I don’t use blankets often… rarely, really.
Last year we had tons of rain and Norma (all of a sudden) didn’t like the sound of the rain on her shelter roof. So, she stood outside. Norma got drenched and I had to bring her into the barn and blanket her.
But, usually she uses her shelter and it doesn’t get that cold – all the horses do fine around here.
They say horses are fine up to 30 below, as long as they are healthy, have food and water, a good winter coat and it isn’t RAINING with the wind cutting through their coats.
Of course, I wouldn’t want to test that theory on my horses, but Mother Nature did create them to live comfortably outside…
I ALWAYS FEAR THEY WILL GET THEIR FEET CAUGHT, DON’T YOU
However, if you do use a blanket… I always worry that they will get their feet caught. Don’t you?
Well, lookey what came in the mail! Inexpensive and E-A-S-Y!
Bebop’s Blanket Saver Safe-T-Link!
Such a simple but great idea!
Click image to go to the site.
IT IS SO SIMPLE, IT IS A BIT OF A FOREHEAD SLAPPER… $9.99!!
I’m not the best at mechanical directions. (Recipes are fine, but mechanical directions… not so good…).
So, when I saw these, I figured it was easy but still wanted Hubby to do it for me.
But, he wasn’t home.
I went to the barn and brought up a blanket to see if I could follow the photo and do this.
And I did. Really easy!
This is the packet. 2 Safe-T-Links and 8 bands. ONLY $9.99!
I followed the directions with one of my blankets.
I made sure I had it exactly right…
And then I pulled!
THEY ADVERTISE IT AS A BLANKET SAVER – NO RIPS…
I never think about ripping the blankets – we probably don’t use them enough to have those kinds of accidents.
But, I do think about them getting their hooves caught. I worry about that.
So, for me, this is a really great idea!
Such a good idea! I worry about the horses getting their feet caught in their blanket belly strap!
DO THEY WORK?
I pulled on them with my feet on the strap and me pulling up – it didn’t break. But, when I let Tess stand on the strap and I pulled all the way back, it broke!
(I went flying… don’t try this at home.)
The packet comes with two Safe-T-Links and 8 rubber bands. So, they give you extras, which is nice!
This note was inside my package…
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
Your purchase with Riding Warehouse through this portal benefits the Bucket Fund!
I bought three kits (enough to do three blanks) . I’ve had to send blankets in monthly for repairs mostly due to straps being ripped for one reason or another. Im certain most of the times its because a horse has laid down and got a foot thru the strap and them tears it when he gets up. After the first 24 hour period I had one strap dangling and to my surprise the only damage was a broke band on the break away. It worked as advertised and no other damage to the blanket and more importantly the horse was not injured at all. I replaced the band(the kit comes with plenty of extras) and all was good. Since putting the break away kits on I have not had one damaged blanket or one injury. I will not blanket horses with out them now. A real small price to pay for a lot of security and piece of mind.
Nicole: I hear you… but most often, it is the blanket that loses the battle. So, that is probably what
most people complain about – the ripped blanket. I think that is why there are so many blanket repair people out there.
I had a horse with Stringhalt whose hind leg came all the way up to his tummy with each step so I was forced to do some in depth study on blankets. I found that the belly band style are far superior to any kind with a strap. They fit nice and snug, don’t slip as much, and even he could cavort in the pasture with his buddies and not get caught up in it. He could lay down, and roll, or what ever he wanted. I paid more for it, but it was worth every penny. I tried using other blankets on my other horses and then switched all of them to the belly bands.
Of course that was in WY, and now we are in AZ. It just doesn’t get cold enough here to blanket in my mind. My horses all have nice thick coats and I am fine with letting them stay that way. But in WY, if it hit 10 or lower, we would break out the blanket. The wind always blew there, and they were happy to have those blankets.
This is a great post for this time of year, and I think those gadgets would be handy.
oh WOW! This place is 30 minutes from my house!
Sounds like a helpful product for people that blanket. However, I find it interesting that they advertise it to protect the blanket, not the horse … Hmmmm….