what happened before waterproof, breathable techno turnouts????

jojo5

jojo5

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Just out of interest really having just spent the last few days desperately juggling a variety of wet rugs (usually waterproof but not in a monsoon:) )- what happened for our clipped pones btr (before technical rugs)?
 
horrible canvas new zealands that were basically wet from september to march! then took all summer to dry!
jute rugs in the stable with a duvet under and folded back with a roller on. oh the joy!
 
New Zealand rugs!
Heavy and bulky, and even heavier and bulkier when wet! They were a canvas outer with a woollen underblanket sewn in. They came in a delightful green colour, then in the mid-80s navy blue was introduced, it was a bit of a wow moment seeing a blue one for the first time. Oh and once the waterproofing started to be less effective they would stay wet for days before drying out, but back then many people only had one New Zealand rug and one Jute stable rug with a surcingle or a roller to keep them on, not like these days where people have a different rug for every occasion! :O
 
I have still got a couple of those old New Zealand rugs around. The lining is rather moth eaten and I don't put them on the horse but an old rug can be useful sometimes for od reasons.

Remember the "self righting" ones - I paid a fortune for mine,but it did work and was a big improvement over having a tight sursingle on 24/7. Obviously horses didn't get bad backs in those days.............
 
I seem to recall some early techno models that had seams down the middle of the back, which kind of negated the purpose really !!!
 
trottingon said:
New Zealand rugs!
Heavy and bulky, and even heavier and bulkier when wet! They were a canvas outer with a woollen underblanket sewn in. They came in a delightful green colour, then in the mid-80s navy blue was introduced, it was a bit of a wow moment seeing a blue one for the first time. Oh and once the waterproofing started to be less effective they would stay wet for days before drying out, but back then many people only had one New Zealand rug and one Jute stable rug with a surcingle or a roller to keep them on, not like these days where people have a different rug for every occasion! :O
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Not forgetting that all the straps were leather (usually a slightly strange greenish colour) which got REALLY stiff and hard to undo/do up when they were wet.

Heavy wasn't the word for them when your horse had rolled and managed to get half a field of wet mud stuck to the rug.
 
:eek: :eek: :eek: God do I remember those horrendous heavy NZs, I had a green one with surcingle attached, then I had a very practical brown one which seemed to e a different colour to the mud!!! A friend of mine had a top of the range (at the time) Chaz kit I think it was called, it had straps from the front end under the tummy through a multitude of straps and holes and then attached to the back end - what a nightmare to do up in a hurry!!! :eek: the worst bit was having to clean them, wait for a sunny hot day before the wax warmed up and then rubbing the wax into the rug, Crikey thank god for modern rugs :) :)
 
Yep..good old NZs, vet told me to take them off as he saw more problems with horses wearing them than not, so I did and horsey survived! :rolleyes:
 
Newzealands! or Nakedness!

Just one question... if these newfangled rugs are waterproof why does it matter that they are wet and therefor why is any juggling required?? or am I missing something?

I find the best way to dry my rugs is to leave them on the horse! You might think this isn't particularly healthy but lets face it, for a few days a year it aint gonna kill them - you just remove it and groom under it the following morning when dry.... That said, mine has been nekkid the last few days and he is still very much alive!!
 
you can still get them:

http://www.lansdowncountry.co.uk/collections/turnout-rugs/products/all-season-new-zealand-rug

In New Zealand everyone still uses them loads though the fitting has become a little more scientific apparently:

http://matamatasaddlery.co.nz/Ultimo-Covers.html

I've got a friend over there who has about 5 hunters that winter out on the side of a mountain in these 'covers' from matamata, she hunts them straight out of the field and they all look amazing all the time. If I kept my horse like that he'd be filthy and rubbed bald I'm sure!
 
CBfan -as I said, here in the East we seem to have been experiencing just a little more rain than usual!!! Some rugs have been fine, just a couple have got overwhelmed.........the other night we had torrential rain nonstop for several hours , not just minutes.
 
I'm so old, I still refer to turn-out rug as a New Zealand. Get puzzled looks sometimes from young people. Btw, were they invented in New Zealand? What happened to horses before they were invented? And how did our horses survive in the bad old days - in comparative good health?
 
Does anyone remember putting a layer of straw under the jute rug to dry off a wet horse?

It's so much more fun now with all these new fangled technical rugs!
 
Elsbells said:
My God Allover!!:eek:

I'm impressed!

You're either an historian,...... or you are very, very old and thankfully, you still have your memory.;):D
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Why thank you :D

I had a bit of a "God i am old" moment the other day when a horse came in shivering from the rain, on mentioning thatching i was cast a few bemused looks from the younguns'!!! Still works a treat!!

p.s. I do feel i need to point out that i am mid 30s so not THAT old!!!!
 
jojo5 said:
CBfan -as I said, here in the East we seem to have been experiencing just a little more rain than usual!!! Some rugs have been fine, just a couple have got overwhelmed.........the other night we had torrential rain nonstop for several hours , not just minutes.
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Oh yes, I'm in the east too... my boy has had no-more than a lightweight on though with it being so mild and his has dried out within a few hours of him being in on the occasions I haven't been cruel enough to turn him out naked. I have dried rugs on the horse for a few years now, they are dry by morning and never had a problem. If they are wet through there is something wrong with the rug! They take DAYS to dry out otherwise...
 
Ha ha 15 years ago I was using heavy jute rugs with leather fastenings and straw on a pony that refused to be clipped!! Or sometimes riding a brown, mud stained pony when he should have been grey!

Nowadays I'm thankful for the turnout rugs you can leave on in the stable though try and swap them when I can for actual stable rugs.
 
Loved the deep new Zealand rugs they never shifted lasted years, we're waterproof and made of quality material.
 
im only 22 and i called turnout newzealand rugs untill about a year ago when i got a lot of funny looks when i said new zealans rugs. also i may be wrong but surely befor new zealand rugs we all had more horses they were native to this country and not like my spanish sport horse who cant cope with to much rain. also didnt people clip them less often and keep them a bit rougher to cope with the rain.

i know of someone whos horse lives out all year in all whether who grooms fully every day with body brush and washing involved and wonders why her horse gets cold. arnt we suppost to leave some of their oils on so they keep warm. could be wrong but thats what ive been led to believe.
 
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