I guess I have two questions.  Here the first one:  I live in MN and we have some crazy weather this time of year.  This past Saturday it was sunny and the temp was in the mid-sixties.  But then Sunday it was 45 degrees and rained all day.  I have a heavy weight blanket for my horse for winter.  The problem is, on Saturday he was sweating under it because it was so warm out, so I took it off.  I left the blanket off overnight but then it was raining on Sunday morning and my poor boy was wet and cold.  I felt really bad! 

What do you guys recommend in this situation?  Should I buy a light-weight blanket for him to wear this time of year?  What do you guys do?

And the second question:  My horse is gray and he loves to play with his buddies out in the pasture.  He is quite the instigator so he ends up getting bitten a lot.  Last year he looked awful because he had bite marks and chunks of hair missing all over his body.  I even had people say to me "wow you should really look into turning him out with different horses".  But he loves his buddies out there and hates being turned out with anyone else.  I need to do something though because I plan on attending as many clinics and shows as my budget will allow this year and I can't show up with a horse that looks like he just came out of a war zone or something!  haha :)  

Have any of you been in a similar situation?  What can I put on him to prevent them from biting his hair and skin off?  He looks GREAT right now because he has had his winter blanket on.  Is there some type of turnout sheet I could use?  But I don't want him to get too hot with it on in summer. 

I did just purchase a used Rambo fly sheet that covers his neck and everything.  It's a little big for him but I thought that might work well for summer?! 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you! 

Is he clipped? I'm just wondering because most horses would generally be okay even with temp changes like this not on regular basis but it wouldn't be the end of the world cause you'll still have winter's coat ect. Also don't worry too much as none of us can always forcast weather and it does change fast. As I said most of the time horses manage  but if it gives you more peace of mind get the lighter blanket. AS for summer, I think the fly sheet is fine if you want something a littlel different try getting him a light cotton sheet, or somethign similiar it'd cover him but not be hot. It sounds like as long as he as something on he doesn't really get scraped up it's just beign out there with nothing right?

He isn't clipped.  He didn't really grow that thick of a winter coat this year because he was blanketed.  Plus he already pretty much shed out all of the winter coat that he had.  He really doesn't have much of a coat left.  I just worry about him if I take his blanket off and then it's cold and rainy.  I don't want him to get a chill or be out there shivering.  But I would obviously prefer to not spend any money, if at all possible because I'm broke (like most people!).

I think the fly sheet will work fine for summer.  Like I said, it's a little big for him but I will keep an eye on it and make sure it's okay.  His winter blanket works great at preventing him from getting bitten but a fly sheet is a lot thinner than that so I will have to see how effective it is.  I will find out and I guess if he keeps getting bite marks all over him I may have to look into turning him out with different horses. 

 I might pick up a cotton sheet for him too.  We'll see how it goes.