Today I would like to talk about how to measure your horse for a blanket or sheet. Come fall and winter my phone will ring with a customer who wants a winter turnout for their horse or pony. Usually my first question is "What size?" and my second question will be what weight are you looking for?, but that's another subject for another day.
To get the proper size blanket, turnout or sheet you need to know the size of your horse. How do you know this? You have to measure your horse. How do you measure your horse? It is very easy.
It is best to get a dress makers tape measure. These are cloth or vinyl and roll up easily and they don't make noise! It's best not to scare your horse with a noisy construction style metal tape measure and these don't bend easily either. The dress makers tape measure probably won't be long enough to do a complete measurement the full length of your horse but that usually isn't a problem.
You'll want to have someone hold your horse or have them tied in cross ties so he is secure and can't move around on you to much. Your going to measure from the middle of your horses chest to the middle of his tail, around the side of your horse. Most dress makers tapes only go to 60" in length and if your like me I can't quite stretch my arms that far. Here is what I do.
I put the tape measure in the middle of my horses chest and while holding it pull the tape around the front shoulder working my way back the side of my horse as far as I can reach comfortably. Once I have reached as far as I can with my opposite hand I will hold the tape with my finger and then let go of the front of the tape. Not moving the tape from the side of the horse I extend the tape to its full length of 60". Mark it with my finger and place the beginning of the tape where my finger is and continue around to the back of my horse around his hind leg to the middle of his tail. Marking that measurement. Then I add the first measurement of 60" to the second measurement, for our purposes we will say the second measurement was 17". This gives me a total of 77". Here is a nice link to the Weatherbeeta web page to show you how to measure your horse.
Turnouts, blankets and sheets typically will come in 2" or 3" increments. Horse sizes may start at 60" and go to 87", depending on the manufacturer. Since my horse in the example measures 77" which is in between a 76" and 78", I would choose the 76" turnout. You may ask why and the reason is the smallest measurement is given as the blankets size meaning.....a size 76" will fit a 76" and a 77" horse. The 78" turnout for my example horse would be to big.
Some manufactures make turnouts for miniature horses and some make pony sizes. You may see pony turnouts and horse turnouts with the same measurements. An example would be 60" pony turnout and a 60" horse turnout, so what is the difference you might ask. The difference is in the girth of the turnout. Pony turnouts are shorter through the body. If you have ever seen a horse size blanket on a pony you would understand. A horse size 60" blanket on a pony goes to their knees, which isn't safe for the pony as they could get tangled in it while rolling, getting up or down and cause themselves serious injury.
I hope this helps you to know how to properly measure and size your horse for a turnout, blanket or sheet. If you should have a question feel free to contact me at customerservice@horse-rider-etc.com . Join us on facebook
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