A cover sheet is the written terms for your horse's care while you are away. The sitter or yard covering for you cannot ask the horse what he usually gets, and should not have to guess, phone you mid-flight, or work from a half-remembered conversation at the gate. Write the sheet in the fixed order below, draw every line of it from his record, and walk the cover provider through it once at the yard before you leave. The sheet covers blanket rules in full, because blanket decisions are where sitters often guess wrong, quietly, night after night.
First: What He Is Fed and When
Open with feeding, in his own routine values: the feed he gets, the amounts, how it is prepared, and the times he is fed, morning and evening. Name the bin or bag each feed comes from, say whether his feed is soaked or damped, and note exactly how much hay he has overnight and where it is hung or placed.
Second: His Blanket Rules by Weather
Set out his blanket rules by weather, plainly enough that a decision at dusk takes seconds. Say which blanket he wears in cold rain, which in dry cold, and at what point he wears none at all in a mild spell.
Cover the failure cases too: what to do if a blanket is soaked through, if a strap breaks, or if he comes in sweating under a blanket that was right at turnout and wrong by noon. Tell the cover provider where the spare blanket hangs.
Third: Turnout and Exercise
State where he is turned out, with which companions, and for how long each day. Name the field, the gate routine, and any field rules that matter, such as whether he wears boots to go out or is caught first because the others crowd the gate.
Then cover exercise honestly. If the cover provider is to ride or lunge him, say what work, how often, and what to avoid. If he is to rest while you are away, write that down as a positive instruction, not an omission, so nobody exercises him out of enthusiasm.
Fourth: His Quirks and Handling Notes
Write the quirks section as if briefing a friend who has never met him. Say how he is to be caught, whether he pulls back, barges at the stable door, dislikes a particular spray or hose, or needs his headcollar handled a certain way. Note what calms him and what winds him up.
Fifth and Sixth: The Contacts That Matter
List your own contact details next: the number you actually answer while traveling, when you will be out of reach, and a backup person nearby who knows him. Follow that with the veterinarian's contact, the practice name and number, and the after-hours arrangement the practice uses.
Finish the sheet by naming the person who can give consent for emergency treatment when you are unreachable. That single line, agreed with the person named before you leave, is the difference between immediate care and a lost hour of phone calls while a horse waits. Say also where his records are kept, so whoever authorizes treatment can hand the veterinarian his history at once.
Drawing the Sheet From His Record
Every line of this sheet already exists in his Pet Passport on KinsLe: his feed and times, his blanket rules, his turnout routine, his quirks, and the contacts and authorizations that surround his care. Drawing the cover sheet from the Pet Passport takes minutes, and it guarantees the sheet matches the record the veterinarian will see if anything goes wrong.
Print the sheet, pin it where his feed is made, and leave a copy with the backup contact you named. The Pet Passport packet on KinsLe remains the master version between trips, so the next sheet needs only its changes checked rather than a full rewrite.