When I first found PS of Sweden‘s website and began perusing all the cool stuff, their quarter sheet was one of the things that really caught my eye. It hit all my favorite criteria: it was fancy, it was navy, and it was unique.
Alas, when I made my first purchase from PS my budget was tight so I resisted adding it to my cart. Instead I just stared at it a time or two a week on their website and thought “one of these days”. Then, as if by fate, a couple months later they put it on sale for a few days – into the cart it went and I had it in my grubby little hands a week later (hats off for fast shipping).
I have had many a quarter sheet before. I will forewarn: I’m very very picky about them. I hate fleece and refuse to put it on a horse in any form. I only do wool – and not cheap acrylics, but real wool. And since I live in a climate where it’s rarely cold enough to need a quarter sheet for the whole ride, I need one that is easy to take on and off. That nixes the ones that go under the saddle, and the ones that either go under the flap or over the rider’s leg. They bug me when it’s over my leg and they’re hard to take off when they’re under the flap. So the fact that the PS quarter sheet had an attachment method that I had never seen before is really what drew me to it the most.
Of course I love how it looks – who doesn’t love a fancy braided hip ornament? It’s just as pretty in person as it is in pictures and I love the double cord piping. But the best part about it, IMO, is how easy it is to get on and off. On cold days I usually warm up with the sheet on and then reach down and simply unbuckle both sides (which is very very easy to do from the saddle with one hand – no contortionist skills required) and pull it off. I’ve also put it back on for the cool down and found it pretty easy to do from the saddle as well. Not quite as easy as taking it off, but pretty easy. It stays in place well while you’re riding, and the buckle is far enough back to not interfere with your leg.
Weight wise I would call it a lighter to mid weight wool. For my climate it’s plenty warm. It seems well made, I’ve used it many times now and there are no signs of premature wear or anything like that. I know some people don’t like the big branded logo on the side but I personally don’t mind it, so that’s more of an individual preference thing. I struggle to find anything negative to say about it really… I guess maybe if you have a fully clipped horse in a really cold climate it might not be thick enough? Or if you have a super giant elephant horse (like blanket size 84+) it might not be big enough.
I’ve searched for a nice wool quarter sheet for a reasonable price for years and never found one. Regular price is around $100, which IMO is a good deal. Similar quality wool quarter sheets run from around $75-200 so that puts it solidly on the lower end of that range, and none of them have this kind of (IMO ingenious) attachment design.
Bottom line? Two thumbs up. I gave my old wool quarter sheet away, and good riddance. This one has now taken up residence in my “winter riding staples” collection.
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