"...allow moisture to transpire through it, but
wool does a better job of it, or is something different going on with the wool
that makes it more suitable for getting the horses to dry off? Whatever is
happening, I guess I'd better hit the thrift stores for some old wool blankets.
Now, for rump rugs, is the polyester fleece better than the
wool?..."
The advantage of wool for an inner blanket is that
it does absorb some of the moisture, release a little heat (not significant in a
saddle blanket, but probably significant during the 10 or 20 minutes you are
cooling a horse), and does not collapse and loose all of its insulating
properties with a little water (cotton is the king of this).
I usually use polyester fleece for rump rugs,
because I want them to work all day. Polyester does not absorb any
significant amount of water, so its properties do not change over the course of
a day.
By the way, both of these fibers do a great
job in both applications. I am talking about what I consider "noticable"
differences, say about a 20% difference in performance.
Ed
Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower
Road Victor, MT 59875
