High withered TB - rug recommendations

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Ginn

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I have a high withered TB who has unfortunately developed a big pressure sore on the highest part of her wither, approx 2inch long. Now obvious rub marks and then a great big chunk of dead skin dropped off yesterday leaving a nice open sore behind. Anyway - think we have treatment of that sorted!

So, we have identified what has caused the sore and it looks to be the result of her rugs pulling down on her wither whenever she purts her head down, the main culprit being a Weatherbeeta Joules Combo stable rug (which has also doubled up as an under rug all winter.

She has always worn weatherbeeta rugs as on the whole they fit her nicely but she has changed shape this year and has been in layered rugs (the above rug under a medweight WB landa combo) all winter which we think has compounded the problem...

I am going to have to replace a few rugs anyway so wondered what other people use on their high withered TBs, key factors being that she has a very high, wide wither and is VERY deep from wither to chest.

Looking online the rugs with a V front rather than going srtaight across at the front *should* be better as when she lowers her head (she is alway very giraffe like with her neck and leg length!) her neck will not push into the chest and thus shouldn't pull too much on the wither... Is this the case? Equally, the rug needs to be cut deep enough and loose enough to accomodate the wither...

Any ideas???
 
My lad where's Amigo at the minute. He has a liner and a heavy weight stable on and this is enough for him, he does have a weatherbeeta orican (old style) heavy turnout on with the HW liner and this hasn't caused any rubs. He was wearing a derby house stable combo under his weatherbeeta turnout and that rubbed his shoulders and wither. He is what I would describe as a Denman build.
 
Thanks. Will look at the Amigos. Ironically she has an old (approx 6 years old) DH stable rug that is lovely and loose on the wither, its just neither warm enough nor fits her well elsewhere! Typical. Shoulders have always previously been an issue but this year have been OK *rollseyes*. I think its her depth, narrowness and wither combined that are causing the problem. We went through her full rug collection last night and discovered there are only 3 which, if you place your hand between the rug and the wither, are not rediculously tight when she puts her head down... But I think having full necks and the the fact she "leans" into the chest is part of the cause...

Hmm, well atleast rug shopping is atleast something which I enjoy, just need to find the right one!
 
I've found rhino wugs are good. I've never had probs with other horsewear rugs or premier equines rugs. In the stable I've used tredstep,weatherbeeta & horsewear without a prob,& use them with a weatherbeeta full neck under rug. Mine got badly rubbed years ago & I sewed a nuumed sheepskin pad into a cotton rug bib which worked. For many years now I use a bossy's bib under all rugs & never have a problem,mines very high withered & I wonder if the silky material helps the rugs just slip over the withers & not rub?
 
I've always found Weatherbeeta a good fit on TB. Including one who had a wither like a sharks fin and massive shoulders.

I've noticed WB seem to have hiked up their prices so I bought some Shires stable rugs for the current TB (again, withers and big shoulders) and they are a good fit. As a bonus they were on sale at Hope Valley Saddlery site.

Rambo & FAL were also a good fit but at that time I couldn't fault the value for money that WB provided alongside a good fit.
 
Well for the stable I have opted for an Amigo out of the few that were available in 500g+. Fortunately found one on sale too! Im going to try her in an old WB for turnout (just need to do a few repairs) but will look at above suggestions for when weather gets warmer. Thank you
 
If you need to "lower" the chest strap pressure height as a quick fix to prevent downward drag on withers, cross the two straps and fasten as an X shape.
Alternatively, removing the upper chest strap and re-attaching it lower down can work well.
Best makes I've had for Tbs include Rambo (Wug / Plus models with 'V' front closures), Shires, and Axiom.

Also found it helps to have slippery feel linings as these seem to drag a lot less on my Tbs.
 
Had same prob with two of ours horses, one a very high withered tb - highly recommend the FAL rugs.

Not one rub and last years and years very good quality rugs.
 
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