Dressage Today; Ask the Experts, September 2011.....Q&A . < '-. ••• --

WaterproofingWinter Turnouts

I have an older blanket that'sin good shape, but is no lon-ger waterproof. Is it worth

spending the money to have it water-proofed? How do I know if the treat-ment will work?

Name withheld by request

YVONNE MULGREWI am frequently asked thisquestion because clients haveturnouts that are in good

physical condition but have lost theirwater repellency. There are not manygood waterproofing-treatment optionstoday that can restore repellency toturnouts. Still, don't be too quick totoss your old turnout without exploringyour options.

Based on the price for a quality,effective waterproof treatment, whichcan be $25 or less, it is generally morecost effective to treat the turnout ratherthan replace it. A quality annual water-proof treatment should last one year, soessentially, you could retreat a turnoutfor several years and still save money.From what I see these days, many of thenewer turnouts do not have the samequality and durability of older turnouts.

I have tested up to 17 differenttypes of treatments from camping andhardware stores and marine supplyhouses (for use on boat sails). All of the

camping store/hardware store treat-ments failed for a long-term rain. Andmany sail treatments also failed. Bead-ing water on a shell means very little.Most treatments will initially bead, buthow they stand up to a long-term rainis what counts.The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) has stopped mostmanufacturing of silicone in the marineindustry. Plus, delivery system-thechemical combination and quality-isa key factor for all chemicals as siliconeand fluoropolymer. Most marineproducts require heating to activatethe treatment. This is too difficult forthe average horse owner, and I do notrecommend placing your turnout ina household dryer due to shrinkageand possible damage to the membraneunder the shell absorbing the water.Additionally, the household dryer is

too small, and the blanket experiencesoverlapping and uneven drying.The product I use is a high fluo.

ropolymer with an excellent deliverysystem. It's a very fussy chemical,requiring extremely clean fibers. Re-cently, I performed testing for a lab thathas developed a treatment that maybe available to the public soon. It's a"spray-and-dry" with a wax base and of-fers excellent repellency for very fragileshells. It seals difficult fabrics and, inmost cases, can waterproof a shell thatwas never waterproof before. However,it's not the standard treatment in myshop for very specific reasons. Unfortu-nately, I have not found a spray-and-drytreatment that is available to the publicthat works for more than just a fewhours of rain. Most are engineered forcanvas, leather and some nylon. This iswhy I worked with the lab to developthe wax-based treatment. The averagehorse owner needs something easy touse that works.

A good way to test a turnout blanketfor water repellency is to find some-thing that simulates a horse's barrel,such as a large round trash can. Placethe trash can on its side in a wheelbar-rei then cover the top area of the trashcan with flattened brown paper bagsso you can see distinct watermarks ifthe turnout leaks. Center the turnoutover the paper bags that cover the topof the trash can, then wait for a 24- to48-hour rain. The brown paper bags willnot have any water spots on them if theturnout is watertight. ~

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