| 主权项 |
1. An evaporative cooling towel for a horse, said horse having a back, left and right sides coextensive with the back, a barrel, shoulders and thighs, said evaporative cooling towel comprising: a water absorbent polymeric sheet sized to substantially cover the back and at least portions of the left and right sides of the horse coextensive with the covered back, said water absorbent polymeric sheet comprising a blend of polyvinyl alcohol and plant starch, with at least thirty percent by weight of the blend being plant starch, said water absorbent polymeric sheet including a front edge, a rear edge opposite the front edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge opposite the first side edge, and an average thickness; and a plurality of fabric reinforcement strips; and a plurality of elastic straps attached to the water absorbent polymeric sheet for securing the sheet to the horse when the elastic straps are fastened, said elastic straps being substantially unstretched when the sheet is covering the back and left and right sides of the horse, and said elastic straps stretching to allow outward movement of portions of the sheet covering the left and right sides of the horse, said outward movement being movement away from the horse and effective for facilitating continued evaporative cooling, while the elastic straps are fastened; a buckle assembly for each of the plurality of elastic straps, said buckle assembly enabling fastening and release of each of the plurality of releasable elastic straps; and
said evaporative cooling towel further comprising an elongated ridge on said water absorbent polymeric sheet, said ridge extending downwardly from said water absorbent polymeric sheet, from one of the front edge, the rear edge, the first side edge and the second side edge, to the opposite of the front edge, the rear edge, the first side edge and the second side edge of the water absorbent polymeric sheet. |
