HELP!!! Keep giving my horses an electric shock!

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SW66

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Everytime I take the fly rugs of either of my horses I give them both an electric shock! :eek:

I have started to wear gloves as this seems to help a little but yesterday when I brought them in from the field it seemed particulary bad.

Anyone got any ideas how to stop it from happening as the pair of them are now getting quite apprehensive at having their rugs taken off?

(PS not having rugs on isn't an option as both are thin skinned TB's & can get bitten quite bad).

Thanks :)
 
I get this as well! Its horrible isnt it! scares the life out of the horse and me!

What i do is undo all the straps and everything, then stand well away from him at the side or slightly to the back, whip the rug of - as you do it, you can hear all the static crackle! but make sure you don't touch the horse! Then put the rug to one side, and then go and earth yourself by touching the side of the stable; brick or wood, or touch the floor...
Also try to avoid wearing nylon / woolly clothes when sorting your ponies out,

I find this works every time for me now, maybe it will for u too!
 
What are you wearing on your feet? Is it the same thing each time you have a problem? I have a pair of boots with quite thick rubber soles, every time i wear them I get bad static shocks, they act as a kind of insulator so you are not earthed.
 
Does earthing yourself really work?
I brought my horse in the other day and he was so static! No rug but his tail looked like he had been shocked! Lord knows what he had been up to.
Anyway he made me static and then eveytime I touched him we got a shock but also everytime I touched anything I got a shock. Horrid! I tried to earth myself by touching the ground but it didn't work?!
My friends tried to earth my horse by rubbing a rubber bucket over him but that didn't help either lol.
It was very strange!
 
Thanks hayleyshep88 - I'll give that a go tonight . :)

Optimist - usually have my hunter wellies on but will try with my jodphur boots on to see if that makes a difference. :)
 
I used to get this a lot with my TB mare. I found that using a cotton sheet under her rugs stopped it (obversly not possible with a fly sheet tho, i used a Shires fly sheet and didnt have a problem) Maybe try not brushing your horse with a nylon brush as this might charge his coat. The rug rubbing on his coat might also charge his coat too so could try washing him with something to de-charge his coat if thats possible. As already mentioned, experment with clothing and footwear.
 
I have this too, only with my TB mare though!

I have to be careful when Im grooming her not to put my hand on her or we get a wallop, then I get 'the look' :o
 
What gloves do you wear? My wee sister kept getting shocks when grooming so she now weres those wee latex gloves and doesnt have any problems. Thinks its because rubber doesnt conduct electricity?!!
 
What about damping the rug down first with a spray like the hairdresser uses? Or buy some tumble drier sheets and rub the top of the rug with them first?
 
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