Do silver fly rugs act like foil and cook the horse?

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DubbleTrubble

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I've just bought my horse a silver fly rug and read the blurb beforehand that said the rug was a silver colour to reflect the sun's rays and keep the horse cool.

So I thought "Oo that's good" and bought one on line.

Put it on my horse yesterday afternoon and went back at 8am this morning to check all OK and found he was boiling hot and sweated up under the rug, even though it was only 8am and not that hot yet.

D'ya think I have any chance of sending it back for a refund? :o

What are other people's experience? Do the white ones do the same? I've never used a fly rug before so am unsure. :confused:

Having said all this, my horse is a bit of a numpty and likes to stand in full sun instead of in the shade with his friends, so that won't have helped. :D
 
I just bought my boy a fly rug he is a chunky dark bay cob so not a cool colour there isn't a lot of shade in his paddock and he doesn't even have sweaty armpits and the first couple of days I checked 3 times. The one I bought is the amigo mio bronze rug.
 
IME yes they do. I have in the past found both my dark coloured horses white & frothy under so called 'reflective' fly rugs.

I don't use them any more. Instead I use the airflow cotton type sheets.
I'm currently using the Mark Todd Cotton Mesh Combo, but have also used the KoolCoat by weatherbeeta in the past
 
Really liked the Bucas Sun Shield but given how boiling its been wouldn't have used it. Horses are coming in without any rugs sweaty so think ANY kind of rug at the moment will only add to this.
 
I have tried a few different fly rugs and my horse has sweated under every one. Now I just cover her in fly spray and she wears a fly mask.
 
IME horses are cooler in fly rugs, especially if they are a dark coloured horse. I go for white reflective rugs. Dark colours absorb heat.

I don't think it is the silver colour that has made your horse sweat OP. I think it must be the type of fabric. I have seven horses here, all in fly rugs and even on the hottest days, not one of them have been sweaty or hot in them.
 
A fly rug will not stop your horse getting hot if they stand in the sun all day with no shade.
Fly rugs help to keep your horse cooler and protect the skin/coat by reflecting the suns rays and stop your horse being bothered by flies which also make them spend all day trying to get away from them as well as being bitten.
if you are concerned about your horses temperature you should put him/her in a cool stable/shelter during the hottest part of the day if they do not have any shade in the field.
 
I have the amigo one and it seems to work really well, I lust after the zebra striped one, but only so I can make my horse look ridiculous :cool:
 
Oh poo, sounds like I may have bought a white elephant then. I think I'll send the company an exploratory e-mail and see what they say. :)

My horse doesn't stand in the sun all day with no shade available. He comes in 11ish til 5ish anyway and I wanted a fly rug for him to wear from 5pm to 11am to stop him being pestered by horse flies.
 
My chestnut horse was sweating under his white Musto, but very happy under his silver lightweight PE which was originally bought for a dark brown horse who really struggled with heat. The PE rug is quite stiff fabric but specifically designed for very hot weather. Happy so far.
 
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