the dangers of rugs with leg straps

I don't really like leg straps much either and tend not to use them. Some of my rugs don't even have anywhere to attach them and that's how the manufacturers made them.

I don't know about other peoples Fals and Horsewares but mine certainly didn't come with leg straps!

OP, glad your boy is ok. That must have been quite scary for both of you!!
 
TBH rugs in general can be dangerous i had this happen to one of mine but the legs straps weren't the problem mine had a neck cover that didn't break but the whole rug was hanging off flapping around his legs with just the neck cover attached luckily he eventually stopped next to me to help him out of it
it was a derby house rug that was a complete load of rubbish and ill never buy another cheap rug, now he now wears the cheap rugs he has left under a premier equine rug and that still rips but is patchable and doesn't just fall to bits
 
I suspect that all those (English/Welsh) people who cut off leg straps don't actually need them anyway.
Down here in Hades, it's never really windy.
Back home in Scotland, rugs blew off my horses with monotonous regularity if they didn't have legstraps, and I know a lot of Scottish people who won't buy FAL/Rambo because of this.
In winds more than about Force 6, rugs without leg straps can blow forward over the horse's head - so much more of a safety issue than using leg straps correctly.
S :D
 
Some rugs are designed to be shaped around the horse and secure with just a low fitted fillet string (like horseware, which are usually my preference) and some are designed to fit securely with leg straps. If you cut the leg straps off a rug designed to need them, it won't be as secure. I do think some rugs have the leg straps fitted too low, but if they are in the right place and you set the tightness right, they're fine.
 
It's incredibly windy where I live (on the Fens, about 5 miles from the coast) and the only time I've ever had a rug blow over a horse's head was when said horse had snapped the fillet string by repeated buckarooing. She now has a strong elastic fillet string and it's fine. My non-leg-strapped FAL and Rambo/Horseware rugs never budge. As said up there, IF the rug is v well cut & has a really good tail flap this really helps.
 
Christmas TreEdie said:
Santa Paws - I only use fillet strings and turn out in high winds (we had 70mph+ a few weeks back), can't say I've ever seen that happening before? Certainly seen the parachute effect if the fillet string has come off for whatever reason (make sure they're secure, peeps), but not any other time. Does it depend on the make/fit of the rug do you think?
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I'm on a completely bare hillside at 1100 feet, maybe that's it? I had it happen with Weatherbeetas, but since then I have never turned out without leg straps on. I do hate tight surcingles though, when they lie down they get very tight around the belly and mine live full time in turnout rugs even when they are in at night.

Now, tell me, how did one horse get his rug off with ALL straps intact and done up - two fronts, two cross, and two leg straps. THAT's what I want to know!! :)
 
Shilasdair said:
I suspect that all those (English/Welsh) people who cut off leg straps don't actually need them anyway.
Down here in Hades, it's never really windy.
Back home in Scotland, rugs blew off my horses with monotonous regularity if they didn't have legstraps, and I know a lot of Scottish people who won't buy FAL/Rambo because of this.
In winds more than about Force 6, rugs without leg straps can blow forward over the horse's head - so much more of a safety issue than using leg straps correctly.
S :D
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Shils if you and I agree one more time we're going to have to call each other friends :)
 
Santa Paws said:
Shils if you and I agree one more time we're going to have to call each other friends :)
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It's scaring me - and not many things do that! :p
I think those who say 'I live in a windy place and my rugs never budge' don't really know what Scottish weather can be like!
I got thoroughly fed up picking my Rambos off fencelines (they blow there and the wind sticks them to the fence).
S :D
 
Shilasdair said:
It's scaring me - and not many things do that! :p
I think those who say 'I live in a windy place and my rugs never budge' don't really know what Scottish weather can be like!
I got thoroughly fed up picking my Rambos off fencelines (they blow there and the wind sticks them to the fence).
S :D
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Are you old enought to remember the force ten on Clydeside?

The people across the road from me woke up with their roof in their garden (the whole roof, Shils will know that houses in Scotland often have flat rooves, for some unknown reason :) )

We were advised to nail the curtains to the window frames to stop the glass blowing in over us too :eek:



ps for people who absolutely have to rug in the field.

Putting on, do straps in this order:

legs or crosses, then fronts. Then the horse can kick it free if it gets frightened.

Taking off - reverse the order, fronts then crosses or legs.
 
Santa Paws said:
Are you old enought to remember the force ten on Clydeside?

The people across the road from me woke up with their roof in their garden (the whole roof, Shils will know that houses in Scotland often have flat rooves, for some unknown reason :) )

We were advised to nail the curtains to the window frames to stop the glass blowing in over us too :eek:
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I was up there in Central Scotland when there was a storm with 100mph winds - 1990's sometime. My girl was at the end of a row of 5 stables; their roof blew off. She carried on eating her haynet. :p :D
S :D
 
Dizzle said:
I have to say I had a similar issue with a front buckle this morning, horse galloping like a loon, fell over and pinged the rug open at the front, ripped the strap off the rug but the buckle stayed done up and that was a Masta rug.
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My gelding did this with an Amigo, rolled, must have got caught up because all I found was a naked horse and rug with fillet string and belly surcingles done up but the front had popped off on one side!

Cor blimey FF, anyone would think horses never tell each other off :p
 
Horse at a yard i used to be on would regulary riggle free from its rug leaving front breast straps, cross sircingles and fillet string in tact!

Another horse on that yard would carry on as normal grazing with its rug blown over its head! Horse had fillet string on rug.

Horses will be horses... Either way there is a risk with something.
 
Shilasdair said:
I suspect that all those (English/Welsh) people who cut off leg straps don't actually need them anyway.
Down here in Hades, it's never really windy.
Back home in Scotland, rugs blew off my horses with monotonous regularity if they didn't have legstraps, and I know a lot of Scottish people who won't buy FAL/Rambo because of this.
In winds more than about Force 6, rugs without leg straps can blow forward over the horse's head - so much more of a safety issue than using leg straps correctly.
S :D
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this ^^ I wont turn out without legstraps because of the winds we get up here. Also, Im not convinced having seen one of my horses a few years back wearing an amigo and rolling like a dog just out of a bath ( :rolleyes:) that a fillet string is entirely effective at keeping the rug in place even without wind!

Glad your guys are ok OP, must have been scary for you.

I have had a horse get a back leg caught in a legstrap while rolling. All that happened was the rug ripped. It was my own stupid fault, the rug was new and too deep for him and I hadnt been able to get the straps as short as they should have been.
 
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.
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ditto this - in the high winds lately i've had to use both fillet string and legstraps- the wind was taking my horse's rug right forward and the neck rug was starting to go over his head. The leg straps were straining so i added a fillet string to stop it going forwards, the leg straps stopped it taking off over his bum though which i have had happen in the past. I hate fillet strings and far prefer leg straps.
I think OP has been very unlucky with her rugs ripping back, ultimately i think the would (each loop) slide down the legs and be kicked free like the surcingles..
 
Truly feel for the OP to have a very scary situation like this.

As an aside, I have read through almost all the posts and am sitting here in amazement. I am not quite sure what a fillet strap is but can piece together an image.

The only rug I truly had dramas with had no leg straps but a string type thing that went under the tail. Day after day I would find horse waiting at gate wearing rug as a bib until I came down one day to find entire rug bunched up behind his ears with front hooves stuck in amongst the torn material of the rug.

I have always had leg straps (tightened but not excessively tight) and never had any concerns about putting on or taking off rugs. When putting on I do up the leg straps first then do up the chest and finally the neck (for combos). When taking off I undo the neck, then chest and lastly the leg straps. I have had idiot horses in the past bolt as soon as I had the chest free and bucked off the rug leaving it in the mud for me to pick up.

I used to rug my old boy in his heavy combo during cyclones with no problems (however now I do not rug at all during cyclones). Can't get much windier than a good ol' tropical cyclone.

I used to be part of an aussie forum in which someone posted after a traumatic incident regarding belly straps / surcingles - please excuse my boganess if I have the term wrong. Out of the woodwork came the "first thing I do with a new rug is cut off the belly straps' stories until the chooks came to roost. Naturally after hearing so many scary stories I went straight home and cut off all the belly straps on my rugs.

Years later I am still shaking my head at myself.
 
Santa Paws said:

ps for people who absolutely have to rug in the field.

Putting on, do straps in this order:

legs or crosses, then fronts. Then the horse can kick it free if it gets frightened.

Taking off - reverse the order, fronts then crosses or legs.
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Absolutely Agree with this!!! Also, ensure you have a headcollar on your horse.

This is how I ended up in the stupid position of my horse being scared of rugs. I undid the fillet string, then the belly straps. Horse got a fright, took off and after 2 laps of the field with her broncing and snorting, fell, got up, fell again with the rug around her chest. I was lucky I was able to get it undone as it had tightened so much around her neck.

I undid it, she sprang away (thankfully unhurt) and now even with my sensible horse, I will ALWAYS have a headcollar on and do the straps in the above order although my preference is to take the horse inside.



OP - I feel for you as it is terrifying when this happens and the lining of her rug was trashed but all the buckles etc stayed intact.

I use fillet strings and have never had a problem BUT I ensure they are tight enough so the rug is not billowing about. Over 16 years we've had as many horses in leg straps as we have in fillet stings and never had a problem with either. I have however seen a lot of horses with fillet strings far too loose and leg straps hanging below the hocks.
 
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I very nearly had an accident last week with a rug which HAD a fillet string and NOT leg straps. It was very windy one night, my mum went over in the morning as usual to find my horse (a stressy TB type) standing in the top of the field with the entire rug right forward, the neck cover was right over his face so he literally was blind and his back end was open to the elements. The fillet string had somehow snapped and the wind had obviously pushed it really far forward. I have no idea how long he'd been like that but I'm truly amazed he didn't flip out. If I use fillet strings then I make sure as to use THREE strings on every rug now just in case!!!!
 
My horse ended up with the leg strap clip embedded in her leg, then galloped around the field until it ripped out leaving an egg sized hole in her leg, It was the old style spring clip, but I never use leg straps now - or spring clips.
 
the slumberdowns i had had a clip on fillet string - far stronger with a rubbery plastic tube over the top and instead of tying it to the D rings it clips on - super! However, the tube is so long that the fillet string is long so there was some modification :rolleyes:
 
I have seen a horse in a similar situation, whereby the chest strap got broken and the rug slipped back and when the cross straps were around the flanks the horse went bonkers so, it cannot be blamed solely on leg straps as in this particular instance there were no leg straps.

I have also seen rugs, with no leg straps and the fillet string getting the wrong side of the tail, blow up frightening the horse.

I have been around horses long enough to know that no matter what you do they will find a way of getting themselves into trouble!
 
On a leg strap vs fillet string note...

We had the funniest time last autumn. Had gone away and a friend was looking after my lot. Two rugs (top lightweight waterproof, underneath mw old slightly ripped on top turnout) with specially snug cross surcingles (for a pony who likes to get her leg caught in them), both with fillet strings - simply disappeared!!!! Poor friend searched the whole field for them, worried about them being stolen etc. I said don't worry, they'll have blown off over her head. And they had - were found the other side of the fence, totally done up, with one slightly caught in it, about 100m away the next morning!!! Wouldn't happen with leg straps!
 
Shilasdair said:
I suspect that all those (English/Welsh) people who cut off leg straps don't actually need them anyway.
Down here in Hades, it's never really windy.
Back home in Scotland, rugs blew off my horses with monotonous regularity if they didn't have legstraps, and I know a lot of Scottish people who won't buy FAL/Rambo because of this.
In winds more than about Force 6, rugs without leg straps can blow forward over the horse's head - so much more of a safety issue than using leg straps correctly.
S :D
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That's funny because I know alot of people who will only use fal and rambos? Infact, we have had terrible weather for a few weeks now and today have had 90mph winds (the met office issued an amber warning -do you get them in the underworld?). My horses live on an exposed hill and I can concur that their rugs are intact.

Rambo rugs have and extra belly strap which are shorter so theres a closer fit and the "fillet string" is just like a leg strp but is shorter and sits higher so it gets stuck right under the dock and doeant lift. Theres then an additional strap for the dock to go through if you wish. Add to that they are shorter than the gigantic and ridiculously long rugs that seem to be the fashion with some retailers i think they have got their technology spot on for those of us who still live in such climates.

F&M truely must have been horrid and I hope Fabio has recovered! I know that you wont mind too much having a shopping spree for a new rug thouh ;)
 
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