the dangers of rugs with leg straps

Have a look at the post on hobbles that was in here recently

If the poor fellow is getting bullied and attacked, I'd make sure he doesn't panic like this with all sorts round his legs. This experience may make him more panicky now, especially as he went through a fence :(

Horses can be evil blighters some times, and when you see the damage a 600kg horse can do, its not surprising most stitching cannot survive it. The best you can do is get 2000 denier rugs, but even these can and do rip

Edited to add - there was a company at BETA selling what I think may have been called rug gummies - they were to go between clips to ensure breaking points. A cheap version of this is to use a few plaiting bands or elastic bands, but they may also break when you don't want to.
 
Last edited:
tbf if its the second time its happened then maybe the quaility of rugs you use needs to be thought about and also the horses that are put out together, and again i say .. look at how you fit your rugs, any good rug manafacturer will talk you through fitting a rug if your unsure. :)
 
Ah found it :- Safe gum
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/tradenews/7544/297379.html

safe-gum-front-w400.jpg


Still looks like an elastic band to me :)
 
FabioandMiro said:
What is your problem??????????????????????????????????

I only came on here to highlight the potential problems with leg straps after what was a not particularly pleasant event tonight.
Click to expand...

I have no problems with punctuation. :p :D
Perhaps I should highlight the dangers of cliffs, venomous snakes, lightning bolts, hungry sharks, unexpected sinkholes?
That seems a bit like stating the obvious though.
S :D
 
I too have never liked leg straps having 'rescued' quite a few ponies over the years that have managed to get a hind leg over the strap and have been stood on 3 legs.
However as someone else said, in the recent high winds the wind was getting under our tail straps and the rugs were billowing up over the horses backs (different makes of rug all were affected). The horses stand with their backs to the wind and rain causing the wind to get under the rugs. I actually tried to put leg straps back on my rug to make it more secure but it doesn't seem to have anything to attach them to. It came with just a tail strap. I have added a second tail strap but don't know if it will make any difference. We have more gales coming tomorrow so will find out soon :(
So not a straightforward one, there are pros and cons to both.
 
OP,hope you're okay and so is Fabio :)

I can't see the pictures, but when you say the front ripped, do you mean the straps of the buckles? If so, the same happened to my friend, the rug was dangling everywhere but wouldn't fall off because it was fastened with legstraps. The mare spooked and kickout and somehow got her leg trapped in the lining of the rug and fell over. Luckily she stayed lay down so we could get the rug off her and no serious injuries occured but they could've done. :(
 
ABC said:
OP,hope you're okay and so is Fabio :)

I can't see the pictures, but when you say the front ripped, do you mean the straps of the buckles? If so, the same happened to my friend, the rug was dangling everywhere but wouldn't fall off because it was fastened with legstraps. The mare spooked and kickout and somehow got her leg trapped in the lining of the rug and fell over. Luckily she stayed lay down so we could get the rug off her and no serious injuries occured but they could've done. :(
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly that. Luckily the only serious injury was to the fence! Which is easily mended.
 
agree this is not an issue with the rug (there HAS to be a breaking point, otherwise the breaking point is the horse!).....but more an issue with herd dynamics and horses manners when people are around.
mine squabble a bit like all buddies do occasionally but would NEVER let rip like that if there were people nearby, they have more manners than to potentially send me flying.

only one of mine has leg straps, as otherwise his sheer movement (very uphill, very extravagant shoulders) pulls the rug right up his back and eventually over his head even with a tight fillet string), but properly adjusted they are simply too high and too flush to the horse for him to get a leg in etc, they are no more dangerous than fillet strings and the breaking point of the rug is often right under where they are attached anyway, and id far rather the leg strap came off and rug got trashed than horse broke a leg.
 
festnuttyfairy said:
sounds pretty scary. Hope he is ok. First thing I do with a new rug is take off the leg straps and put on a fillet string. I think they are dangerous and also time consuming when doing a rug change.
Click to expand...

I do exactly the same. OP so glad your horse was okay, it must have been heartstopping seeing all that happening without being able to do anything about it.
 
Sounds awful.

Thing is though, ANYTHING can become a hazard with a horse, can't it?

I've owned and still owned many horses over the years, and never had an issue with leg-straps. I don't like fillet strings because of the rugs blowing forwards in wind.

These things happen, and hopefully it won't happen again.
 
only on HHO!

OP glad everyone ok-pretty scary for anyone seeing their horse going through a fence.

I don't care for leg straps-horse is on side of a hill in Scotland (where there is a bit f a breeze sometimes ;) ), use amigo rugs that fit well around the ar5e, only have a fillet string and have had no issues with them flying up over horse's head, have had no issues with PE rugs either.

however, I see a lot of horses with x surcingles way too loose which is as much of a hazard imo.
 
i never, never use leg straps, cut them all off, but make sure there is a good filet string under the tail.

the only time a horse got out of a rug, i found it in the field with all the fastenings double front and cross sircingles,still fastened


i think this kind of incident highlights the need to de-sensitize horses, as far as poss, by dragging rugs all over them including their backs legs, flapping them around and plastic bags etc teaching them and accept help and to stand when tangled, and dragging things along behind them
 
Can you catch them and at least tie them up while you sort the feed and haynets? At least you then won't be flattened in any rumpus! Also could you carry a stick? Your nasty one may then respect your space and you can use that to keep him off your scared one. My older one will chase my younger one from his feed bowl so I have to stand there while they eat but older one backs down to me (no stick needed).
Must have been terrifying.
 
i always cut the legs straps off every rug. X surcingles work perfectly with a good, well-cut, well-fitting rug, and if the front gets ripped open then the whole thing slides off out of harm's way.
i have big velcro tabs sewn over the front buckles too so that they can't get caught on anything. i'm a bit obsessive about rugs. can't stand seeing foals and yearlings rugged up for reasons of safety.
fwiw i've heard of horses getting their legs tangled in leg straps when lying down with very nasty consequences, so that's another reason to bin them.
not quite sure how this post turned into an 'attack the OP' one. :( :( :(
 
I had a horse roll in his rambo rug, the front strap (clips) snapped and the whole rug got tangled round his back legs. Thankfully he was too dim to panic and just laid down thinking he'd already died, but it could have been catostrophic.
 
Last winter our old exmoor pony got hooked up on a fence, odd set of circumstances but just goes to show what can happen!! He must have slipped in the mud and the clip on a hind strap pushed into the strand of wire on the fence, clipped itself to the fence and there you have it, one strung up pony :( I found him at 7am so he could have been there since 7 the night before, fortunately just exhausted from trying to get up and after cutting him free (he had struggled so much he had pulled the rug so tight I couldnt free the clip), keeping him steady for a few minutes, apart from being very stiff he was ready for breakfast. If it had been one of the scatty youngsters I dread to think what could have happened. Again, I bet that will never happen again, but it just goes to show that with horses, things can and do go wrong. I do remove back straps now though and only use a fillet string.
 
I take the legs straps off turnout rugs if they have DECENT tail flaps and use a fillet string instead. The tail flap will keep the wind out when they turn their bums to it :)
 
Never use leg straps. In fact the best rugs are made without them like Fal and rambo. If I have a rug with them I turn one into a fillet string.
 
MyBoyChe, i'd forgotten till i read your post, but 1 of comp horses did exactly the same thing years ago. he must have rubbed along the fence and his leg strap clip snapped onto the wire. Luckily he just stood there waiting to be released (1 in a million) and when I went to get him in (many hours later) there was an enormous pile of manure behind him, where he'd stood there all day waiting to be released... must admit my blood ran a little cold when i realised what might have happened if he'd tried to pull away.
 
lucky-lady said:
I had a horse roll in his rambo rug, the front strap (clips) snapped and the whole rug got tangled round his back legs. Thankfully he was too dim to panic and just laid down thinking he'd already died, but it could have been catostrophic.
Click to expand...

Sorry, its not funny, but this post made me absolutely howl.
 
Very scary OP, glad ponies are ok. Rugs should break like yours did, or as another poster says, the breaking point is the horse. My substantially bigger concern would be that another horse attacked yours with enough force to do that - I mean, lord only knows the force at which the mare lunges at ours sometimes, but they very worst shes got is a mouthful of rug. I definitely would be separating and analysing herd dynamics. Only takes you to get in the middle one time for you to get seriously hurt.

Hope all ok this morning. xx
 
Santa Paws said:
I am sorry that you had problems, but the dangers of rugs without leg straps on horses that are turned out in high winds, like mine are, are far greater. They will kick a rug free if it is behind them. If blown up and around the front they can trip and break a leg or their neck trying to get away from it. Blowing up from behind, if you live in an area of high wind, is much more common than tearing free at the front. I've had three rugs destroyed in the last year by my in-house rug terrorist with a wither split and none of them came off the horse.

I would advise caution before you ditch your leg straps if you turn out in wind.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this comment. Fillet strings just dont stop the wind from taking the rugs off and then its a much more dangerous situation. Ive never had a problem with leg straps getting caught around there legs. Same situation as surcingles, if the front straps get ripped then the whole rug just slides of them anyhow. Its happened a few times with my horses who break the the front buckles, rug just slips off. I use leg straps on all my horses rugs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top