What is the best outdoor/ indoor rug?

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mondo

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I am about to get a horse again after 10 years out of the 'horse owner' world and was wondering what are the best rugs on the market at the moment - both indoor and outdoor - also please say if you know of any to avoid?
 
I dont use stable rugs as my horses live out, but my favourite turnouts are made by Horseware (Rambo, Rhino and Amigo 1200d), Bucas (Smartex and Power) and Shires (Typhoon and Stormcheeta).

Look for high denier (eg 1200d is better than 600d) and ballistic nylon is the bees knees, so only the best (expensive though :( ) are made from this material.

ETA. You also need to match the cut of the rug to the build of your horse. Alot of people on here love Premier Equine rugs, but they are just cut wrong for my horses, plus the one I had was a dud. :(

Bucas do a standard neck cut and a big neck cut.
 
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I think most brands on the market are good quality and I havent experienced any problems with any brands. I would say however that I find that Masta rugs are fairly smaller in size and Horsewear rugs are larger in size. Good luck with your new horse. :)
 
My horse has (inherited from the old one no longer with) Fal and Rambo rugs

He (and now she) will wear the turnout 24/7 in winter, even when stabled at night

Modern TO rugs are now advanced and breathable. If the outside of the is wet, by leaving it on overnight it will dry on the horse, so horse stays toasty in one rug rathe than switching from TO to stable rugs

I liken it to 'staying in bed under the duvet all day'! Rather than getting undressed from cosy PJ's into cold yard clothes :D

Rambo and Fal are not cheap rugs, but you get what you pay for, and Rambo also do a liner system which means if you get a decent MW by them you can a liner relatively cheap to make your MW rug into a HW

what you'll save not spending on stable rugs, invest in a decent turnout

No experience of Premier Equine, but also have heard good reports :)
 
Horsewear rugs are larger in size
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Really! I have to go up a size with Horseware. So chestnut mare is 6ft for Bucas, Shires etc... but needed 6ft3 for Horseware rugs. HW's Rhino pony range comes up even smaller (great for youngstock BTW ;) ) and my 5ft6 Rhino Pony Wug is tiny compared to my Bucas Smartex Rain that is also a 5ft6.
 
Most of our rugs are Horseware ones, they're good quality, seem to fit most shapes and sizes & last forever! Premier Equine rugs are brilliant but the turnouts type rugs are on the pricier side.
Ours are all their "normal" size in the horseware though!
 
I would buy a few different brands to try on and see what fits your horse the best. Like horses, rugs come in all different shapes and sizes and what suits one may not suit another.

Weatherbeeta, masta, Mark todd, horseware are allgood quality brands... its just a case of wha suits your horse... I find many too tight on my boy across the withers when he puts his head down to graze but weatherbeeta and rhino rugs are good for him at the mo :)
 
Mine only fits premier equine or big horse shop rugs but he's a shire x

In the past I've used weatherbeeta, masta, horseware and shires and I've never had an issue with any TBH xx
 
Faracat said:
Really! I have to go up a size with Horseware. So chestnut mare is 6ft for Bucas, Shires etc... but needed 6ft3 for Horseware rugs. HW's Rhino pony range comes up even smaller (great for youngstock BTW ;) ) and my 5ft6 Rhino Pony Wug is tiny compared to my Bucas Smartex Rain that is also a 5ft6.
Click to expand...

Maby it's just me then :p
 
I use horseware and shires rugs on a variety of horses and never had any problems, prefer combos to the detachable neck versions in general.
Not very fond of Premier Equine as although waterproof, well fitting and hard wearing, they are VERY heavy, and if wet, pretty much impossible for me to handle.
 
Horseware Rambo and Amigo are fab rugs and my horses dont wear anything else, allthough I have found weatherbeeta are always a good fit and much cheaper. However you get what you pay for and my Rambos and Amigos are still going strong 7 years down the line.
 
Best rugs are Rambo ;) Or Fal Pro.
But... If you don't want to spend all that money on rugs (like myself!)
I have a Highland- best chest, short back etc etc, just to give you an idea of my boys shape.
There is:

Weatherbeeta, fabulous a little tight in the shoulder for mine.
Shires, love them, fit mine like a a glove.
Premier Equine- They are 5* rugs, just like Rambo's but cheaper. Lovely too look at too!
Amigo's are good but the chest fastening is a pain for big chested boys!
Axiom are also brilliant for the price :D
Derby house(when the sale is on!) fabulous colours, great lining, and reasonably robust!- they are getting worse though!

The rugs I stay away from are:
Masta turnouts (horrible lining, really heavy soak up all the rain..)
Gee Tac- Horrible lining again.. ><
Rhinegold- horrible lining and mine reckons that they are for shredding :p

Currently my best rugs have to be:
Derbyhouse lightweight turnout. (Cupcake pattern!) :rolleyes: Poor Bailey...
Weatherbeeta genero lightweight turnout.
Masta lightweight 115g stable rug.
LIDL'S! Little fleece rug :D:D - fabulous for cooling down!
Shires 180g Turnout.
 
Thank-you all for taking the time to answer my question - what is the best indoor/ outdoor rug? It seems to be Horseware Vs Premier Equine - if anyone has any further comments on these two brands please feel free to get in touch.
 
I use (for Welsh cross pony, Trad Cob pony, IDxTB horse, and a DWB):

Masta
Weatherbeta
Horseware
Amigo
Shires

All have performed pretty well and fit well.

Stable rugs are slightly less of an issue as they don't have to keep the rain out.

I usually swap to a stable rug (keeps D happy, seeing them in use lol), but mainly so as the horse can have a good rub/itch and I can check condition and see if there is anything nasty brewing such as rainscald.

I prefer the combo rugs rather than detachable necks. The latter always seem to flip up!

I also have spares or other combinations that can be used as a spare for a particulate rug. Great if a horse comes in with a torn rug that needs to go off to be fixed.
 
I have two Rambo Duos and they do everything, indoor, outdoor, all weights, etc, plus you can wash the liners without getting the outer cleaned which I think reduces waterproofness. I really don't like combo rugs as I won't use neck covers except in evil weather because they rub manes out.

I had a premier equine which I got off a mate second hand and I didn't like it. They're really deep so they might fit a very broad horse but on mine the chest straps sat too low on the chest and the sides were virtually wrapped around my horse's tummy.
 
Another horseware fan for my tb, best rug ever is the Rambo supreme turnout. For my idx the best rugs are from the big horse shop, only because the other brands are too tight a fit!
 
I have looked into both Premier and Horseware - have any of you used the Rambo Optimo? The horse I am getting already has rub marks on his shoulders and from what I have read this rug is meant to eradicate this problem - any views?
 
I have heard that with the Optimo, you don't need to go up a size because the pleat makes them bigger than the Duo, for example in the same size (Optimos are measured with the pleat closed).

I haven't had any rubbing problems with any horseware rug but I don't have an Optimo so can't comment on that specifically.

It is important to choose the right cut for your horse, if the horse is a lightweight type with narrow shoulders, then Horseware are fab. Many of the people on here who really rate PE seem to have medium - chunkier types.

Here's one of my horses in her Horseware Duo. I have lots of photos of her in my album on my profile if you want to see her build with out a rug (sig pic is quite small ;) ). It fits her perfectly and as I mentioned earlier - never rubs - which is fab as she is very fine skinned.

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PS. I never use neck covers/combos, only standard necks or half necks (Wug style).
 
My horse has had his Mark Todd stable rug for 12 years... It still looks brand new and the lady who cleans it can't believe I keep bringing it back to her! But it's in perfect condition, washes up beautifully and fits really well, so I'm chuffed to bits with it.
Bought a few cheapie ones from eBay as liners etc. - think they're called 'Mistico' or something. No problem with them either, even though they were about £10-15 a go from new.

I've been using Weatherbeeta Landa rugs for turnout for several years - they've lasted fairly well although they have had a few small repairs and the leg straps have gone off most of them. Just bought some Fal rugs though (:eek::mad: at price - only bought one of each weight where I had 3 Landas of each weight previously!) as he is now turned out with a rug ripper and Fals have been recommended left right and centre. They seem gorgeous but I would never have touched them unless I had to. :rolleyes:
 
I go for Fal for both, although my horses live out so only really use T/O now.
I replaced my Fal this year after 10 years, as my mare has filled out since I bought her as a five year old, and with layers underneath in the winter, it was a bit small. Other than that it is still perfect.
Horseware used to come up big, but they don't anymore,as they have tightened the tolerances.
Weatherbeeta are ok, as are Mark Todd, wouldn't use a Masta but thats as I have found they fall apart fairly quickly.
 
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