Best rugs or tricks to stop my warmbloods mane from getting rubbed out this winter?

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DEB2701

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I have a 17hh warmblood that lost the bottom 1/5 of her mane last year from the rug rubbing it. I do believe it was the detachable neck rug that did the most damage however when I swapped her out of that her mane seemed to keep thinning untill it was all gone. I’m desperate to keep her mane in tact this year so if anyone has any solutions or a rug that did the job for them please let me know as I’m willing to try anything.
 
Theres a very easy solution - don’t use necks! I know some people find this hard; especially when it’s its freezing or torrential rain in the depths of winter and your clipped horse is out in it! If you can take a leap of faith though, concentrate on keeping them warm from within by feeding lots of forage and keeping their body warm with standard fit rugs, I think you'll be surprised how well she’ll cope. Maybe ease yourself into it and consider a clip that leaves more hair on her neck (say a trace clip and you can vary how high you take it), and I do have detachable necks I can put on when it’s VERY cold and wet, but I often use a much lighter weight neck rather than the one that goes with the heavier rugs and I only use them as a last resort! My TB has a lovely thick mane now from forelock to withers and I grow it long in winter to keep his neck warm - it’s what it’s there for after all and means I can clip his neck out too without any guilt! The only down side is the occasional ‘muddy dreadlock’ look he comes in with...
 
As Mrs G says, don't use necks. Using light weight bigger than you need necks also help, so if you can get an oversized neck that's good. Also use mane and tail conditioner on the mane. If your good at sewing you could line the neck cover with silk. I also used a headless hood under a rug one year, that seemed to help.
 
Necks on rugs are a recent invention. When rugs were canvas, up until the early 90's, nobody could have made a neck work, and after the synthetics arrived it was years before anyone sold one with a full neck. The horses still got turned out in all weather and were fine.
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I’ve bought a bossy bibs mane saver to try. Can’t say yet if it’s going to work.
My horse is coloured with a white mane and a huge mud wallower I just can’t bear leaving his neck naked, I’d actually rather he only have half a mane.

I do have a field master on my pony and the design and imo quality is excellent!
 
Keep it platted and keep the plats in for like two weeks and when they do come out cover in spray conditioner and brush gently I’m going to trial putting infant socks over each plait to see if it’s successful
 
ycbm said:
It does look like a genuinely different design. Have you used one on many horses? Mane loss does seem to be a bit horse/mane dependant.
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Not loads. 4 different horses. One was prone to losing mane with previous rugs and lost none at all with one of these.
 
I'm having this issue with Lari as he has quite a wide chest and all Bailey's rugs seem to rub his shoulders this time of year and if I'm not careful his mane gets rubbed out too when I go to 100g rugs with necks.

So I've put some Keratex mud shield powder on the point of shoulder so that they don't get bald and this stops the friction. I also use this on the back of his overreach boots - he wears two pairs 24/7 and on any neck covers on turnout rugs.
 
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Glitterandrainbows said:
Keep it platted and keep the plats in for like two weeks and when they do come out cover in spray conditioner and brush gently I’m going to trial putting infant socks over each plait to see if it’s successful
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I don't think plaiting will help in most cases, because usually the hair isn't breaking, it's the roots that die from overheating and/or damp or damp loving fungus. I watched a guy try and undo a plait once and the entire thing came away, still plaited, in his hand.
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oversize neck cover
keep it immaculately clean-wipe it down every single day inside
use a LW neck cover except in minus temps
the ones with 4 velcro loop attachments i only use the top 2 near the withers so its not being pulled down tight
 
DEB2701 said:
I have a 17hh warmblood that lost the bottom 1/5 of her mane last year from the rug rubbing it. I do believe it was the detachable neck rug that did the most damage however when I swapped her out of that her mane seemed to keep thinning untill it was all gone. I’m desperate to keep her mane in tact this year so if anyone has any solutions or a rug that did the job for them please let me know as I’m willing to try anything.
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Mane Guard https://www.bossysbibs.com/products/bossys-maneguards-prevention-cure-for-horse-mane-loss#

it is what I use on my mare
Glitterandrainbows said:
Keep it platted and keep the plats in for like two weeks and when they do come out cover in spray conditioner and brush gently I’m going to trial putting infant socks over each plait to see if it’s successful
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I did this, and the next morning the whole plait had come out.
Mrs G said:
Theres a very easy solution - don’t use necks!..
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Not in all case, sometimes it is the worst thing to do - depends on the horse, my late mare started without a neck and she rubbed her neck on all the trees round the field and ended up with no mane in the middle, she then got
Staphylococcus aureus.

Also with horses necking in the field that would also pull hair out without a neck , a neck cover can protect the mane.

OP MY mare wears a bossy bib mane guard, wash it regularly once a week to keep material away from grease build up.


Also I keep her mane clear and just started to use pig oil to help mane from getting dry and brittle.


I also use https://www.honestriders.co.uk/products/well-gel-mane-event
 
It’s the heat that causes it to fall out, I’ve yet to find a design that stops it falling out by preventing rubbing. I quit using necks about 3 years ago and have mane all year round now. I have a no fill neck cover for if it’s really wet and windy but absolutely no necks with fill in them, stable or turn out.
 
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ILuvCowparsely said:
Not in all case, sometimes it is the worst thing to do....Also with horses necking in the field that would also pull hair out without a neck , a neck cover can protect the mane
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I've found the same - it's funny, if I use a standard no-neck rug, it ends up rubbing a hole in his mane where it sits on his neck. I tried three different turnouts and all did the same thing. However if I use a combi-rug, i.e. with a built in neck, he has a lovely mane. His biggest rug is 100g though, so limited risk of overheating.
 
I didn’t use neck covers in the stable for years, but they did wear one when turned out which always worked well.

But they now live out and my winter hay feeder rubs manes out if they aren’t wearing one.

So I now use a 100g detachable Rambo neck cover without any rubbing on my four 24/7. I keep manes clean and spray with mane and tail spray weekly. Lose a of mane bit due to heat, but not much as they’re pretty lightweight.
 
ycbm said:
I don't think plaiting will help in most cases, because usually the hair isn't breaking, it's the roots that die from overheating and/or damp or damp loving fungus. I watched a guy try and undo a plait once and the entire thing came away, still plaited, in his hand.
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Thanks for letting me know about that her mane has been in plats all summer and is thick and long I take her rug off when she comes in for a couple of hours so possibly why she hasn’t had this problem I’ll probably take the neck rug off unless bad weather
 
Mine wear only 0g detachable necks in the field, even if they have a thick rug on. they never wear a neck cover in the stable. This seems to work.
 
I don't use neck covers very often but I do use a snuggy turnout hood on one of my horses if Chipping the mud off daily becomes a chore, I've never had a problem with them rubbing out the mane I use the headless one as not keen on the full face ones.
 
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