ACCIDENTALLY GAVE HORSE ELECTRIC SHOCK

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Tarandes Bear

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Whilst changing rugs this morning I somehow managed to give a horse an electric shock. It frightened us both. I touched the ground with my hands (to break the current) before I went to sooth the horse and upon touching her it happened again, this time with sparks flying. Very distressing and upsetting. Has anything ever happened like this to you? Just a thought; I'm always wearing a fleece and I'm wondering whether this was the cause? I've heard if you tumble dry fleeces (I know, I'm mad!) it makes the static worse? Any feedback is greatly appreciated! :)
 
YES, IT PROBABLY WAS STATIC. INCIDENTALLY, WHY ARE SO MAMY THREAD TITLES RECENTLY WRITTEN IN CAPITALS? :D
 
The only thing I can suggest is that rather than sliding the rug of your horse, you fold it back and lift it off. Most rugs are manmade material, so sliding them across your horse's back helps to build up the static. Loads of conditioner for your fleece and hang it to dry rather that tumble it.

Hope that helps.
 
Happens to me aaaaaalll the bloody time. I'm a static electric freak. Does my head in.

Chances are your horse reacted more to how you reacted to the shock rather than the shock itself. It's very small but does feel bigger than it actually is. I went to touch my son on the nose the other day and zapped him good and proper. He wasn't impressed!

Incidentally if you've every managed to create this in the dark you can actually see the sparks.
 
In dry summer weather (ha) our horse's boett gives static shocks as it's pulled over his head. If we wet hands first, or sprinkle water over rug/horse it prevents shocks, and ensuing meltdown!
 
Happens to me all the time when taking rugs off, especially their fleeces. Its just a case of bracing yourselves...3...2...1...PULL! ZAP! OUCH! :(

Folding it back to their bum does help a bit, but its just one of the quirks of owning horses :D
 
Thanks to you all so far & I'll take all those helpful hints on board :D Just to make you smile I've since come home from morning yard and I've showered and changed not just my FLEECE (!!!) but I've also ditched my long sleeved thermal vest which is also man made! I've replaced with a pretty cotton cami top and clean line dried fleece!!! So we'll see what sparks fly tonight ! Wish me luck ! :eek:
 
I find that if you keep a hand on the horse whilst you're taking the rug off, static shocks don't happen! I think I have also touched horse with elbow or lower arm after taking rug off as the shock always seems to come from the hands/fingers! No more shocks :)
 
Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I took a jumper and t-shirt off in one go and then separated them to put them away. The room was quite dark as I only had a lamp on and as I pulled them apart I could see lots of blue sparks flying!

I've suffered from static for years, I get shocks from all sorts of things, but it's especially bad at the moment. It always has been in cold weather for me for some reason.
 
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