, and I've been working on some basics that he should have by now but he apparently picks and chooses as to when thinks he has to do them.

But the few times that we have been by ourselves in the arena or someone has left partway through our ride, or when the murder door opened up at the end of the arena and horses disappeared through it never to be seen again, he's mostly just glanced at it and gone back to work with nary a hissy fit. 

I managed to get the Pixio mostly working this past Sunday, which turned out to be a ride I was really happy with. 

Cisco noticed the mirror panels that have been placed behind the kickwall during some renovations and his vanity kicked in.

Right from the beginning of the ride he was really relaxed and waiting for me. One of the things I've been really reinforcing is going into the corners of the arena - he prefers to drop the shoulder, ignore my inside leg, and cut the corners early. So we've spent a lot of time riding straight into the corners and halting - even the scary ones. It's definitely gotten way better, and it's helped with the spookiness in the end - if he's not thinking gtfo as we approach the corner, his reaction when something spooks him isn't nearly as big (not that he's spooked since he started wearing the bonnet). This was the first ride that when we approached the first corner at a walk on a loose rein, he went straight into the corner and stopped like he knew that that was his job. It was even the scariest corner in the ring! We warmed up at the trot stopping in the corners, ideally with no hand, and he stayed straight and waited.

Ignore the western trainer and lesson that decided to work right in front of my camera. There should be no sound so that you don't have to hear him. And hopefully, you can see me behind the round pen (super annoying and it better only be up for another week as we were told). The gate in the second corner was wide open so I had to use some hand to stop him there or he would have happily trotted through it.

Another thing that I've been working on is a forward, relaxed pace. When Cisco is worried he can be a little overreactive and quite wiggly. When there are other horses with him and he's chill he's behind my leg. Lately, he's been chill most of the time so I've had to get him sharper off my leg. Turns out he's actually pretty sharp off my bodyweight for going forward, but I need him to be sharper to the leg if we want to jump. 

On this ride I really liked how he felt - just the right forward, relaxed, and, dare I say it, steady. He's never been a horse I would apply steady to. 

Canter was much the same - relaxed, trying hard to stay in a relaxed frame, and we had some lovely forward and backs within the canter, including on his harder left side where he usually gives up because it's hard.

This was a ride where he did what I asked so I kept it short. It wasn't perfect by any means (like our ugly, sticky canter transitions) by I'm trying really hard to reward the try, and on this day I thought he tried really hard.

The rest of the week hasn't worked out to ride - Cisco had a chiro appointment on Monday and was told to take Tuesday off. I booked a massage for myself later on Monday, which originally felt great, but after being up for 20 minutes the next morning I made the fatal error of looking down at my phone, which tweaked something in my neck and I couldn't turn my head to the left - 10 minutes before I had to drive to work. Shoulder checking was awkward. I decided it would be smart to not ride for a couple of days, it's much better today (Thursday), but there's a clinic booked in the arena this weekend and the arena won't be free until late evenings (which actually might work out ok for me). I have to work ridiculously early on Friday so I think if I go home and have a nap in the afternoon and then have supper before heading out to the barn I can make it work. I'll make sure I put on Cisco's magic hat!

(By the way - is anyone else having problems with Blogger not playing videos? I had to download them to Youtube to get them to work, they wouldn't work when downloaded to Blogger.)

Blog Hop: Clothes Horse

 There's not much happening here on the horse front - it's just too damn cold to ride. So I might as well join in on the latest blog hop!

My horses live out and I don't show. Their wardrobe mostly consists of outdoor clothing. I try to keep it pretty simple. But I've also had three horses in a row who have all worn the same size so I have some extras that I don't often use. 

Phantom is pretty easy on her clothing. Cisco is not. I refuse to buy any turnout blankets that are less than 1200D so I've got a few blankets that are older and out of the regular rotation but make good backups. 

Here is what they wear.

Winter

Phantom

She is currently sporting an Amigo Bravo 12 Plus (100g fill) and whatever liner is needed based on the weather. 

Currrent colour

Colour a year ago when it was new

I'm pretty sure this blanket is only on its second winter and it's faded horribly. It was originally a dark navy, now it's more of a blue-gray colour. It's held up fine though otherwise. Horseware blankets are the best fit for Phantom, and I refuse to pay the price that they want for a Rambo these days, so I guess she'll be wearing Amigo for a while. 

I still have her Rambo Duo that she wore for 6 or 7 years. It's still in good condition overall, but some of the stitching around the binding has been coming undone and I need to get it fixed. It's now her first backup blanket (or will be once I get the stitching fixed).

The Duo in its regular condition.

She has a full set of liners for these blankets - a 300g, two 200g's and a 100g. The heavier ones are all Horseware and I got them for about $50 each, the lighter one is Greenhawk and doesn't fit her as well. But it works!

Cisco

Cisco isn't such a snob about only wearing name brands so he gets the cheaper stuff.

This winter he is sporting a new Greenhawk Summit North Turnout Combo that I picked up a year ago for about $180. I saved it for this winter as it was time to retire his other blanket which was the previous version of Greenhawk's liner system blanket.

The new one

The old one

It fits a bit differently than the old one, in good and bad ways. It's longer both directions - he could probably go down a size and it would be okay. But the liners still fit the same, so I'm not sure how that would work. The hood is longer and has elastic on the end by the ears, which I thought I would hate but it just kind of folds itself back and is no issue. His mane is growing back this winter and hasn't been rubbed out so I like it because of that!

He also has a full set of liners, all Greenhawk branded.

His old winter blanket is his backup. It's in okay condition, but some of the interior lining has worn through and could use some patches. 

Cisco never gets turned out without a suit of armor over his blanket. Namely, a Kensington fly sheet. In the four winters that I have owned him, he has completely trashed one Kensington and has a bunch of decent sized holes (and patches) in another, but the armor has done its job and his winter blankets have been mostly uncompromised. I picked up a used Kensington that I have in reserve and I always keep an eye out for good prices. I've so far bought three of the Euro-fit Kensingtons for about $125 each.

This is the Kensington that he trashed after two years and I'm probably going to salvage for parts. 

This is first season damage. It got worse.

Other backups - I have a Pessoa Tundra that needs a leg strap sewn back on (only worn one winter) that I stopped using because it always twisted on Phantom. 

There's also a Bucas Power Turnout Extra that either horse can wear. Again, it twisted on Phantom (everything except Horseware seems to on her) so I took it out of our regular rotation but it lives in my blanket box at the barn for backup.

 

And, in a pinch, I have an old Bucas Smartex Extra that my old gelding wore for many years. Its in really good condition considering how old it is because no one messed with that horse. Phantom wore it the first winter I rode her and it was a bit too big and she probably stepped on it when getting up and it tore in the shoulder area, but it's patched and is good otherwise. It doesn't have anywhere to add a hood so its definitely an "in a pinch" blanket.

Over Christmas, I picked up a Bucas Select Extra 300g hood for each horse. I didn't have any heavy hoods and these were on sale for $50 each. I had to buy large ones instead of medium so I had planned to get my mom to shorten them down but I think they will be okay as is. I'll have to use Phantom's Rambo Duo blanket if she is going to wear the big hood as it doesn't have the right attachments for the Amigo.

Phantom has the two other hoods that came with her Horseware blankets and Cisco has his two Greenhawk hoods and a Bucas Smartex hood that I picked up at the consignment store. 

Coolers

I don't need to use coolers very often (my horses don't work hard enough to get very sweaty apparently) but I have a bunch of them. Since I don't use them often I don't have a designated one for each horse, and since they're the same size I only keep one or two at the barn depending on the time of year.

At one time I had a ridiculous number of coolers - something like 8. But I've managed to get rid of a couple and I think I'm down to about 5.

My Bucas Shamrock Power Cooler lives all year round at the barn. And I usually keep a cheaper polar fleece cooler there as well for days when a horse comes in covered in mud after it's rained. 

The fleece one (good thing it's stretchy)

The Bucas cooler

I also have a couple of trophy coolers (1 wool, 1 fleece) that I had won and a wool square cooler that don't tend to see a horse very much these days but I don't want to get rid of them. Oh - and a jersey Bockmann cooler that came with my horse trailer. Forgot about that one!

Fly Sheets

Phantom has a Rambo Protector. It's a few years old and I had my mom replace the shoulder lining last year, but again, is in pretty good shape. I keep my eyes out for a good price on a replacement one but so far I haven't found it for the price I want to pay.

Cisco trashed his Weatherbeeta Duramesh fly sheet within a few weeks. I try to keep him naked in summer as much as possible but when the bugs get bad I have a Kensington that I keep for summer. There is a Kensington hood for it, which now stays on since I had to restitch the straps back on and thought it maybe needed longer straps. 

Phantom needs to wear a fly mask all summer to prevent her eyes from getting sunburn. I keep trying new (cheaper) ones but I always come back to long-nosed Cashel Crusaders, ideally without ears. I have no idea how many I have of these because I keep buying them whenever I find them on sale for sub-$30. She goes through one a year for sure, sometimes I have to start a new one in the fall before the season ends as she has poked the eyes out too much. They're the only ones that she keeps on; everything else she gets off within 24 hours. Arabian is the best size but horse will do if that's what is on sale. 

The Bucas Buzz-Off fly sheet is the only blanket that Phantom destroyed - it didn't even last two weeks. No more soft mesh for me!

Rainsheets

Both horses get dressed in their matching Weatherbeeta rain sheets when they don't need insulation. The blankets are some version in the Comfitec line. Cisco had one first - I had ordered a 75 but was shipped a 72, which I didn't notice until he had worn it. It fits him okay though. The Weatherbeeta shape suits Cisco better than Phantom but they usually wear them short term so it's not a huge issue. I got them on sale for around $80 and have one more in reserve. One of them needs a quick repair (which I should get onto).

If they need a bit of insulation and I don't want to use the shell from their winter blankets I have a Bucas Smartex 100g and a Bucas Atlantic 50g (new). They are backups as I usually just use the shells, but sometimes they need a chance to dry out overnight so the Bucas's come into use. 

Phantom is sporting the Bucas Smartex and a pissy face

Cisco is modeling the Bucas Atlantic. I was hoping the liners I have would work with it - they won't attach without some modifications.

Buried at the bottom of my barn blanket box is a Century 1680D rainsheet. It's a 76 and would fit better if it was a 78, but again, in a pinch, it would work. And I think I still have a navy Greenhawk rainsheet that I keep forgetting I own. 

Stock photo, I have the black one.

Other Blankets

Since my horses live outside all year round, I don't really have a use for stable sheets or stable blankets.  When I had Farly he lived in and we showed and I still have his wardrobe (not that it was all that extensive). 

Baker sheet - Phantom wore it once at the only show we overnighted at. 

Baker style blanket (Can-pro brand?)

I keep trying to sell the Baker style blanket but no luck so far.

A blue nylon stable sheet - can't remember the brand

BMB winter stable blankets (a 78" and a 80") - again, in really good condition (the 80 was barely worn) and I keep them around in case of needing to layer with a blanket that can't use the liners

The 78" BMB

When I got back into riding again with Phantom I intended to show so I bought a Rambo Newmarket striped sheet and an Eskadron rainsheet. They both live in the trailer and have only been pulled out a couple of times for pictures. Of course, I can't find those pictures now so here are stock photos.

My Eskadron is similar but there is a different logo on it. I think. It's been a while since I've seen it!

That's all I can think of without digging through containers in the garage - and it's far too cold to do that without a good reason. It doesn't seem like enough and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple.... 

Like this Amigo Fly Rider sheet I totally forgot about until I went looking through pictures for this post!

(Blogger was not co-operating when it came to formatting so my apologies if things look wonky!)

Noise-Cancelling Headphones?

One problem with this never-ending cold is the amount of time I end up spending on the internet during my evenings at home.

Which means too much time spent over-thinking possibilities. Also, trying not to buy shit I don't need.

My favourite past-time is combining the two.

Cisco is quite reactive to sudden noises. Sudden movements too, but I think he gets over those sooner. Creaking and flapping of the arena leave him very concerned for long periods of time afterward. Because of this, he's not terribly chill in the arena, which I would like to change.

Lemieux Acoustic Ears - about $80 CDN

In perusing the interweb while trying to not have to get out of bed on Sunday morning, I discovered sound-reducing fly veils. Which got me wondering.

I'm not a gimmick person, and I dislike shortcuts. But if something simple like being able to muffle some sounds on windy days helps Cisco not lose his brain, I can get behind it.

Schockemohle Silent Fly Veil - about $90 CDN

I don't want to use poms or earplugs - I'm far too short to try putting those in. So fly veils would be the way to go.

Equiline Soundless Ear Net - about $120 CDN

Does anyone have any experience with this type of fly veil? Reviews seem to be pretty good - they don't completely muffle all sound, but do seem to make a difference.

New Armour

I know I sound like a whiny baby, but it's been so cold here! The original forecast had the temperature warming up by mid-week, but it has been pushed back until the weekend. I was in the arena for about 20 minutes chasing Cisco around, and I froze. So I'm definitely not riding until it warms up this weekend.

One of the main reasons that I went out on Tuesday was to swap Cisco's damaged suit of armor for a shiny, new, dent-free suit of armor. Pony Grandma is going to work her magic and patch up the old armor. Once it's patched it will go back on him. I'd like to keep the new armor shiny for as long as possible.

This new plaid is rather horrendous. Citrus Slate. I don't recommend it, unless you get a killer deal like I did.

Pretty sure Pony Grandpa had polyester pants in this plaid. Back in the '70's.

It might look not too bad on a gray horse if he didn't have the hood on. Don't get this colour if you have a chestnut.

Props to Kensington to one detail though - they used chrome black hardware on the blanket. Nice touch. I mean, your eye is drawn to the hideous plaid and you probably won't notice that little feature, but nice nonetheless. 

Cisco had a good play in the arena. He used about 3/4 of the arena for once. He's still not going all the way down to the end, but getting closer. The barn owner's large dog was running back and forth along the fence of the arena and Cisco was having fun racing him. 

I would love to let Phantom loose in the arena to get rid of some sillies but I'm worried that she would tie up again. I want to start her back slowly and make sure I don't see any signs of issues before letting her loose. So she just came in to get her food. And no cookies! 

She might have figured out that cookies live in the tack stall.

I can't wait for this cold to end.

Patches

We had lovely winter weather this past weekend. Not.

We woke to something like 15 cm of snow on Friday morning. I had drifts of about 2 feet tall in my backyard. Roads in the city were terrible. Thankfully my boss let us leave work an hour early so I missed the worst of rush hour on my drive home. There was no way I was going out to the barn though, which was a good decision as a message was posted that the road in front of the barn hadn't been plowed yet and people were getting stuck.

Saturday the roads weren't a whole lot better - the main roads weren't too snow filled, but they hadn't plowed the residential roads yet. And Sunday morning I woke up to -23 C - but my road had been plowed (I'm on a bus route so my road gets done fairly quickly). I cancelled the lessons that I teach on Sunday morning and stayed in bed.

I bundled myself up in the afternoon to head out to feed the ponies. And took a patch kit out, since I finally remembered. Which was a good thing, since Cisco decided to finally let one of his buddies put a hole in his blanket, as mentioned on Monday's post. I used the Rambo Stormsure adhesive and a cut up saddle cover to patch it. (I picked up a saddle cover at the consignment store to sacrifice for patches. Didn't care what colour, I picked the one with the heaviest material and the lowest price.) I had used that procedure on Phantom's Rambo 4 years ago on the only hole she has put in it, and it has held up so far, so I thought I would use it again. Plus it's something that can be done quickly, and doesn't require taking it to someone else to fix. It won't work if they tear their blanket so that their ass is hanging out of it, but for small tears it works fine.

How to use the Stormsure to patch blankets. And yes - cutting into your blanket does not feel good!

It does need to sit overnight for the adhesive to cure properly though. So Cisco had to wear some old clothing for the night. I dressed him in a 20 year old BMB stable blanket, and because I have no idea how much fill that blanket has, I added his rainsheet. And of course his (dented) suit of armor.

Still one layer to go.

I had to be somewhere for the evening on Sunday, and got home at about 10 pm. At which time I decided to bake another two batches of cookies for the kids. I wanted to use up the apple sauce I had bought for this purpose. But really it was because there were only 3 cookies left, and there was no way that I could split the last cookie between two horses.

I don't want to see this indignant face again.

There is a bunch in the freezer now, so I'll see how well they thaw. Not that I think the ponies will be overly picky about it.

Dents in his Armor

Cisco has been hard on his blankets in the first 10 months that I've owned him. This is new to me. My other horses have all been great and I have had very few blanket repairs. It probably helps that two were mares, so nobody messed with them, and the other gelding was pretty well always the dominant horse in every turnout situation.

In the past I have been happy to buy expensive blankets knowing that their chances of survival were very high. Thus I have a few Bucas blankets, and Phantom has a couple of Rambo's. They fit Cisco, but I'm not willing to put them on him if I can avoid it.

He doesn't destroy his blankets himself - they get damaged by his buddies. Cisco is a young, social, good-feeling gelding. Which means that he loves to play with other young, social, good-feeling geldings. And blankets made fantastic grab handles to pull your buddy around with. There's no way that I want to remove him from his turnout situation, so I have to find a way to lessen the inevitable damage.

Fly masks also become casualties.

Last spring he wore a Weatherbeeta rain sheet. I don't remember which version it was, but it's 1200D. He did not too bad in it, a couple of nicks, and right at the end of the season I discovered that he had torn the binding away from the fabric in the dart. Nothing major, it cost $10 to get it fixed. He wore this blanket as weather dictated for about 2 months.

I tried to keep him naked as long as possible through the summer, until the bug bites got too bad. When that happened he was dressed in his Weatherbeeta Duramesh fly sheet. I figured the textyline fabric would be durable and relatively indestructible.

I was so wrong.

I think he wore that blanket for about 6 weeks. I was patching it up weekly.

3 patches on this side.

2 patches on this side, and a whole bunch of spots that were too small to patch.

These pictures were taken on August 9th - I don't think he started wearing it until the second week of July. I took it off for good by the end of August, and it needs a bunch more repairs before the new season. I think he only wore the hood for two weeks total - it has a bunch of holes in it.

So this blanket was a fail. 

When trying to figure out what he would wear for the winter, I didn't want to spend money on new blankets when I have a couple of tack boxes of old ones that will probably fit him. 

BMB Stable Blanket, circa 1994. I have two of them.

I decided pretty early on that I would be best to put a Kensington fly sheet over top of his blanket in the winter. The Kensingtons are generally considered to be the toughest fly sheets on the market. I found a great deal on Amazon of all places on a Surefit version. Cisco has been wearing it over top of his blanket ever since the fall. And it's done a great job of protecting the blanket he's wearing underneath.

But - this suit of armor has suffered some damage. There are a few dents in it. 

The good thing about this material is that the holes don't fray to become larger. So there are lots of little spots that are inconsequential. There is one larger slice that needs attention as soon as I am willing to leave it off for a night.

However, I don't know how long this one will last. So I have been keeping an eye on Amazon for another one at a great price. I don't want to spend $200 on it, especially since I got the last one for $127.

Sunday morning one came up, at the right size, for even less. $117. So I snapped it up. It's my second least favourite Kensington colour, Citrus Slate, but I really don't care about the colour.

Yellow stripes are not my favourite. But cheap is.

As soon as the new one arrives I will swap it out and take the old one back to the armory to have it repaired. It won't be dent free, but it can be smoothed out somewhat. 

Now I just need a hood to go on sale.

Updated to add:
I wrote this post up on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon I went out to the barn to find a hole in Cisco's armor, that went through to the blanket underneath. And another largish slice along the back dart on his butt.

Good thing I took a patch kit out to the barn with me. I patched the bottom blanket up with the Rambo glue and a patch. He's dressed in other clothing for the night while the glue cures.

The new Kensington can't arrive soon enough! Which appears to be next Monday.

And maybe I should order a second one....

Greenhawk Shedrow North Combo Turnout Blanket - Initial Review

One of my Black Friday purchases this year was the Shedrow North Combo Turnout blanket from Greenhawk. It is a turnout blanket with a liner system that changes the warmness of the blanket, like the Rambo Duo. But way, way, less expensive.

The blanket retails for $249 (+ tax). I picked it up at a great deal on Black Friday for 40% off, which brought the price down to about $150. The liners are $80 or $90 depending on the thickness. I bought the 300 gram fill liner for $54 at the same time as the blanket.

I've never been a huge fan of the Greenhawk blankets. Mostly because they just haven't fit my horses well in the shoulders. Farly had really big shoulders, and the best fit for him was Bucas. Phantom has a bit of a low set neck, so I think that's why they don't fit her as well as I would like.

In the 7 months that I have owned Cisco, he has been pretty hard on his blankets. Trust me - he could be much worse. But he is definitely the worst horse that I have owned when it comes to blanket destruction. So I am not willing to spend a lot of money on new blankets for him. He's not getting a Rambo anytime soon.

$150 is about what I was happy to spend on him. So I thought I would give it a try.

Here are my initial impressions.

The blanket is made from 1200D fabric. It's a charcoal grey colour, with bright blue binding. It's an okay colour. I'm sure it will hide the dirt nicely. The shell has 100 grams of fill, and comes with a 200 gram liner. It also includes a detachable neck cover. There are reflective strips on near the tail

Yep, the reflective stripes work!

I would say the blanket fits true to size. Cisco seems to be good in 78" blankets, and this one fits him fine. The drop isn't terribly long though, so if you have a horse who is really deep in the girth area, this could be a problem.

It does seem to be a bit bulky across his back - he looks like he has no shape across the top. This could be just because it is new and stiff, and my guess is that it will relax after it's been worn for a bit.

The fit around the neck is okay. It sits in a good spot on the withers - not too far back. It sits okay on the chest - not too high or too low. It's just not shaped as nicely as Phantom's Rambo from withers to chest.

The liner (this is the 300 gram one) seems to fit shorter, but when the top layer is on it attaches without issue. Like the Rambo Duo, the liner attaches to the shell with velcro tabs at the top of the neck, and with clips next to the tail cord. The fabric is a bit stiffer than the Rambo liners, but again, this could be just due to newness. There is a sheepskin patch at the withers.

Ummm... your butt's hanging out Cisco!

A nice touch is that the liner has the weight embroidered on the velcro tab on the chest. The Rambo liners don't have this, and you have to find the stitched on tag to find the weight. Bonus point to Greenhawk.

The shell has two surcingle straps that crisscross underneath, no leg straps, and a rubber covered tail cord. With the 300 g liner on, there wasn't a lot of strap left. Cisco isn't narrow by any means, but he's not that fat either. When the liner was off the strap length was no issue.

The straps with the liner on.

The neck cover is a bit of an issue.

It's really long! Cisco looks like he's a giraffe wearing a turtleneck. There's a lot of extra hood after the velcro straps. I think I will have Pony Grandma work some magic on it and get it to fit a bit better.

Folded back about 3 inches is a much better length.

The neck cover attaches to the blanket with velcro strips on either side of the withers.

My initial impressions are good. Overall the blanket seems to fit okay (minus the neck cover). I need to see that it doesn't twist while being worn since there are no leg straps before giving it my full approval. Cisco will continue to wear his suit of armor (his Kensington fly sheet) over it to make sure it survives the winter, so I won't really be able to attest to its durability. Unless he kills it of course.

It's definitely no Rambo Duo, but at a quarter of the price, it seems to be a pretty good substitution.