Blanket Time

If you have been reading my blog for long you know that the first two attempts at wearing a blanket didn’t go well. Dickie was sure that I had given him a portable chew toy. He didn’t take long to start tearing at the blanket like a lab puppy tearing the cushion on your favorite chair. Now that he is turned out with other horses, I have been pleasantly surprised that he hasn’t tried to tear his girlfriends’ blankets. That made me think maybe if I get him used to wearing a blanket when his mind is busy he won’t notice it is on. Last week I put on a fleece cooler and worked on clicker trainer right away. The next day I tried a wool dress sheet that has a few more enticing buckles than the cooler. I fed him dinner to keep his mind off the blanket. I also had a visitor tacking Josey up in the aisle and reaching his head out to taste her kept his mind busy. We were gone for about an hour and the blanket was in one piece when we arrived back. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned about his outfit anymore. I decided that I would try out a waterproof sheet. Josey’s mom had an extra she is willing to share and my extra blanket is too big. He looked quite dapper in turquoise. Apparently he finds the texture of the waterproof material yummier than fleece or wool because he chewed on it a little. However, he didn’t put his whole effort into tearing it and by the time we left he had stopped messing with it.

A week later he is still wearing his new blanket. I am so happy!! It has been getting colder and the rain is coming down in buckets. Sometimes he manages to get a buckle undone but other than that he has been a very good boy. He doesn't even wallow in the mud. That part shocked me because he is such a pig in his stall. I am sure he would have lived without a blanket but it's nice to keep them dry in the rainy northwest.