Rug Wrecker

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Replay

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My 4yr old is a serial wrecker of his field companions rugs. If I separate them he just jumps the fence to rejoin....! At the moment the companion is in wrecked heavyweight (held together with duct tape) with still waterproof lightweight on top, but it is only a matter of time before the lightweight goes the way of the past 3 rugs. Does anyone spray their rugs with chilli or similar to prevent this behaviour? Does it work?
 
watching this post with interest my horse shares a field with a rug wrecker, (different owners) I would like ideas on how to stop the rug wrecking
 
I tend to find they do it out of boredom and a lot of fields now are low on tasty grass, the field full of geldings next to me tend to be worse in the afternoon when they get hungry and fed up, I must admit I have never seen so many wrecked rugs they all seem to do it in this field, another thing that makes me think it's lack of grass is they have split the field this year which they have never done before and they seem worse for it.
 
Gosh i know for a fact i would point blank refuse to share a field with a rug wrecker- out of interest do you pay for repairs/ replacements? The only thing i can think off is a grazing muzzle if separation is not possible which is obviously not ideal or sharing with a horse that does not need rugs. At 4 he is still wanting to play, hopefully he will grow out of it ( sorry i know that's not much help!)
 
Thanks. They are both mine and I keep them at home, so destroyed rugs are all mine. I have tried to keep them in neighbouring fields, but the young horse likes to jump ... Grazing muzzle is an idea, as they are only out by night at this time of year and there is nothing in the grass.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I tend to find they do it out of boredom and a lot of fields now are low on tasty grass, the field full of geldings next to me tend to be worse in the afternoon when they get hungry and fed up, I must admit I have never seen so many wrecked rugs they all seem to do it in this field, another thing that makes me think it's lack of grass is they have split the field this year which they have never done before and they seem worse for it.
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It's a gelding thing unfortunately. Having run a yard for 22 years, it's ALWAYS the geldings that come in with ripped rugs, I don't think it's anything to do with boredom personally as ours seem to get rugs ripped at all times of the year even when they have grass in abundance! Could possibly just me our yard though of course! OP I have in the past, sprayed liquid cribox on mine in strategic places which definitely seems to help. Also what some of the others have done is put an old knackered lightweight over the top, this also has worked well. Good luck finding a solution, it will depend how determined your lad is!
 
My rug tearer is 17 and although he less destructive than he was he still is at it .
He destroys his own rugs and other people's.
It's very very frustrating I cant buy expensive rugs anymore the PE ones seem to do the best but he goes through the hoods however the Velcro gives on them before the rugs give way .
He is least bad when he's in work so there's hope yours will be better when he got a job to do.
 
Replay said:
My 4yr old is a serial wrecker of his field companions rugs. If I separate them he just jumps the fence to rejoin....! At the moment the companion is in wrecked heavyweight (held together with duct tape) with still waterproof lightweight on top, but it is only a matter of time before the lightweight goes the way of the past 3 rugs. Does anyone spray their rugs with chilli or similar to prevent this behaviour? Does it work?
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Sadly you will either have to wait till he grows up or put him in adjacent field or put toys in the field or licks or haynets to keep him occupied.,
 
We have a hormonal gelding (convinced he's a stallion) who has just had to come out of the mixed herd in our yard due to his rug wrecking antics. He's very unpopular with the owners of 2 other young geldings and a number of mares who he thinks are in love with him. Currently on the naughty step in his box.

Neck covers are a prime target for hanging onto and destroying. I might suggest a muzzle to his mum to see whether that solves the problem.
 
Do they ever grow up? We have an 11yr old gelding on the yard who wrecks rugs, grabs them and runs in circles around the other horse, ripping the rug. My 6yo likes to play, but I'm hoping he will grow out of it. I can't turn him out in a rug because it gets wrecked, but without it he comes in often with chunks of coat missing. He's no angel by any means, but I hope his enthusiasm for playing and messing about becomes less as he gets older.
 
chocolategirl said:
It's a gelding thing unfortunately. Having run a yard for 22 years, it's ALWAYS the geldings that come in with ripped rugs, I don't think it's anything to do with boredom personally as ours seem to get rugs ripped at all times of the year even when they have grass in abundance! Could possibly just me our yard though of course! OP I have in the past, sprayed liquid cribox on mine in strategic places which definitely seems to help. Also what some of the others have done is put an old knackered lightweight over the top, this also has worked well. Good luck finding a solution, it will depend how determined your lad is!
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I totally agree it's a gelding thing you rarely see mares do it, I think your right some geldings are more playful and will wreck rugs regardless of grass but I am sure it has an impact on those that are stood for hours in a bare field, some of the horses are out there for near on 12 hours without any hay, I am just glad my 2 don't do it to each other as I have seen what terrible damage it can do I hope you find a solution op.
 
When my horses were in a field with a known rug wrecker I used to use my old lightweights to put on top of their normal turnout rugs. They always looked like they had been attacked by a pack of wolves!
 
Unless I really need it I tend not to use necks as these seem to come off the worse or buy really cheap necks (most of my rugs have detachable necks). At least that way the main rug is OK.
 
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