Boett rugs & static??!

starryeyed

starryeyed

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Hi everyone,
Having a bit of a rug dilemma!
My horse suffers very badly from sweetitch, the only rug which has preserved his mane/tail and fur is the Boett one, which I've been amazed with - despite looking a bit alien-ish, he's a completely different horse in it, so much happier, and never scratches, stamps or seems bothered by midges and flies out in the field. The only problem is how horrible it is to remove, the static shocks are unbelievable!
For the past 2 years I have to admit that I've left it in the tack room and bought various other rugs (the bug buster being the best, though its a fly rug rather than a sweetitch one), combined with all sorts of sweetitch lotions and potions and fly sprays but nothing has worked for him anywhere near as well as the Boett. I've recently whipped the Boett back out but am already tempted to go back to one of the more standard alternatives as the static is getting too much for both me and my poor horse :eek:
He's very static-y to start off with, I always get shocks off him in summer time but with the (standard) fly rugs it was quite easy to slowly fold them back and then drop them to the floor - we got a little zap but he was ok with that - but as the Boett needs to be pulled over the head & clings so can't really be folded then its becoming a bit of a nightmare already, the shocks are so strong.

He's really starting to hate it and I can't say I blame him. Last time I put it on him he was reluctant to let me, but today when I was trying to remove it he was actually becoming quite distressed by it and I felt awful. He reluctantly let me pull it up to mid-neck but the zaps were so strong (and loud!) that it obviously was hurting him (it was certainly hurting me) and he started to mini-rear and try to get away from it. I managed to pull it off in the end but he wasnt a happy boy, I've popped a normal one on him tonight just to give him a rest from it. Summer's not even here yet!


To cut a long post (sorry!) short, I was just wondering if anyone has found any ways to make the Boett less static-y?! I'm sure our original one wasn't this bad, have they changed the material they use? I heard that spraying mane & tail conditioner on before removing helped, but I can't say that I've noticed a difference..
If not... are there any rugs that work as well as a boett but have less static? :confused:

Thank you in advance x
 
The SI snuggyhood rug is brilliant. We have two horses in them and there is no static or rubbing at all :) I'm less keen on the Boett as it does give me the odd shock (not as bad as yours :o) and I just find the fit rather strange.
 
Hey,

Poor boy it sounds like a nightmare. Iv never used a boett before but my boy gets static off normal fly rugs and we both hate it. Have you ever tried global herbs pestoban/footstamp? Its more for mites but I know a lady who swears it gives them relief from sweetitch and it defanatly helps my boy who only mildly suffers. You mix it with water. I wet him first then pour the mixture on and really rub it in to all the bad bits and leave him to dry but you have to keep them out of direct sunlight so I just put flyrug back on. Might be worth a try?
 
I spray the rug with a diluted clothes softener mixture. just using cheap tesco basic softener 1 part to approx 3 part water. works very well although not a complete solution
 
I have rubber mats in my stable and always stoodles my mare inside to remove the boett rug. I also used to work from the tail end and fold the rug towards the head a few times before taking it over her head.
 
maresmaid said:
I have rubber mats in my stable and always stoodles my mare inside to remove the boett rug. I also used to work from the tail end and fold the rug towards the head a few times before taking it over her head.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^ this

My daughter's old pony had terrible static from his boett too. and I did the same as above, stand on rubber mats, and fold slowly from his bottom towards his head.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone - will look into your ideas, hopefully something will make the experience a bit more pleasant for us both! Haven't heard of the global herbs supplement but will go and google it as their supplements seem to work really well - he was on the skratch one last year which helped a bit. We don't have rubber matting at the moment but have been considering getting some, so will add this to the "pro matting" list ;)
Thanks again x
 
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