Madelene Nord works with some of the world’s top horses as show groom for Peder Fredricson. Peder is one of the world’s leading showjumpers having had incredible success at several Olympic Games including winning Team Gold and Individual Silver for Sweden at Tokyo in 2021. This weekend at Jönköping Horse Show Madelene took us through what she looks for when blanketing some of the stable’s stars while traveling for shows across Europe.
GETTING THE RIGHT FIT
For Madelene, ensure your horse is wearing the correct size is integral to horse’s comfort level. ‘When I fit the blankets for my horses it is really important, they are wearing the correct size and everything is sitting correctly. It is really easy to get shoulder rubs, so I always want to make sure the blankets fit right – not too big, not too small.’ The Aloga Insider fitting guide offers a step-by-step guide how to pick the right size blanket for your horse.
HOODS
Madelene chooses to use hoods with the Aloga Stable Pro blanket on her horses during the colder months. ‘Now in the winter time we are using the necks with the blankets. It is also important (the hoods) are not too tight because they can start rubbing the mane. Also having a nice shiny, smooth lining material on inside of the hood allows for it to easily move with the horse and they are comfortable in every position – if they want to stretch down the hood will follow or if they are standing with their head up a little higher.’ Aloga hoods can be added or removed from compatible blankets using the hood loop attachments at the front of neck area. Lined with shine enhancing polyester Aloga hoods are designed to complement the nature neck movement of your horse when they are stabled for any period of time. Pro Tip: Spraying the inside hood lining with show sheen or mane & tail spray helps hoods gild smoothly over your horse’s neck.
KEEPING THEM COSY
Temperatures are beginning to drop off across Europe particularly in Sweden. This means Madelene is currently using a medium weight blanket when her horses are being stabled at shows ‘Hansson has the 200g Aloga Pro Stable on this weekend with the hood so that it can keep him warm & cosy when the nights are getting cold here in Sweden. The Aloga blankets come in a lot of different of sizes that allows you to get your horse’s The Aloga Pro Stable has thermobonded fibre fill which is design to retain your horse’s body heat and provide superior insulation. The outer fabric of the blanket is made of a 1000D polyester ripstop that is breathable so will stop your horse from overheating. The ripstop construction makes this blanket ideal for long term use as this weave strengthens the outside of the blanket without making it too heavy or restrictive.
For MadeIene it is all about happy horses, ‘I like the Aloga blankets because they fit the horses really well and they are happy. If they are happy, then I’m happy.’
