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| Buy these hand-crafted leg straps on Etsy.com |
Leg strap love
The only thing I don't love about horse blankets is the leg straps. They're cumbersome, they get dirty, they don't last (the clippy ends always stick or break)--and they are not always easy to replace. Replacement leg straps are often of poor quality.
Giveaway!
Pat at Woven Beads Browbands mentioned to me that she also makes leg straps -- and she offered a giveaway of her leg straps on Etsy.com. She sent me a bunch, including leg straps for minis! These straps are superior to others because:
- The buckles are easy to manage and lightweight
- The quality of the materials and craftsmanship is excellent
- They are affordable
- They're easy to wash
- They last!
- They come in various colors and styles and sizes -- mini to horse, single and two-buckle etc.
Here is my innovation -- Glow in the dark leg strap buckles!
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My innovation would be blankets that are absolutely impossible to rip--despite how many fences they get caught on and pasture-buddies that try to eat them. (I can dream)
ReplyDeleteHorse-sized:)
I think all straps should be made out of reflective material, so that if you shine a flashlight around it would be easier to spot them!
ReplyDeleteI am kind of using my own innovation, I have a turnout sheet that has a butt strap instead of leg straps. It gets so gross. Now I use hay string and braid a new strap every time the old one gets yucky! Totally disposable!
ReplyDeleteMy innovation would be blankets & sheets made of a material that doesn't retain dirt/mud/other-nastiness. Living in MN, we get all sorts of fun (not!) winter weather. We just got out of a major polar freeze and while the last couple days have been amazing (actually above freezing and by that, I mean above 32*), their blankets are now just trashed. The snow is melting and their dry lots are now more like mud lots. My old man loves laying down all the time and ends up with a filthy blanket. I don't have the luxury, unfortunately, to have multiple HEAVY blankets. So my boys are stuck with nasty blankets until the spring thaw. I'd love to have an innovative blanket that doesn't get dirty (or one where you can bursh the dried mud off ... which I always attempt to do, but never works all that great).
ReplyDeleteHorse-sized.
You should have a heavy weight blanket for turnout with a turnout sheet on top of it! It is far easier to wash the sheet than the whole, huge turnout blanket! This is what I do. The t/o sheet fits in the washer, too. They dry on the line overnight in my basement.
DeleteThis is a maintenance innovation: brush the blanket BEFORE you take it off the horse. People think I wash my blankets all the time but I don't. Every time I go to groom the horse I "groom" the blanket first. Keeping the layers of mud off the blankets extends the life of the fabric and helps the blanket breath (so moisture from sweat doesn't build up on the inside).
ReplyDeleteHorse size.
My innovation is to spray the blankets with the new NeverWet. This way they won't ever get muddy!
ReplyDeleteHorse sized
Um, I don't have an innovation, but I'm going to borrow Judith's! My horse wears a size 80 blanket.
ReplyDeleteI have a horse - he wears a 78 blanket. My current blanket uses a butt strap - my innovation would be a plastic butt strap - when it gets dirty - daily - it could be unclipped and then scrubbed and dried in minutes - hygienic and light weight !
ReplyDeleteI sewed a mid-forehead jet drop bangle on my horse's fly ear net, with smaller drops featuring jet and gold beads and teeny jungle bells on each side. Horse size.
ReplyDeleteMy innovation would be clips that don't stick when you go to fasten or unfasten them. Weatherbeeta and Dover blankets do this really badly in my experience. When they get bad enough, I just replace the clips (not the whole leg strap) but at this point Lucy's blankets could use a new set of leg straps because they are stretched out and gross. She wears a 78!
ReplyDeleteKate
axford.k@gmail.com
My innovation would be a large, factory stylr, rubber mat system that would be on a crank system that when turned on, would move all stall waste out of the barn into a waiting muck truck, thenthrough a sanitizing system. So every day, to clean stalls,all you'd have to do to clean your stalls once ponies were turned out, would be flip a switch... and i'd take pony to regular horse sized... :)
ReplyDeleteI also brush my blankets after every wearing. Keeps them clean(ish) all season.
ReplyDeleteDon't have a blanket innovation other than the already mentioned reflective material - my fave blanket has reflective stripes on the tail cover - they come in handy.
I do have a tip: If you are space challenged in your barn - the divider in your trailer is perfectly sized to hang a damp blanket to dry. Once the blankets are dry, the chest bars make a handy place to hang them folded but airing out, until the next use. Horse trailer = Horse closet :D
Val wears an 82, and we could use some spare straps because our blankets have lasted a long time!
I'd make a self-draining hose... nuff said.
ReplyDeleteThese are really neat.
ReplyDeleteI think my innovation would be some bling on bell boots. I'm not one for being super flashy, but as you already can't show in them, why not have some fun!? Plus anything to make my horse my feminine would be nice. :)
She's a horse size (81). Great giveaway!
Definitely a mud repelling super fabric..this has to be the wetest dec-jan in the south in awhile...horse size.
ReplyDeleteBell boots and shoes with homing devices - no more endless searching for lost articles!! Horse size :)
ReplyDeleteI'd invent a patch for those ripped blankets that is a) truly waterproof b)sticky enough to stay on!
ReplyDeletehorse size!
My innovation would be blankets that self waterproof... or that have waterproofing activated by being wet, so the wetter they get, the dryer they stay! (Not that we have tremendous amounts of wet gross winters in Texas, but my guy hates to be wet...
ReplyDeleteHorse Sized here too!
*hugs*
My innovation would be a special coating at the rear end of the blanket that would allow poop to slide off and not stick to the blanket/sheet. My guy wears a size 78.
ReplyDeleteBlogger must have eaten my comment from yesterday...
ReplyDeleteAgree with Judith - I brush my blankets off every use - especially the tail flap. I have two blankets that have lasted six years so far. They've outlived the straps, which get stretched out. No blanket innovation here, but a storage solution idea. If you lack space to dry out / store blankets, the divider in a horse trailer is the perfect size to hang wet blankets out to dry in any weather. Once dry, I fold and hang them over the chest bars, aired out and ready for next time.
Horse sized please :D
I would add a microchip in my horseshoes so I would be able to find them when they get stuck in a muddy field and come off. Horse sized, please.
ReplyDeleteMy innovation would be to line a blanket/sheet in the lycra material that sleazys are made out of! That way, no need for the "bra" layer, but would prevent rubs and keep the coat shiny and slick.
ReplyDeleteHorse sized please!
My horse HATES the flies so I've always wished they made some more attractive options for fly control while riding. I love my crocheted ear net for him but it doesn't do anything for his neck and most neck covers are so ugly. I've thought instead that I could make some thin leather strips attached to another band that would run from the crown down the crest of his mane to attach to the D rings on the saddle. The leather strips could hang on both sides of the horse's neck kind of like mane extensions that would move constantly to flick off flies. I think it would work, and would be way more attractive than some other options.
ReplyDeleteCharlie is definitely horse sized :)
My fashion innovation - monogramming everything with my horse's initials :) Horse sized, please!
ReplyDelete