My horse ripping his rugs. Driving me mad!

ktj1891

ktj1891

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Any suggestions how to stop him doing it?
He started last winter doing it to his stable rugs and now hes moved onto his fly rug.
I will be mega annoyed if he does it to his turnout rugs.
I have used NAF no bite and it does seem to work but I have to use it all the time, which just isnt ideal.
Help?
 
One of mine does this to his turnout rugs it maddening ,
He grabs hold of the front and reserves round and round the field in a Rolkur position for hours and hours it's bizarre and expensive he does not appeared distressed ,he also helps his friends undress in all weathers.
 
Mine has done it in front of me on a few occasion. It took great restraint not to fly at him. Any suggestions though please?
 
Why don't you just take his rugs off? Horses did manage before rugs came along and maybe he feels really uncomfortable in it. If it is wet he won't melt and if it's cold he can charge about to keep warm if he's cold. What sort of horse is he?
 
He is TB so its a no go. And in general he wears rugs as little as possible as hes a very hot horse.
But summer theres no way he cant wear a fly rug and winter when hes clipped theres no way he cant wear stable/turnout rug.
I have had him two years nearly now and the first winter he never did it, hes just started doing it this winter.
 
Is he perhaps itchy? Sometimes making sure they always have 15mins or so without, ideally in the field for a good roll twice a day can help. Obviously that isn't always practical, in which case a good brush can help. Also check rug is well fitted & not annoying him. Failing that, he's just a rug wrecker, some are. In which case invest in a repair kit so you can do daily small ones before the rug is in pieces. And keep an eye out for battered second hand replacements. No point spending much if he trashes them.
 
littlelegs said:
Is he perhaps itchy? Sometimes making sure they always have 15mins or so without, ideally in the field for a good roll twice a day can help. Obviously that isn't always practical, in which case a good brush can help. Also check rug is well fitted & not annoying him. Failing that, he's just a rug wrecker, some are. In which case invest in a repair kit so you can do daily small ones before the rug is in pieces. And keep an eye out for battered second hand replacements. No point spending much if he trashes them.
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Hes not an itchy horse really. He does get very hot and sweaty though when rugged up. Hence he only wears rugs where he has to and normally less that more.
 
Someone at my local tack shop recommended chilli powder/similar instead of the expensive equine anti-chew products but I have never tried it- my horse rips his rugs on objects rather than with his teeth, I have now given up and the little horror can get eaten by the midges!
 
It's just plain cruel to over rug!

Imagine yourself being made to wear a thermal vest and longjohns, then being thrown out into the desert with your hands tied behind your back. It would be called torture!

Try him without rugs just for a few days as a good tester and see how he gets on, he won't die,.....Promise;):)
 
I second if he is hot and sweaty he is overrugged and you will make him sick! I would have him unrugged and adjust your clip in winter to just a neck and bib clip? and if hes cold put a rug on and see if he tolerates it. Regarding flies in summer, perhaps just stable him while flies at their worst?X
 
I tried turning mine out in a no fill out door rug in Febuary he's was fully clipped and slim and fit he still did it , but came in freezing !
I really think mine started when he was bored he had been very busy working going places twice a week and came into a quiet time, I am very careful about over rugging here but agree that is a likely trigger .
I have thought about cradles and things like that but think that's likely to end in tears and a vets bill .
 
The yard I work on has a rug ripper. He is also quite a warm horse so we deliberately under rug him in the winter so he isnt ever hot, just warm and make sure he has access to hay 24/7.
He is the sort of horse that will rip and tear at anything so the rug ripping is just part of his character, we find that Amigo 1200d and Premier Equine are about the only rugs he cant rip, although he still tries!
Chilli powder IMO is cruel, use cribox if you must, or just dont rug, TB's are more than capable of wintering unrugged.
 
I dont know why everyone has jumped on me over rugging him. Yes on occasions he's been over rugge but we can't always predict the weather. He is hardly rugged at all. He wears a fly rug when out as he needs to as we have lots of horse flies and he gets bitten bad. When he's been in all this summer from the rain he's worn nothing. I can't not rug or clip him in winter as he's work 5/ days a week and is very sweaty horse after exercise too. He windsucks and doesn't carry weight well so needs some sort of rugs on. I think his ripping stems from boredom but also he windsucks so it's just another thing to grab hold of. That's why I am asking for some ideas to deter this such as sprays. He has gotten sweaty from being over rugged but it's not been done on purpose he's just been hotter that expected. He's hardly rugged up
Compared to a lot of tb I know.
 
ktj1891 said:
I dont know why everyone has jumped on me over rugging him. Yes on occasions he's been over rugge but we can't always predict the weather. He is hardly rugged at all. He wears a fly rug when out as he needs to as we have lots of horse flies and he gets bitten bad. When he's been in all this summer from the rain he's worn nothing. I can't not rug or clip him in winter as he's work 5/ days a week and is very sweaty horse after exercise too. He windsucks and doesn't carry weight well so needs some sort of rugs on. I think his ripping stems from boredom but also he windsucks so it's just another thing to grab hold of. That's why I am asking for some ideas to deter this such as sprays. He has gotten sweaty from being over rugged but it's not been done on purpose he's just been hotter that expected. He's hardly rugged up
Compared to a lot of tb I know.
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My intention wasn't to accuse you of over rugging, It's just in my opinion if he feels all hot (as you told us he has) then he will want the rug off, and it may stem from this. If you want to clip him for work, you could try just clipping the underside of his neck and between his front legs? clipping can also cause horses to lose weight as they need to use their fat for heat. If you need to rug then ermmmmmm dunno lol.... try the rug someone before me suggested that her rug ripper can't rip! X
 
I had some of that fab spray to stop my horse eating things he wasn't supposed to - a white bottle with green lettering. Even used it to stop the pup chewing furniture (added bonus, after using it, I temporarily stopped biting my nails ) x

"No Bite" was it ?
 
Whether its deliberate or not, or not as bad as others, if he's too hot then that's why he does it. And too hot for a horse is long before they start sweating. In your shoes, i'd ditch the fly rug, you can use spray & he'll plaster himself in mud for protection. Between now & Nov, I'd leave him unclipped & unrugged, even if he lives out 24/7. Provided he has access to forage, he'll manage, eating is a horses main way of keeping warm. Then, & only then when the habits broke would I start lightly rugging, & if unsure of which, under instead of over rugging. Only then would I clip, for the work he's in its possible to manage short term. Some horses are like Goldenstars, & wreck them whatever, but first you have to eliminate a cause.
 
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