I desperately need a rug that doesn't cause wither rub.. Help!

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kit279

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My grey TB horse got a really nasty wither rub from his full neck winter turnout rug in March - it has healed up now but only just and when I put his lightweight rain sheet on, that seemed to be starting it all off again. I will leave him without a rug until the last possible minute but can anyone suggest a turnout rug for a horse with very high narrow pointy withers that won't rub him? He's not the type to be able to go all winter without one unfortunately.

Any suggestions? When he puts his neck down to graze, the rugs seem to rest exactly where the rub is.
 
Maybe you need one with a deeper chest area so when he grazes it doesn't press down/rub on the area thats just healed? Try and get one with a nylon lining as they dont rub. I find Weatherbeeta (as they are quite wide), Amigo and JHL are good. My TB hasn't had rubs from any of them. They all have silky/soft lining that just slides over their skin. My JHL is a heavy weight turnout with neck. Maybe you should try that?

Another option is to get an anti rub bib and put it under his rugs. Heres an example.

http://www.intackshop.co.uk/anti-rub-bib-p-565.html

That should work quite well and then try anyone of the above rug companies as I find they work for my TB.

Good luck,

Laura and Pete.
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Thanks for that - just to say that he wore an anti rub bib all winter and still managed to get a wither rub. The rub itself was more like a pressure sore that a true rub - he pulled the scab off a month after his rugs came off and it left an open wound for ages.
 
i'd have a look at a WUG or similar which doesn't have a seam at the wither, which has the material continuing in 1 piece to half way up the neck. hope you can see what i mean.
i've used FAL HW turnouts for years, horses turned out 24/7 in them, and they have never rubbed like that. the odd bit of mane's got a bit thin but never anything worse. however, they do have a seam at the neck, and i think you need to avoid this completely.
 
Sounds like you are using combos which all put pressure on the wither and then with the movement it effectively 'saws' off the skin.

You need to go back to standard rugs to stop this happening.
 
I use the Mark Todd combo rug with the attached neck. It has extra room at the withers so it does not make contact even when their head is down grazing. I had the detachable on the year before and it was terrible. Tried to stop the damage with a bib but it made it even worse. The Bucas Irish turn out with the full neck is good too. Anything with no seams and a good lining should really help.
 
I had a customer years and years ago with the same problem with one of her T/breds, poor horse was bleeding badly from the sore that had generated from all sorts of rugs they had tried on her. So, thinking caps on, I took one of her very old knackered saddles, removed the top half (the tree, seat,flaps etc) and used the panel. I took the girth straps off the top half and stitched them onto the sweat flaps of the panel. Then I got the metal work from a anti cast roller and made pockets on the panel and fitted it to it.
The result was somewhat weird looking but the idea was, the panel saddle as I named it girthed up on the horse in usual place. the rug was then draped over the top of the anti cast roller metal work on the top of the panel saddle and attached underneath to it via velcro. It looked a bit like a tent but kept the horse dry and the rug off the sore and the horse could not get down and roll on the sores either, job done, it worked!
You have to use a slightly deeper rug to compensate the height of the anti cast roller.
Oz
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