Horse blankets

I was doing some work in the quartermaster shed today and noticed the evolution of the Indian Wars period saddle blankets within the unit in the form of various excess blankets laying around. The original Army IWP saddle blankets had yellow stripes woven into the fabric along the edges. By contrast, the Civil War blankets were blue with orange stripes. The CW blankets have been readily available from various vendors for a long time but the IWP blankets were nonexistant until the last few years. To get around this problem, the troop used a couple of means over the years to create the IWP blankets. The first blanket was a standard gray blanket that had yellow stripes painted on it. The troopers built a wooden templet that they used to spray paint the stripes in the correct place on the blanket. The templet is still stored in the rafters of the quartermaster shed. There are still a few of the painted blankets in the shed. They are, of course, stiff and rough where the stripes were painted on. The next upgrade was to sew a strip of canary yellow material onto the gray blankets. We still have a bolt of the fabric used. This technique resulted in a very colorful blanket and gave the troop a distinctive look. Unfortunately, it detracted from the authenticity of the tack and was criticized by those who were history buffs. Finally, a few years ago the IWP blankets with the yellow stripe woven into it became available and the Troop acquired some. However, the blanket is still not completely authentic. The blanket is supposed to have a large "US" woven into the center of the blanket. It is not noticeable since the blanket is folded when it is on the horse but it would be nice if vendors could get that final detail included. Maybe the next generation of blankets will complete that final step.