Full neck rug rubbing mane. Any solutions?

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rmasterson

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My horse lives out full time and is clipped so needs a full neck during the colder months. I've tried all sorts of rugs, different brands etc and thought I had the solution with a roomier neck piece this year but unfortunately it's happened again and I've now a six inch section between the wither and the top of the crest where the mane is bitty and awful looking. I tried a hood with the head cut off but it just rolled up and down the neck and was useless. Has anyone solved this problem. Any ideas gratefully received.
 
I use a bossy bibs neck cover (though that does rub the underside of the neck! Can't win!). I make sure to wash it frequently (giving him a bare-neck day at the weekend) and use mane conditioner and comb out the mane every night if I can.

It's been fine all this winter - until this last month I let the routine slip, and it's started coming out. Could kick myself!
 
I have given up and now do not use rugs with necks. Even my horse with a clipped neck has stayed warm and not seemed to mind the rain etc. i have covered his mane with pig oil and it has stayed pretty clean. I would rather keep his mane then use a neck.
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Is it a combi rug or one with a detachable neck cover? I have found the detachable variety rub less than a combi, and when combined with daily application of Mega-Tek mane rebuilder mine haven't rubbed :)
 
Plait the mane. Saves my horse's mane.

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I'm struggling with this too. Mine have snuggy hoods but they still rub. I wash the hood regularly (about once every 1-2 weeks) and it seemed to help at first, but as soon as he started to moult it all fell out.

Washing the mane regularly and wiping the inside of the rug down with a baby wipe to remove any build up of grease every couple of days is supposed to help.

I also spray with conditioner every time I remove his hood (nearly every day) and use megatek about twice a week. It's growing back with the megatek but not quickly enough for the BRC champs at Hartpury in 3 weeks so we're attempting false plaits using some of his tail!

I'm the opposite to others though, I'd rather deal with a bit of missing mane than the state my grey horses get into without being covered from nose to tail in winter. I don't tend to do much at this time of year so it's not that big a deal.
 
My horse is hogged, but my friend plaits her mare's mane, and always keeps it every winter when everyone else's lose theirs! You have to start the plaiting early though (as soon as you put the rug on, not when it has already started falling out), if you leave it too late, the whole plait will fall out!
 
My pony gets sweet itch and is clipped in the winter to alleviate allergic itching too, he is rugged up nearly every day all year round in some sort of rug and has been for the last few years only having the odd rug-less day

he has kept his mane throughout and I am convinced this is because the mane is allowed to air at least once a day even if that is only while he eats or gets his hooves picked out. I also use mane conditioner or oil to reduce friction

its often suggested that when pulling a mane that hair comes out easier if the horse is warm and I think the link to friction of a rug combined with heat and lack of air is why manes rub out under full neck rugs
 
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A horse doesn't have to have a neck cover if it is clipped - they are a fairly recent innovation.

Having said that though I do think they are useful and also agree that the detachable ones seem to rub less than the fixed neck covers. It certainly helps to keep the neck cover clean so it is useful to have a spare so that it can be put on when the other is being washed.
 
lining every seam with lycra will help,and for my 3yo stallion(because he is a bit of an odd shape ATM, no real muscles at bottom of neck but getting a crest) ive had to sew a lycra covered big sponge in to the neck line of his turnout rug, to sit it up off the wither/mane area.

as people have said-keep everything scrupulously clean, and allow the mane to breathe. Ours wear detachable necks in field but have bare necks at night except in dec/jan.
 
I've also stopped using neck rugs because of this. At the moment my boy is only in a full neck during the day is its cold (and that's purely because I started using the full neck at the beginning of the winter, and don't want to dirty another!) Next winter, he won't have a full neck at all. Mine is also clipped, and he has been fine.
 
we use mane and tail conditioner so it is a bit slippy also keep rhem plaited loosely we have very little manr coming out with a full neck all winter.
 
My horse (24yo TB/WB) has Cushings and unfortunately as a result of some midge bites across his quarters in the summer, he ended up with rainscald coming into winter. He was clipped out as usual, but the vet suggested we cut right back on his rugging. At that point he was in a PE 200g turnout with detachable neck cover.

He's in at nights and goes out every day and lives in his turnout, so I put a 100g stable rug on him and then his lightweight PE Buster Lite turnout (no fill) with neck cover over the top.

It's worked really well - he hasn't faded away as I was worried he would, his rainscald/rug-rot has improved - and best of all, for the first time in years, he still has his mane! So it might be that he was over-heating previously - or possibly that the no-fill neck cover doesn't cause the pressure that the 200g/400g versions do?
 
I also hardly use neck rugs now only when its really freezing and really wet, I found that one of my horses rubs his mane if he constantly wears a neck cover so I think he gets too hot as he was worse when I put a thicker rug on after I clipped, so I put his thinner one back on and he seems to have stopped, so your horse could be rubbing the mane out himself it only takes a few days of rubbing for a section of it to go.
 
I feel your no mane pain! My spotty has a naturally fine almost not there mane. I never ever have to pull it!

Next winter I'm giving up and ditching any neck covers or bibs etc. I tried a mane bib thing, but didn't really work as well as I'd hoped.

I simply don't have enough time to do the whole keeping that part of the mane and rug and bib scrupulously clean every day at all costs thing.

I'm not precious about the mane itself, but I like to have something to plait with for dressage!
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
lining every seam with lycra will help,and for my 3yo stallion(because he is a bit of an odd shape ATM, no real muscles at bottom of neck but getting a crest) ive had to sew a lycra covered big sponge in to the neck line of his turnout rug, to sit it up off the wither/mane area.

as people have said-keep everything scrupulously clean, and allow the mane to breathe. Ours wear detachable necks in field but have bare necks at night except in dec/jan.
Click to expand...

should have been clearer if anyone was interested-i did one sponge on either side neck line, so 2 total, gap in middle raised up off neck/mane.
 
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