Rugs for horse who gets wither rubs??

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Wheresthehoofpick

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I am losing my mind and hours of my life searching online. Help me!

New to me old boy (21) 15.3 Hanoverian TB x

Came with castle and a shires rugs 6'6 and bleeding sore on his wither He has a high prominent wither and big shoulders.

So... he needs a complete new wardrobe. I've bought him a weatherbeeta comfitec dynamic with the memory foam on the wither. 6'6. 100g. That's all he has. Fits him nicely.

I need a plan. I am thinking a light weight with detachable neck and liners would give me most flexibility for now - in our summer/ winter whatever this is????

Whatever he has needs not to pull weight down on his wither. My old 6'3 Rhino is quite a good fit but needs to be a little bigger. So could do a lightweight 6'6 Rhino - would
That be ok on his wither?

had thought WB or shires highlander as they have the shoulder gusset.

I don't want another set of half rubbish rugs. He will be out in big weather so I want to get him something that will work and last.

Aargh. Don't mind spending to get it right. But not £££££ After a few weeks with me he has no sores or rubs.
 
I would buy or make a bib with padding on either side of the wither, but clear at the top. It's very difficult to stop wither rubbing on high sharp withers and thin skinned old horses unless you take the contact away altogether. You can then wash the bib and use it with different rugs.
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I like the Horseware Wugs for prominent withers if the horse is the right body type to fit them well. Amigo/Rhino/Rambo depending on budget but preferably Rambo (in the sale) as they are so light and durable.
 
My horse also gets wither rubs and the Weatherbeeta Comfitec Dynamic doesn't rub him but doesn't keep the water out either, I think I got a dud though because from what I hear, Weatherbeeta's are usually decent.

Rambo Wugs do not rub him. Regular Rambos do or don't depending on his coat/time of the year. So I wouldn't go with those. However, I would definitely consider ycbm's suggestion. A friend did something similar for her older Arab. She took one of this spandex type shoulder guards and sewed sheepskin around the withers part on the inside, and that worked quite well.
 
Rambo Optimo has padding to raise the rug off the wither and is generously sized. I just have the stable rug, but unfortunately, it pulls back because the neck is a little too big. However, the Amigo XL turnouts work very well on him. It gives an 20% neck/ shoulder room. They don't pull back on the shoulders.
There's always a bit of guess work with rugs. You never know how they're going to work until your horse has spent a day in it. Frustrating.
 
Pinkvboots said:
You buy a square of foam and cut a hole in it where the wither is so it basically pokes through the hole, then sew it onto a bib so it sits in the correct place it can then be used under all his rugs.
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That's really helpful. I have a bib in the attic somewhere and some foam - I feel a sewing afternoon coming on. Might get round to rug mending too!
 
Wheresthehoofpick said:
That's really helpful. I have a bib in the attic somewhere and some foam - I feel a sewing afternoon coming on. Might get round to rug mending too!
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It's fairly simple I managed to do it I think we used an old pillowcase to put the foam in, and if you leave an over hang you can stitch it to the bib it was years ago now but pretty sure that's what we did.
 
Big foam car wash sponges x2, one on each side, couple of big tacking stitches to hold them onto the bib. Add a rectangle of silky material, satin doubled over and stitch this inside the bib to cover the sponges. you can use 4 sponges if needed as they smooch down over time.
 
As above, but I put the sponges on with velcro to attach to a bossy silk bib. Big car sponges covered in silky material and 2 strips of velcro. You will need to line the sponges up on the horse to determine where the velcro strips on the bib need to be. If you get it wrong the bib will pull back behind the wither.

All of it washable and dry quickly. If you have open sores you would be better treating them and getting good healthy skin before putting anything on the horse. I have a fine skinned old lad and open skin is a nightmare on him. He has lost his muscle now so the rugs sit on bone on the wither and hips, I use Shires with liners 50g and 100g and keep the liners very clean, the combination rug/liner is so light it does not put pressure on him with the sponge creation in place.
 
Rambo / rhino wugs are good for this although I mostly just try not to rug as much as possible
 
The rugs he has are so heavy on the wither point. I wouldn't put them on my other two and they have a binding and faux sheepskin which you can see has caused part of the problem.

I had thought to stay with rugs with attached necks as they would not have that particular pressure point.

Luckily a change of rug and some naked time has allowed all his rubs to heal - so I am hopeful if I get it right that he shouldn't have too many issues.
 
The issue with full neck rugs (combos or removable with the neck attached) is that they can put a lot of pressure on the withers when the horse has their head down to graze.

This is one of the reasons that I found Wugs work. You still have a bit more rain protection compared to a standard neck rug too.
 
I think that's a really good shout. I sold one last year that didn't fit my other two. Arrghhh.

It was a 6'3 but seemed really long in the body - do they come up big?
 
RE Horseware sizing. I go down a size compared to Weatherbeeta. So my grey - for example - has 5ft9 weatherbeeta but 6ft Amigo/Rhino/Rambo. I think the Amigo (it's not the Mio, just the normal Amigo) is cut slightly shorter in body length. The Rhino is slightly more generous length wise compared to the Rambo but not enough to go down a size. Also the Rhino is a LW with no filling and once it has a liner in the fit is great.

Not having chest adjustment means that they either fit or they don't fit. Could you borrow one to try?
 
The Premier Equine high neck range is good, similar shape to the Rambo/Rhino wugs but with a lot of padding over the wither. I never remember what they’re called though, they seem to change!

ETA - I’ve just had a look and it was the Lucanta range but they only seem to have stable rugs now. They have a ‘Hardy’ range in the turnouts which look similar but unless I’m missing something, I don’t think you can attach neck covers to them like you can the Lucanta.
 
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Are Premier Equine lighter these days?

They used to be unbearably heavy when wet, but I haven't had one of their turnouts for 10 + years.
 
Meowy Catkin said:
Are Premier Equine lighter these days?

They used to be unbearably heavy when wet, but I haven't had one of their turnouts for 10 + years.
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I don’t find them particularly heavy but I never did. They suit my horses and they’re happy in them so I use them, I don’t really think about their weight. I think my newer ones are probably slightly lighter.
 
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