Rug Issues

[DressageCob]

My irritating little filly (bless her) got herself in a tangle with her fly rug. This rug has ear holes and a forelock hole, and somehow she managed to pull the whole thing over her eyes and got into a massive panic. It took me ages to get to her and pull the rug back. I managed to undo the neck completely but she was too upset to let me undress her fully.

Has this happened to anyone else? How do you stop it from happening? Going rugless isn't an option (itchy girl). I'm wondering whether a fly mask on top will stop the movement? Of course this all depends on when I can get close to her again. She's such a sharp little thing and pretty untrusting at times but hopefully she will have forgiven me tomorrow. thankfully she's cute.

 

[Amymay Again]

I'd never cover the head on a horse that's turned out. Just put a hoodless fly rug on or one with just a neck cover.

 

[dottylottie]

what about the snuggy hoods sweet itch heads, with a normal fly rug? then if she gets caught it’s just the head and it’ll come off.

there’s one on my yard who has a full sweet itch neck with the face, and he’s regularly mooching about with it all pulled down over his eyes, completely unphased until someone rescues him

 

[DressageCob]

what about the snuggy hoods sweet itch heads, with a normal fly rug? then if she gets caught it’s just the head and it’ll come off.

there’s one on my yard who has a full sweet itch neck with the face, and he’s regularly mooching about with it all pulled down over his eyes, completely unphased until someone rescues him

She was wearing one of those last week and pulled it over her eyes, going blind. So this rug mishap has happened about 48 hours after the sweet itch head episode. She’s a menace!

She’s been wearing this rug for about 6 weeks without issue and then this, so I’ve lost all confidence.

I think AmyMay’s suggestion of one without ear holes is the best way forward. I went for the ear holes to keep the rug up but maybe this one is too stretchy for that. I didn’t have this problem with the shires sweet itch rug, but that’s a heavy cotton type of fabric, while this is a close mesh (chosen to be cooler since she’s a woolly mammoth)

 

[Amymay Again]

what about the snuggy hoods sweet itch heads, with a normal fly rug? then if she gets caught it’s just the head and it’ll come off.

there’s one on my yard who has a full sweet itch neck with the face, and he’s regularly mooching about with it all pulled down over his eyes, completely unphased until someone rescues him

Why would you take the risk?

Ridiculous

 

[Surbie]

what about the snuggy hoods sweet itch heads, with a normal fly rug? then if she gets caught it’s just the head and it’ll come off.

It might. His previous home put one of those on my horse. It twisted round and he was blind and terrified. Destroyed post & rail fencing and a 5 bar wooden gate. How he got away with just scrapes is a miracle. I would never, ever use them.

I used the version that is the combined hood & neck for years and that is stable if properly fitted. I switched to the neck only when they added mesh to the eyes as that just seemed like an accident waiting to happen.

 

[DressageCob]

Yep I stupidly hadn't realised the masks could get pulled forward. It seemed like a safe, close fit. I was wrong and I won’t make that mistake again. The hood is sitting in my footwell now but it will go in the bin rather than sell it on. It’s a death trap. Thankfully I bought the zip version so it was easy to deconstruct to get off, but the rug was far harder. Again, I had never seen this happen and didn’t think it was possible but they are very skilled at getting into difficulty! All buckles still done up, again seemed close fitting and safe, and plainly not.

 

[Surbie]

I wish they were withdrawn from sale. Mine had the zip version too.

The only good thing is that I chopped out the ears to replace those on his flymask. Midges can get through the mesh on most masks' ears, but not through the Snuggy material.

 

[Foxford]

Oh no! Sorry to hear you've had issues. My previous horse had pretty bad sweet itch and it's very strange now having one without. Last summer I was the only one on my yard who wasn't in a fly rug (handling wasn't quite up to rugs by then). Unfortunately the horseflies were awful and I've bought him an amigo xl bug rug for when they get bad this year. I tried the non-chunky equivalent and he looked like an overstuffed sausage in it!

I know you didn't ask about this, but I found dietary stuff could really help in combination with the rug. I'd recommend giving mag ox and brewers yeast, if it's possible. Failing that, something long-acting like deosect might be useful? Good luck!

 

[dottylottie]

It might. His previous home put one of those on my horse. It twisted round and he was blind and terrified. Destroyed post & rail fencing and a 5 bar wooden gate. How he got away with just scrapes is a miracle. I would never, ever use them.

I used the version that is the combined hood & neck for years and that is stable if properly fitted. I switched to the neck only when they added mesh to the eyes as that just seemed like an accident waiting to happen.

oh wow, i’m sorry to hear that! i’ve always thought the full thing more likely to move - i had to cut the ears off one of my lycra hoods, as she kept pulling it over her face!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’d try a nicely fitting sheet, a decent brand. Cheap fly rugs are terrible for slipping imo.
No ear holes, absolutely no snuggy hood, imagine if she twisted that round.
I had one once who pulled a rug over his eyes and was literally running blind, luckily he’s tiny and old but was crashing into fencing and just totally lost his mind.
(I say luckily because a bigger fitter horse freaking out like that would have been through the fence and still running blind)

Look at something like an Aussie or Horseware fly rug. I think they stay in place well.

 

[TheMule]

This is why those, Lycra fly masks, turnout hoods etc are so lethal. It shouldn’t be long enough to reach the eyes anyway, but now you know it is, you'll have to swap to something without ears. I use one with ears but never actually put them through so it fastens up around the top of the neck and is plenty tight enough to stop it pulling down

 

[Birker2020]

Lari used to get very hot in rugs and they'd never last more than a few hours. He moults quite early, way before fly sheets were required so it wasn’t hair coming out. He's just a warm horse.

He has a lightweight no fill sheet on overnight because it's been 0c - 4c most nights and he's turned out overnight. So far since coming home he's been fine wearing it but as soon as it starts to look torn I will leave it off.

Some horses just get itchy or uncomfortable in a rug. At retirement they didn't bother with fly sheets so it feels so much easier now he's come home as I don't have to worry about him wearing one.

 

[Barton Bounty]

When this happened to BB I bought him the sweetitch rug which is a bit like jammies but it doesnt move at all! Then a separate fly mask.

 

[Tiddlypom]

With a youngster I’d try to manage itchiness with potions and lotions if possible. If there’s a pickle to be got into, a youngster will always find it.

The midges are currently a right pain here, too. My two older ladies were in and out of their field shelters last night trying to get relief from them, midgey activity being worse at dawn and dusk. They were in 50g turnouts due to the heavy rain forecast which arrived during the night as forecast.

 

[eggs]

I hate any hood type rug with a passion having seen them slip on a horse which then panicked more than once.

In your situation I would go for a rug with a neck cover and then use a separate fly mask if necessary.

 

[Beausmate]

This is why those, Lycra fly masks, turnout hoods etc are so lethal. It shouldn’t be long enough to reach the eyes anyway, but now you know it is, you'll have to swap to something without ears. I use one with ears but never actually put them through so it fastens up around the top of the neck and is plenty tight enough to stop it pulling down

The second day of wearing a lycra fly mask (only bought it because flies were getting under the mesh ones), it slipped round, got stuck to my horse's eyeball and caused permanent scarring. Response from the (well-known, large) manufacturer was "If you turn horses out in fields, they can rub on things and cause the mask to get damaged/slip".

Yep, avoid lycra masks. I had good results with the Horseware sweet itch hoody. But I did have to unpick the seam between the ears to get rid of the dart that was there. They seem to be more pointy warmblood poll shaped, than roundy cob poll shape!

 

[motherof2beasts!]

I have spent so much on fly rugs, all of which slipped/rubbed/failed, however I’ve found the cheapie Trojan gallop ones fit lovely!