My mare hates her rug

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hellsbells170

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Hi there,

i am hoping someone on here has experience with this. My mare hates having her rug on. Or rather she doent mind having it on but is frightened with it on.

I bought 'Maybe' (11yo tb/warmblood mare), about 5-6 weeks ago. It was still warm so she was turned out without a rug for a few days before we had that awful rain.. She seemed to settle in fine but when i put a lightweight turn out on her she turned into a different horse. She allowed me to put the rug on but once it was on she would just stand by the gate only grazing the small area around her. Tempting her off the area doesnt work and trying to lead her to another part of the field (whie her rug is on) is impossible, she is very strong and will whip the lead rope out of my hand. I am very confident and have had horses for 15 years but havent come accross anything like this.

We have two large paddocks and when she is in the other, 'bottom' one she stands in the top most corner which although not near the gate is the highest part as the fields is on a gentle slope. When i take her rug off it takes her a few minutes to register this and she bombs off at top speed accross the field for about 5 minutes which is quite alarming but then settles down. She does a similar thing when her t/o goes on in the field, after a few minutes she bombs off at a gallop to her 'corner' which now is a muddy swamp.

She has plenty of space so i have no idea why she is confining herself when her rug is on. In her last home she was stabled at night but usually only in Winter. According to her last owner though this Summer was an exception as she (the owner) was injured and 'Maybe' had to go on full livery and be stabled at night.

In addition i took her out for the first time last saturday after giving her few weeks to settle and she was very wound up, jogging most of the way. I visited her in her previous home three times before i bought her and took my horse other over there a couple of time to hack out with Maybe and her prev. owner. She was very well behaved there so i have no idea what is upsetting her now. My only thought is that it was harvest around the time she arrived and she was upset by the machinery in the surounding fields but i would have thought she'd be over it by now. I have spoken to her owner who says she tried to put a fly rug on her in the summer and she stopped grazing but hadnt happened previously. She suggests i just dont rug her untill its bitter but i would rather get her used to having her rug on now and also it has been quite chilly/torrential rain. We are having our stable roof replaced so i will be bringing her in at night soon which i hope may help but i worry that during the day she will just waitb by the gate with her rug on.

I'd be very gratefull for any advice. Sorry for the essay, im just at my wits end!

Thanks, Helen
 
Is Maybe quite fit?

If so a few weeks off can make some horses a bit energetic, try riding her in the school a few times. Plus, first time out at a new place she won't have seen where you were riding her before so she will have a bit of a jig and a spook. Did you take her out in company?

Also are you still in contact with the previous owner? Is she approachable? I had a few issues and I just contacted her and she was more than happy to point me in the right direction?

Do you know if she has been rugged before? Does the previous owner know her full history?
 
Apparently my new horse does that, I think she thinks rugs are some sort of straight jacket! Luckily she is a haflinger so can probably go without but will benefit from a flyrug in summer so I will watch this thread with interest!

Maybe you could just try putting the rug on for like an hour at a time while she is fed etc, and try to get her to move a few steps. How is she when you put just a fleece on her? Some of them don't have leg straps so was wondering if it is the 'blanket' part or the leg straps etc. You could see if she will move with just a blanket draped over her!

As for the jogging she is probably just unsettled and doesn't know the area yet so just do some short hacks in safe areas :-)
 
My mare hates one of her fleece rugs and threatens to flatten me if I go near her with it. The reason my girl hates this one particular rug is because it usually ends up static and she gets a little shock when I take it off, luckily she seems to somehow recognise its only the one rug that does it so is happy in all her others.

Couldn't say if your girl feels the same but I find fly rugs generate static (don't use them on my mare at all, I value my life...) but if she has felt that sensation when wearing a rug and disliked it she might think all rugs will make her feel like that?

I doubt that would affect the rest of het behaviour but could be a reason behind the rug part.
 
personally i would put a rug on and then leave it on until she didnt stand in the corner. i would put her some feed and hay just out of her comfort area each day and let hunger override the negative feeling/s of the rug.

i think the more you do want she wants then you will only reinforce her behaviour ie taking the rug off only when she is in the one spot.

i know this isnt everyones cup of tea but its what i would do
 
Thanks for all your inputs. Her old owner is approachable but hasn't come across this behaviour with her. She is going to contact the owner before her and see if she has any idea. She is coming over tomorrow to see Maybe.

I took her out on a ride (in company) today which went really well. She was forward going but not as wound up as last time. I put her rug on in the yard afterwards which she was fine with and lead her back to the field. Approaching the field she was very alert and ignoring the treats i offered her. I needed to put her in the bottom paddock which is accessed through the top one but not even half way down the top paddock she yanked the rope from my hand and galloped back to the gate. She was trying to barge through it as if she wanted to go back to the yard? It took ages of being very firm and her spinning around me on the rope but i wrestled her down to the bottom where she stood by that gate. I have been keeping her rug on as i do with my other horse this time of year and taking it off only on warm days thinking she'd get over it or get hungry but she hasn't broken her habit. She is grazing but only in a small area where she feels safe.
Thanks for all your suggestions-i will try anything!
 
It seems to me that she is giving you an extremely clear message that she doesn't want to wear the rug. Listen to her! It really won't hurt for her to be out without the rug. Later on, when it gets really cold and wet, you could try again and see if she accepts it. But even then, the chances are that she will be happy without it.
 
Have you tried other brands of rugs on her? Perhaps she feels this one restricts her shoulders?

When leading her perhaps have a lunge line attached so she can't break loose from you.
 
I have tried her with other types of rug but will give a fillet string a go instead of leg straps. I don't think the rug is really the issue though as her last owner rugged her last winter with no issues. Sadly she isn't the type of horse to be able to live out without a rug over winter. Most days i take it off unless its torrential rain but id really like to get her settled with it now rather than tackle this when the weather is much worse.
I think the problem is that she is afraid of being turned out, probably because of the harvesting when she arrived and for some reason the rug exacerbates this fear. I had just hoped she might have improved after 5 weeks but its not getting any better.
 
What about fencing her off a smaller area with one other horse for company and gradually increasing the size of the electric fencing?
 
I did have 1 TB mare a number of years ago that would NOT tolerate leg straps on any rug - she froze to the spot & would not move.
She was so sensitive round her udder & surrounding area that tho she just tolerated grooming if done firmly & quickly, she did not cope with leg straps at all.

If were mine, I'd do 1 of 2 things:
a. Lob out with no rug at all till you are able to bring in at night or
b. Put a rug on with secure fillet string, front & belly straps & leave her to get over herself.

Good luck :)
 
I think the static therory is the most likely. As static builds the more the horse moves this would explain her behaviour. As another oster said, fly rugs are particularly bad for this and it is likely the horse thinks all rugs will be the same.
 
I find my Amigo rug indispensible, it is the lightweight, good fit on broad shoulders and a fillet string type of hind fastening, no leg straps and it has been fantastic, keeping rain off and wind, but is OK even on a cool sunny day.
 
Apart from the rug don't forget she's in a new environment and could be feeling little insecure as well.

Is the rug a new rug or has another horse worn it ?
 
I had thought of that, the first rug i put on her had been worn by my old gelding but i swapped it for one which had been been washed and proofed after that occurred to me. I think it is the new environment she doesn't like, possibly the layout of the field which is on a slope so she can see the farm fields with beaters, tractors etc rising up the other side. I just hope she will get used to it.
 
Hi Helen.
Long time between posts I know. Just wondering if you ever found a solution to your horses issue. My mare does exactly what you said in your post. I was scrolling through google and came across this.
 
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