Best lightweight breathable rain rug/sheet?

PurBee

PurBee

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My horses tolerate the mild yet wild wet irish weather pretty well but there are sometimes days on end rain and they get soaked. In the summer they dont mind at all and have drying off spells in their shelter with plenty of hay, but with cooler months id like to have rain sheets on hand should it become necessary.

The mare is hardy despite half arab, and stands out in driving hail not bothered a bit....but the gelding absolutely hates his face, ears and neck getting wet and has been seen to back into hedges to get out of the rain! He was like that as a youngster too.

So im looking for something that really is breathable, yet waterproof, hard-wearing, lightweight with no padding.

Due to summer midges/horseflies getting at them for a couple of months in summer, can i get a rain sheet that also could be used as a fly sheet?

Drawing with white chalk on my black mare to look like a zebra was fun but soon go rained and rolled off!

What brands are the best to go for that wont rip on first outing?
 
I think you'd struggle to get a properly waterproof rug that can double as a fly sheet.
For a rain sheet I dont think you can beat a 0g Rambo. Mine are ancient and still going strong.
 
Some of Rhinehold rugs are cotton lined and I find more breathable than synthetic linings. Not sure they would be as hard wearing or as truly waterproof as a 'bigger' brand but mine is in it's second winter and shows no sign of needing replacing - but at under £30, I won't begrudge replacing it.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.
I thought i might be pushing it to find a properly waterproof fly sheet, particularly in zebra pattern!
My black mare suffers horse flies terribly, while the dapple grey hardly attracts them.
She uses this advantage he has by standing behind him when sheltering in the shade escaping the biting flies during the worst times.
 
I think you need 2 different rugs for these purposes.

For the rainsheet last year I bought a Bucas Sunshower and it was not fit for purpose - horse sweating at a hint of sunshine. I then replaced it with a cheap rainsheet off amazon and this has been very good. Have never heard of the brand but this is the link - I got it off the German Amazon as I live outside of the uk, but i suppose amazon uk has similar. https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B071JPS18W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1

For the flysheet I have the Bucas zebra one and I really like it, but if you need a mask too go for a plain one as mine could not see through the zebra one. Don't laugh but I tried it myself because she was behaving oddly, and also tries a plain black one to compare, and the zebra is very difficult to see through.

Also I would say rug choice depends on the horse. My lovely old mare who potters around the field and stays away from any rough play gets decent brand rugs. My naughty little gelding who rips everything playing with the others gets cheaper ones!
 
Thanks for the link. My gelding is playful too so will bare in mind your money saving advice!

Do you think if i got a rainsheet without a neck piece that heavy rainfall will drip down into the neck seam under the sheet drenching their chest?
Trying to decide if i should get neck pieces too, for heavy showers?
 
Regarding the neck cover I have always preferred removable necks in case the day is mixed sunshine and showers. For this I simply bought a no fill neck cover and then sewed D-rings onto the rugs that did not have them. But unless it is cold mine don't mind a bit of rain on their necks, so mainly they are not used on the rainsheets.
 
Winters100 said:
Regarding the neck cover I have always preferred removable necks in case the day is mixed sunshine and showers. For this I simply bought a no fill neck cover and then sewed D-rings onto the rugs that did not have them. But unless it is cold mine don't mind a bit of rain on their necks, so mainly they are not used on the rainsheets.
Click to expand...

Yes removable would be good. The gelding would prefer all neck and head cover, as thats all he’s bothered about being wet!
 
I'm confused, the OP was talking about cooler months and horses getting soaked. A "water resistant" strip on a fly rug is a different beast to a waterproof rug for use in driving rain?
 
Starzaan said:
How about something like a weatherbeeta 600d Mesh combo?
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Great suggestion, thank you, its similar to the john whitaker one, but has a wrap around belly flap which my mare would appreciate.
The horse flies go for her belly button and udders. During those times she swings her butt round to me to swat them and itch her belly. I use sprays too- i have a collection and tbh, they deter the horse flies for half hour at best. They Work well on other flies though.

We some year get clouds of midges. Like in a horror film! When they are hatching its horrific, they literally cover every inch of the horses. I have my protocol for the hatching week, which happens 3 times a year...early morning then at sunset each day.
I use smoke! I light a fire in a portable metal bucket and then burn damp peat producing clouds of smoke. The horses know the drill and keep in their smoke-free area as i swing my bucket around the perimeter of their area. The midges hate smoke and do not cross its path. For the hour of their rampant activity it keeps them at bay.

Since the forestry service have cut down a nearby spruce plantation, the midges haven’t been rampant like that since, and only occassionally now i have to smoke out midges!
Yet horse flies seem indestructible in june and july.
 
milliepops said:
I'm confused, the OP was talking about cooler months and horses getting soaked. A "water resistant" strip on a fly rug is a different beast to a waterproof rug for use in driving rain?
Click to expand...

Yes indeed mp, i was wondering if all-in-1 solution was possible but now i see that a much heavier one is needed for winter months and driving rain, which would be too warm for summer fly use. I have to cave in and have 2 different rugs.
In summer it rains a lot too, so would need a waterproof fly sheet.
 
Wise decision to get two rugs. This is my mare after a night out in heavy rain in her Rambo summer series rug, her top line is dry where it was protected by the waterproof strip but as you can see, her sides are damp.

9134C8A7-E3FF-4D40-A0D8-65B1CC9B9599.jpeg
The mesh sides (in blue) soon allow her summer coat to dry out (pics taken at beginning of Oct) but good though it is, it’s not suitable as a winter rug.
D78FE43F-2F94-4D81-B639-D3E09BC73E6D.jpeg

My Rambo no fill turnout rugs are fully waterproof, I use them on and off all year round.
 
Summer driving rain the gelding only hates, but he soon dries off in the shelters and has access to hay year round.

The only time theyve shivered and concerned me was when we had that ‘beast from the east’ early 2018 snow blizzard....they wouldnt go in their large dry bedded shelter to keep dry, warm with hay, which is open access 24/7, because something like a rat or mouse was in there and scared the mare, she was very weary, snorting, looking at the ground in there..bolting from the area,...so she had them both standing under a large tree but still getting snowed on as it became a blizzard.
They got saturated, and i spent practically the whole night with them in the stable drying them off, feeding hay, as thats the only way they would go in there, if i was there to convince them it was safe!

That night it was suddenly bitterly cold, windy, -10 degrees and snowing heavy. I couldnt shut them in there to keep them dry due to them freaking out at something in the stable, so to force them in shut, concerned me they would hurt themselves.
It was weighing up their safety, better free and unharmed, not freaked out, yet cold and wet than both confined in the same barn and really freaked out.
It was a valuable learning experience though, as i noticed within 15 mins of being under cover, out of the wind, despite being drenched, eating hay, their bodies soon were steaming and they stopped shivering.

Even in winter if they allow themselves to get drenched, they go in and out if their stable, munching hay, dry off, get wet, dry off, cycling through the days. Never bothered, always warm chests, necks and ears. The gelding hates his head being wet more than body. Theyre both in winter coats, unclipped.

They had experienced snow before, but not much, but that storm was a one-off, crazy gusts of wind, trees rocking, everything blowing about, at night, snow diagonally ripping down, twas like being in the arctic!

We get a lot of wind on this hill, which no longer bothers/freaks them, theyve de-sensitised, more than i have i can tell you!

All these years of the roughest weather they seek the shelter which they have constant access to, i couldnt believe on the worst night in a decade, the shelter became the ‘freak out zone’. I have a ‘spare’ of everything, except a shelter!

So a rug then was needed, and would have helped hugely under such conditions.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Wise decision to get two rugs. This is my mare after a night out in heavy rain in her Rambo summer series rug, her top line is dry where it was protected by the waterproof strip but as you can see, her sides are damp.

View attachment 39893
The mesh sides (in blue) soon allow her summer coat to dry out (pics taken at beginning of Oct) but good though it is, it’s not suitable as a winter rug.
View attachment 39894

My Rambo no fill turnout rugs are fully waterproof, I use them on and off all year round.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing the pics. I did wonder how much the horse would get wet through the mesh sides.
Theyre a good idea for summer rain and fly protection. If i got a normal fly rug i dont think that getting drenched fully would be nice to wear and could cause a chill, with top line waterproof panel, that helps spine/back keep dry so theyre warm.
I did wonder if there was a magical all-in-one solution for my situation as i get a bit cross-eyed looking at reams of pages of rugs on sites, all various types for specific uses....i knew you folks on here would have better knowledge whats available on the market.

Your horse is gorgeous!
 
Definitely get a fly rug and then a separate turnout. :)

I've had a big think about what rug I would have for my horses if they could have only one winter rug each and I actually decided on the Weatherbeeta Comfitec Premier Trio.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/weatherb...hash=item56cdf2ee23:m:ma5UXGhb38Lvqu_aYXGr3iw

The reason is that it is flexible. For normal relentless rain ;) you can use the outer on its own but if it is blowing a gale you can add the neck cover for more protection. The leg straps stop that rug being blown off the horse's back (I've had it happen with Horseware rugs, which I love but don't use in high winds for this reason) and if we have another 'beast from the east' you can add the liner.
 
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