Shires sweet itch rug-yay or nay?

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Prince33Sp4rkle

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Poor CS has gotten itchier and itchier over the last few days, and although his amazing bargain fly rug is covering his tummy, it's not got a long enough neck cover to reach right to his ears.

Am impressed with the feel / fit of the shires sweet itch rug on a friends horse, but will it make him too hot, he is a very hot horse and detests being sweaty????

Any other ideas? Got to have a belly cover.
 
I've got the Mark Todd Air Mesh rug, and am really impressed with it. Very long neck, and nice cool fabric - cottony, not nylon-y so doesn't hot them up too much. And has a belly cover.
 
100% yay I paid £49 for my hoody and its been on since march and washed in the machine well and the horse has not itched once since wearing it and no tears either! Very happy- even if it only does one season it has done a fab job at stopped midges from getting at him and the neck is long enough!!
 
My mare gets really hot and she's been fine in her Shires, I really, really like it and she seems happy in it. Very good fit along the neck
 
I've Just bought a mark Todd air mesh rug as madam for the first time ever appears to have developed sweet itch :-(((((

I don't know whether it will be enough, but certainly today (first day wearing it) she seemed to find it very comfy and itched far less, it has certainly allowed her SI patches to start to heal. At £40 it's a fifth the price of a Boett so worth a try first given that it is just her quarters affected ATM.

Sizing wise the Mark Todd seems to be quite true to size. If between sizes I would go up a size.
 
I bought it for my mare as a replacement for a sweet itch hoodie. I didn't like it half as much. Again, my mare is a hot type, and the Shires rug didn't seem to breath or be as cool as the cotton Sweet Itch hoodie. Its good on rainy days, doesn't soak as much, and fits well, but generally I use it as a spare (ended up buying her another hoodie) and it would not be my first choice.
 
The Bucas fly rug has an elasticated belly cover that does not allow access to flies/midges and very long neck cover with easy 'over the ear' attachment (like a browband basically) - the fit is very good. One of my liveries has one and i am very impressed with it - best fly rug I've seen.
 
Thank you all :) think I've narrowed it down to the shires or mt air mesh, which looks a better fabric than the original mt fly rug, how far down the neck does the air mesh cover when grazing???
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
Thank you all :) think I've narrowed it down to the shires or mt air mesh, which looks a better fabric than the original mt fly rug, how far down the neck does the air mesh cover when grazing???
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There is a massive overlap of fabric there, bags of it, Madame doesn't have so long a neck so I sort of folded in a few folds. Unless horse is an actual giraffe, there is ample to keep it covered.
 
For true sweet itch air mesh rugs will not suffice as the fly responsible for the sweet itch can get through the holes however tiny in the mesh hence all the proper sweet itch rugs appear less airey and more solid.
 
lannerch said:
For true sweet itch air mesh rugs will not suffice as the fly responsible for the sweet itch can get through the holes however tiny in the mesh hence all the proper sweet itch rugs appear less airey and more solid.
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Agree with this, altho the MT is only mesh in some lower bits, areas like the rump (where my mare has issues) is a woven solid material, so am trying this as a first resort, but agree if it is wider area that is affected, then a Boett, sweet itch hoody etc are really the only albeit expensive, options!
 
Thank you....horse has got a very very long neck so will def be his usual mt size of 6'9...am still undecided as to which to get, I like the fact the mt neck portion attaches at the withers and doesn't have a seam half way up neck, so shouldn't rub.hmmmmm.
 
Do you like premier equine stuff? They have a nice one with belly cover. And 20% discount today too! They're true to size and great for big shoulders like CS!
 
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