Rug, blanket and elastic surcingle - does anyone still do this?!

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NeighBother

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I've just bought my first horse, my first since I was a youngster. I am beyond excited as you can imagine.

I've had a lovely time making a budget, doing spreadsheets and kitting him out. I've bought light and middleweight turnout rugs as he's clipped. It is mental how much more colourful and convenient things are these days. I sound ancient, but I'm in my 30s. Stuff just seems to have changed so fast.

As I've been feeling very nostalgic, I had a flashback to childhood when I'd rug my pony on freezing nights with a big blanket folded back and secured with a surcingle over a jute rug.

And I wondered if anyone still does this or has it gone out of fashion?! And are there any other things we used to do that people have abandoned, like thatching or making wisps!
 
I don't think I have used jute rugs and blankets for well over 25 years so am surprised that you remember rugging your pony like that, the modern rugs are so much easier to use and have been a major improvement for the horses that wear them as well as the people that put them on, I do still thatch occasionally as mine are bedded on straw so it is simple to put a layer on a cold wet horse then a rug on top but it is a long while since I made a wisp.
 
be positive said:
I don't think I have used jute rugs and blankets for well over 25 years so am surprised that you remember rugging your pony like that, the modern rugs are so much easier to use and have been a major improvement for the horses that wear them as well as the people that put them on, I do still thatch occasionally as mine are bedded on straw so it is simple to put a layer on a cold wet horse then a rug on top but it is a long while since I made a wisp.
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Maybe I just never moved with the times! My pony back then was on loan so he came with his own wardrobe. He had a NZ rug among his things! We did have to replace it with a smart new turnout eventually, it fell to bits. It had the proper old white buckles and turquoise fabric. Why were they always turquoise?!
 
OrangeAndLemon said:
A very long time ago when I was a kid, I remember doing this. Proper old style new Zealand rugs for turnout too.

I'm glad we've moved on from that. :)
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I have to say, seeing as I've already made myself sound ancient on here, I love the colourful things now. :D I used to long for the matching saddle cloths, sweatshirts and silks they always had in Horse & Pony magazine!
 
The idea is still around, but in the form of rug liners now, which all fit under one outer rug and come in various weights. I've finally swapped over to them and it makes life much easier!
 
I had green canvas new zealands, and navy/red stable rugs (the first of the modern materials). Jute stable rugs were sooo smelly, especially when the horse was bedded on straw.

I love all the modern materials now, its pretty easy to do any clip you want and rug appropriately with the horse still turned out as much as possible.

I also remember getting my first Musto fleece, before that it was sweatshirts and polo neck jumpers underneath in the winter, with a smelly waxed jacket (which stood up itself it was so manky) on the top.....

Fiona
 
Oh yes .... a lovely wet muddy New Zealand - so heavy you could barely lift it & yuk the smell of an old one 😆

When I had my beautiful old boy in the early 90s I loved his jute rug - never left it on as a stable rug though (had one of the blue & red types Fiona mentioned) used it as a cooler - did the job well - wool lining - very cosy & for extra drying I did thatch with straw 😀

Remember being very excited when I bought my first green Rambo - which led in hindsight to the rug addiction I seem to have now 🙈
 
I used to love layering the rugs, also putting a jute on and folding the front flaps back over the back to keep them warm while they dried off.
If it's any reassurance I'm in my 30s too and the very large yard I was on was still using some of these until I was a teenager, so only 20-25yrs ago. Things moved very fast - I remember going to buy my first synthetic turnout rug to replace a canvas NZ and that was my first pony, so only 24-25 yrs ago at the very most. Turned out that it wasn't ripstop and I spent hours and hours of my life sewing it back together as it shredded with the slightest nick!!
 
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