Rug Starter Kit

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Jo!!!

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Hi, I’m looking to get my first horse soon (a warmblood type for reference), and I was hoping someone could give me essentially a written ‘rug starter kit’

By that I mean what are the essential ‘must have’ rugs you’d recommend buying.

Thanks
 
It entirely depends on the horse you buy, some warmbloods will need generous rugging while others can be quite tough. But I would start with a really good quality (high denier) 50g turnout, with liners that you can add inside as necessary. That way the inside of the rug never gets grotty. Plus a spare TO to rotate into if the first one ever gets epically soaked or muddy. There are plenty of good brands but they all vary a bit in shape / fit, so again it depends on the exact horse you end up with.
I also find a fleece quite useful when washing, travelling etc, but other than that, you don't need loads of rugs. Most livery yards will leave a horse in their TO when they come into the stable - modern turnout rugs are very breathable so leaving them on the horse when stabled is a good way to get the rug properly dry and (assuming the waterproofing has worked) ensure the horse stays in a warm rug when confined to a box and unable to move around to get warm.
 
- A good sweat wicking cooler for travelling, after riding and as a layer
- A sheet for when it’s too warm to properly rug but too cold to leave naked/you don’t want them getting filthy (e.g) a sunny but cool autumn day
- A 100g. This combined with the cooler underneath and the sheet over the top will likely do you all winter
- A 200g for when it’s bloody cold/you have a wimpy horse

I have never needed more rugs than this…

On rainy days the sheet goes over the 100g to keep the 100g dry, and is taken off to dry over night once he’s brought in. Slightly damp rugs are left on the horse to dry as there’s nothing worse than putting a wet rug on a horse in the morning. (You could of course get a second 100g but I find they take 3 light years to dry if not left on).
 
I'd say for starters:

• A fleece/scrim fleece (mine is fleece over back & mesh around the side)
• A lightweight summerweight Thermatex or similiar - I really my Rhinegold version
• Waterproof fly rug
• 0g high quality liner compatible turn out rug + potential spare
• 50g liner

Potentially plus a neck cover for the T/O rug - I much prefer detachable neck rugs.

If clipped or a finer type then a 100g liner too.

My fully clipped native spends 99% of the time in some variation of this, although he does have other rugs which are nice to have, I could eadily get by without them.

I keep T/O on in the stable so don't need stable rugs :)
 
Jo!!! said:
Hi, I’m looking to get my first horse soon (a warmblood type for reference), and I was hoping someone could give me essentially a written ‘rug starter kit’

By that I mean what are the essential ‘must have’ rugs you’d recommend buying.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Is the horse clipped?
My basics are a no fill, 100g, 200g, 350g and a fleece. I like to have a spare of 100g, 200g and 350g ideally on case of damage or an extreme night (the rugs were all soaked on thursday morning and i swapped everyones) but looking at my storage, i may have a few too many.....
 
if i lost all my rugs tomorrow, the first ones i’d be replacing would be no fills, 50g turnouts, 50g stables, and a fleece - i like the ones that have lining round the shoulders so they don’t pull back, weatherbeeta are good for that. i couldn’t live without my drirug now either, but i do think that’s horse dependant - wouldn’t bother with one for diva, but lily wears it a lot.

2x fly rugs, because they get so gross, and one with a waterproof lining over the back - gamechanger for summer showers when you want to ride!

i have 2 welshes but they’re fully clipped, but i honestly rarely pull out the 200g rugs - i think it’s worth getting a 100g rug & liner for how little they get used for me personally.
 
As others have said, it really depends on horse type, clip etc, but as a starter, I’d go:

Turnouts:
- I don’t like no-fills so wouldn't get one
- 50g t/o with removable neck but 1200d or above
- 50g liner for above or below
- 150/200g t/o with removable neck
- maybe a few spares while the weather is so awful!

Indoor:
- A really decent cotton sheet that doesn’t slip and get tight. I really like the Mark Todd Universal Sheet.
- A lightweight stable rug
- M/W stable rug
- Thermatex or wool rugs are invaluable in many situations

Think about what you can layer, rather than buying every weight possible :)
 
dottylottie said:
if i lost all my rugs tomorrow, the first ones i’d be replacing would be no fills, 50g turnouts, 50g stables, and a fleece - i like the ones that have lining round the shoulders so they don’t pull back, weatherbeeta are good for that. i couldn’t live without my drirug now either, but i do think that’s horse dependant - wouldn’t bother with one for diva, but lily wears it a lot.

2x fly rugs, because they get so gross, and one with a waterproof lining over the back - gamechanger for summer showers when you want to ride!

i have 2 welshes but they’re fully clipped, but i honestly rarely pull out the 200g rugs - i think it’s worth getting a 100g rug & liner for how little they get used for me personally.
Click to expand...

Agreed, the absolute minimum for me would be the no fill & 50gr turnouts and probably a 100gr stable and a fleece. You could use the fleece or stable rug as under rugs if necessary (news flash, when layering the under rug does not need to be attached to the outer rug, you just need the under rug to be no bigger than the outer rug if using under a turnout, remember it used to be recommend that you had turnouts one size bigger than indoor rugs). Neck covers are unnecessary IMO so not a priority but more than one turnout is absolutely necessary in case one gets waterlogged or trashed.
 
Before buying expensive rugs - I would start with either cheaper or second hand rugs (you are going to want spares anyway). As every horse/ rug brand is different. You want to be happy a rug isn't going to rub when worn regularly, whether your horse or its fieldmates are rug rippers, and what you actually use. Possibly see if you can negotiate with seller for some of rugs to come with the horse.
 
Definitely go for rugs that have liners! You can wash them in a normal machine and mean you don’t need loads of different rugs. Get decent ones - I love horseware and they have lasted for years. Then you can just layer up!
To get you started- turnout rug, stable rug with a couple of liners (horseware liners work with both stable and turnout), and a cooler which you can use when it’s warm and for travelling. Echo what Andrew said- secondhand decent brands will last a long time
 
I would say find out what his current owners rugging regime is as that will give you a good insight as what you need. But as you asked for a list this is what I would do:

50g Turnout
100g Turnout
200g Turnout
300g Turnout
100g Stable Rug
Fleece
Cooler

The above is the bare minimum and I always like to have spares, so I aim to have two of each rug, so that I can swap out if the weather is awful x Personally I avoid neck turnout rugs as find these rub my boys, so I tend to go for either half neck turnouts or no necks at all x My horses are quite narrow in front so I find that Premier Equine, Shires and Horseware Rhino Wug's fit the best (although worth noting that the Premier Equine and Horseware rugs aren't the cheapest, but I believe in buy once only :) ) x
 
I think the first thing to do is establish if where you are keeping the horse will do rug changes! Unless you are going DIY of course. Assuming you are not keeping at home? The number of yards I’ve been at where they do not do rug changes (even full livery!) is baffling…

If they don’t then you’re better off with a turnout rug with liners, a fleece type cooler rug and possibly a spare 0g rug. No point in investing in stable rugs etc if they won’t change them out of the turnouts x
 
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For turnout have two of whatever weights you buy,then you have a dry one to put on in very wet weather or a spare incase one is trashed
 
I have more rugs than I would like to count and the only ones that ever see the light of day and actually get used are:

- A decent well fitting fly-rug
- Basic fleece cooler/sheet
- A thicker wicking Thermatex type rug (e.g. Weathebeeta thermocell) super useful for leaving on overnight when it's chilly and you need to dry them off
- A lightweight showerproof 0g with no neck just for keeping them dry and clean when the weather is mild but still a bit rubbish (I love the HW Mio ones as they are super lightweight)
- A more substantial higher Denier combo 0g with neck for when it's really peeing it down
- A 50g or 100g turnout for unclipped ones when the temps drop in winter and they basically live in this rug. The poor doers or clipped ones likewise live in a 200g turnout.
- A 100g stable rug for when it's chilly at night but too warm during the day to stick them in a 100g turnout 24/7.

If horse is grey or coloured - a sweet-itch rug is also a very useful addition for keeping them somewhat clean overnight before a show 😉

I do have on standby spare turnouts if they come in sodden and I take them off to ride as I don't like putting a soaking wet rug back on, but generally prefer them to come in and keep rug on for a couple of hours first so it dries if I can help it!

I have a million lovely stable rugs, never use them unless I happen to have one on box rest :oops:
 
As others… find out if your yard does rig changes. If not you’re throwing your money away on stable rugs. But for this time of year:

No fill t/o
50g t/o
100g t/o
200 g t/o

Worth getting second hand if possible, and ideally different brands. You will soon figure out what brands fit and which aren’t so good.

If available I’d also try and find a 300-400g t/o second hand.

If yard change stable rugs… right now I’d invest in a 200g and a 400g.

Some form of cooler rug will also be useful.
 
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