Wasted £300..on a horseware optimo.

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mhorses

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I have a huge 18hh Irish sport horse and have owned him for 3 years. I used a 7'0'' weatherbeeta heavyweight detachable neck rug the past 3 winters but the front buckles had been constantly fallin off and it was getting a little small and worn out.
This winter I thought I would invest in a Rambo optimo at £300. I heard they are slightly lare fitting so I purchased a 7'0" again and have has it on him for two weeks now and I have decided it is far too big and is poorly designed. It keeps slipping to one side. No leg straps or diagonal belly straps are on the rug. The belly straps are three joined straps in a row which I have noticed e catches his sheath in everytime he urinates and it is always wet. as for the underug, well it ought to be strapped on at more than four places as it slips a lot when he rolls.
I seriously think it is an 8'0'' rug with wrong labels or are hw rugs huge fitting?

What rug do you recommend?

Any advice?
 
Write to horseware and see if they will offer an exchange. It is a bit mean to discredit them on a public forum unless you have given their customer service a chance.

Also are you sure that the two outside straps don't cross as they do on my friends?

Good luck what ever you do.
 
I find horseware rugs to be the best. Although u must be upset as £300 is a lot of money but didn't you notice it didn't fit before? It's prob slipping as it's to big
 
In Full time livery and left the rug at the yard for when the girls had clipped him last week. Today was my first full day off and up at the yard since clipping and now it is probably non returnable.
 
The two outer belly straps should cross if you lengthen them, and then the middle one goes over them last. Shame you're disappointed and horse ware rugs are normally so good.
 
RiderLizzie said:
The two outer belly straps should cross if you lengthen them, and then the middle one goes over them last. Shame you're disappointed and horse ware rugs are normally so good.
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Looking at the pictures of the rug on the Horseware site, the belly straps don't appear to cross.

OP - I'd write to Horseware.
 
Hi,

Sorry you're disappointed with this rug - i'd go directly to the manufacturers to complain if the quality isn't what you expected for the price and as AP said send photo's.

Personally I like Shire's rugs - they're a good fit - on generous side. They're a good mid price rug and well made.
 
I have given up on Horseware rugs. I always used to buy them for my horses, rambos and rhinos. However the last Rhino I bought for my tb is awful it slips, neck cover comes down and undone nad there is a gap betwen the neck cover and main rug.

I emailed Horseware to say I was disappointed with the fit (not asking for anything - just feeding back as been v happy with their rugs in the past) and got a very rude reply back. Hence with this sort of customer service and the general fit of rugs nowadays I refuse to buy their rugs anymore!!
 
I'm with the others here - you need to contact the manufacturere, I believe their customer service is pretty good. I have never had any problems with horseware. The only rug I've bought that seems to be faulty is one of the Amigos that slips to one side constantly. I should have returned it but didn't and, to be honest it didn't cost that much. It must have been a fault with just that rug as all the others we have, even of the same design, are fine.
 
My friend bought one last year and is also of the opinion that it is not worth the money. The rug is very loose and slips, but the neck is tiny and when he has his head down, hardly goes halfway up his neck. It's also a thin neck without the option of a thicker one unlike the premier equine necks. I would say that my very old Rambo Duo is a better fitting rug, although the neck is also too small.

Shame you didn't realise the size in time to send it back but it is worth contacting them as others have said.

I'd buy the premier equine trio (or the parts you need from it) - much more flexible and even though the rugs are generous and deep, they stay put.
 
Its not Horseware's fault that you didn't realize for two weeks that it was too big.

I don't know about the optimo but the other Rambo rugs do have the belly straps crossed front to back, back to front and the centre one straight across.

Have you got the under tail strap on tight enough? If this is too loose the rug will slip.

I always recommend horseware but you need the right size and all styles don't suit all horses.
 
You could re-sell it on Ebay. There is one on there in used condition and it has a bid of £199, so you might get enough money back to pay for another rug.
 
We brought 10 optimos with liners last year and they are bloody brilliant rugs! Don't slip one bit when correctly fitted to your horse!!!
 
mhorses said:
In Full time livery and left the rug at the yard for when the girls had clipped him last week. Today was my first full day off and up at the yard since clipping and now it is probably non returnable.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but that's just daft, how could you not try it on him first????

I'm afraid you have done a boo boo and bought a rug much to big for your horse. As was already said, stick it on eBay and you'll be amazed at what you'll get for it. I have the Duo(correctly fitted) the straps cross over and it's brilliant. I'll admit though that I don't like the look of the optima as it does look unstable tbh and wouldn't choose to buy one. Live and learn eh?;)
 
Yeah it must be the wrong size but why they make their rugs at least two to 3 sizes bigger than a standard 7'0'' is beyond me. Not very fair on the customers and now annoyed hearing their customer service is terrible.
 
Have you had the tape measure out and actually measured the rug to see if it's 7' or larger? Or perhaps you could measure the fit against your old rug to check the length. Sounds a bit like a lot of things for sale these days horsey and non horsey quality tends to slip but prices go up!
 
I would also be angry with your livery yard. When a livery of mine left a new rug for me to ut on her horse, I realised it was too big and packaged it neatly back up and re bagged it for her. She got a replacement no quibble. It is obviously an expensive rug and so the yard should have checked it fitted correctly, surely. That is part of what you pay for in full livery IMO.

The optimo does look as though the belly straps are meant to fit further back to allow for the huge shoulder dart that is also further back than standard rugs. I must say that it would not be a rug that would appeal to me. I don't think the manufacturer would have to replace it though as it is the customer's responsibility to make sure the rug fits the horse. I would go with others' advice on here and sell it on ebay.
 
If a 7ft Weatherbeeta fits your horse, then a horseware in 7ft will be much bigger. My 17'2 takes a 7ft 6 in a weatherbeeta, but in Fal and horseware he only takes a 7ft. the weatherbeetas come up too small, but I find the fal and horseware fit beautifully.
 
I have lots of Rambo rugs and they are all brilliant - just cannot fault them BUT, they do have to be the correct size. My Rambo Fly Buster was bought off ebay - it's a size bigger than normal and... it slips to one side all the time. My fault - thought a size up wouldn't matter. Shame on your livery yard though - they must of seen the rug was way too big, why didn't they contact you to let you know?
 
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