Where do you keep all the different blankets?????

[Castlegate]

I have a blanket bar on each stall which works for one blanket at a time. Problem is my horses go through several different ones a day and I have yet to be able to figure out a system of where to put them!

Oh, my doors slide so I cant put anything else on the stall wall...

Anyone have a creative system that keeps the barn neat?

[Auventera Two]

On the blanket rack my husband built for me:

http://www.hphoofcare.com/Blanket%20Rack%201.jpg

http://www.hphoofcare.com/Blanket%20Rack%202.jpg

Each arm swings out so I can swing them back and forth depending on which blanket I want to access.

He has since enclosed the sides, but still needs to build a door for it so the dust doesn't get in.

My only complaint is that I need about 10 more arms on it. :o :uhoh: Hubby says 10 arms should be QUITE enough.

I disagree.

[Androcles]

Several different blankets - a day? Why? That seems a tad, um, excessive.

[Castlegate]

Yep...layers at night that come off during the day....makes for lots of blankets laying around!

[Kiwayu]

I have a collapsible blanket bar in my tack room and can fit many different weight blankets on it.

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-27327&ids=922098565

[JB]

AT, did your hubby have to weld any of that?

I have that exact setup, only with PVC pipe, for my saddle pads, but ain't no way they'll hold even a sheet. I don't have any tools or knowledge to weld.

[mybeau1999]

These are the blanket racks I'm planning on buying for our stalls in a few weeks, to ensure (hopefully) we don't have the problem you are having:

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-27394&ids=922110539

I know you can find them cheaper - just have to look around:)

[Long Spot]

All stalls have a blanket bar. We also have a row of labeled hooks on a wall for spares. Then we have an open closet, with swinging blanket bars ( http://www.horsehealthusa.com/details/Swinging-Blanket-Bars/605-25.html ) to air out and dry.

Why so many blanket changes in a day? Rainy climate with some fairly drastic changes in weather on any given day.

The rest live in a shelving unit in the feed room. They get sorted and put there after they come back from the blanket cleaner/repair and before they go into action again.

[Mallard]

Several different blankets - a day? Why? That seems a tad, um, excessive.

My exact thoughts!!!!

[Hampton Bay]

I boarded at a barn that had blanket bars that were a bit different but worked PERFECTLY. It was just a straight metal bar with about 6" of chain at each end. The chain was attached to the stall. It allowed several blankets to be stored right there, and nothing ever fell off. Genius.

And yes, sometimes having a couple blankets is a good thing. When I lived further north I had a sheet and a blanket plus a MW blanket liner and a cooler. The mare got cold easily, so I needed to be able to layer her in some extra warmth for the really cold nights.

[Castlegate]

No, actually I dont think the number of blankets/sheets I have is excessive at all. When you have horses who are full body clipped and it gets cold at night they could easily need a blanket and a sheet or a blanket and a liner etc. Our day time temps then normally warm up a lot so they may only need a sheet. So, that is 2 right there..(could be three if I use the liner at night)...then we have an anti sweat and/or cooler....so...they accumulate pretty quickly!

Long Spot - where do you have the wall of hooks for the spares?

[Fairview Horse Center]

I boarded at a barn that had blanket bars that were a bit different but worked PERFECTLY. It was just a straight metal bar with about 6" of chain at each end. The chain was attached to the stall. It allowed several blankets to be stored right there, and nothing ever fell off.

Some of my boarders use their summer stall guards for blanket racks in the winter. We use 2 of those rubber covered chains instead of closing doors for summer time. Moved to screw eyes on the door or wall, they make great blanket "bars", so similar to what you are talking about - but fully flexible.

Most blanketed horses need 2 blankets available. A sheet and a Med weight for Fall/Spring, and a Med & Heavy for winter time. We tend to keep coolers & anti sweats in the tack room.

Most of the horses here do without a sheet/light weight. I just find we don't use it much at all.

About 50% of the horses do not get blanketed at all.

[goodmorning]

I live in New England which I'm pretty sure keeps the blanket companies in business ;) Freezing cold nights, random rain spurts, hot days...blanket changes galore for the clipped horses. When you get temp swings like we do, having a few options is key to ensuring their comfort (and health).

[ljc]

I live in a valley where the temperatures reguarly flucuate 60 degrees in any 24 hour period - daytime temps in the 100s, nighttime temps in the low 40s (fall) and 80s to low 20s in winter. For bodyclipped horses, this can be challenging. Especially when they get turned out early (in the bitter cold), come in when it's still reasonable, and then cold again during evening barn check! Luckily my barn is here at home!

My tackroom turns into a blanket storage unit during the fall/winter/spring, with blankets pretty much everywhere (I love the swinging arm blanket racks). I can't hang many on my stall doors, since the blanket bar is only a few inches away from stall door (I can hang a sheet or a very thin blanket). I have hooks hanging high next to each stall so I can put evening blankets there during the day to air out. I have tack trunks in front of each stall with other blankets in them.

[Romany]

We made ours:

Buy some heavy wooden dowl; fat enough to be strong, slim enough to slide easily inside plastic pipe, eg 1" dowl inside 2" drain pipe, etc: ours are 10' long.

Buy some eye (I?) screws, screw into each end of the dowl.

Buy a few feet of chain, and a few snaps to attach the chain to each end of the dowl via the eye screws; our chains are approx 16" long - long enough to swing the rod away from the wall for fatter folded blankets.

Attach to strong walls at a comfortable height, eg approx 4' off the ground.

pm if you need a photo, as my explanation might not be very clear!

[pines4equines]

We did something in our barn that might help. I bought plumbing flanges, pipes and elbows to make a "U" Shaped bar with the bottom part of the U about 5 feet long. The sides of the U are about 10 inches long so it reallly looks like this: [_____________]. I put all the pieces together and screwed it into some ceiling beams so it hung down like a rod in a closet. I bought the trouser hangers. You know the kind that you open, put the trousers in and then close so they are clamped tightly and will hang in the closet without causing the wrinkles if you drape them over a hanger. Anyway, I clamped those to the horse blankets and hung them up as if they were in a closet. Larger blankets required two trouser hangers but on the whole I trouser hanger worked. I bought good quality trouser hangers with a lot of hold. It keeps the blankets out of the way and off the floor.