l keep my horse in massachusetts, and l let him grow a full winter coat. l wanna start blanketing him when it gets below 30...i know he doesnt need it but l prefer to. right now l own a medium weight weatherbeeta orican (around 200grams of fill)

should l invest in a heavyweight blanket too? or will a medium weight offer enough warmth throughout the whole winter?

You have a few options.
1. You could let ur horse continue to grow his/her full winter coat, & blanket him with the medium when it gets pretty cold. This may seem easy, but when spring comes, u will have to either clip his winter coat, or curry for an hour for a few weeks.
2. This is what l do. l clip my horse in the summer, & in the winter, l let her grow some fur, but not alot. Only on the neck, b/c my blanket does not cover the neck. l also have 3 blankets: a light sheet, medium weight, & really heavy. l live in IL, & right now, its about 25 degrees. Anyway, l blanket my horse in all conditions in the fall/winter, & l know it sounds like a waste of money, but u would be happy that u saved so much time in the summer not having to curry out so much fur!

hope this helps!

IMHO blankets are not needed about 99% of the time. as long as he is not out in a freezing rain his natural coat is all he needs. leaving a rug on for long periods will flatten his undercoat and make him colder that he would be without the rug.

l live in upstate NY where the weather is very similar to MA. We blanket all of our horses, winter coat or not, the wind & oftentimes snow or freezing rain is too much. They need something to keep their coat dry so they can stay warm. (or at least that is what we prefer to do). My appendix grows a really flimsy winter coat, so l blanket him with a RAMBO 420 fill supreme heavy weight for when it is very cold, anything 20 below & lower. We do have a medium weight for him as well, 300 fill or so, that we keep on him when it is 'warmer'.

If ur horse already has a nice winter coat, then l think something with 250+ fill would be good, especially for nights when it does drop to below 30.

As long as your horse has a full winter coat, the medium weight should be enough.

however

if you are like me, you like to have all eventualities covered, plus you need one to wear and one to repair. If you watch the website ''TackoftheDay'' they change to a new product everyday at noon. It is almost as addictive as this site! They often have good deals, and they usually have only name brand blankets. Your ''back up'' blanket may as well be a heavier fill.