Rug escape artist

[Esther.D]

Pablo (16hh Clydesdale/ID X type) keeps getting out of his rug without undoing the straps! It is a Rambo and stays on really well and stays straight until he gets it into his head to remove it. As he is only checked once or twice daily and lives out 24/7 I don't really want to add a surcingle or anything else to make it harder to get out of - because if he got tangled it might be hours before he could be extracted from it (I would rather he is able to take it right off than get trapped). As it is he keeps getting it off (about once every fortnight/three weeks) at the most awkward times (eg. when it is snowing hard) daft horse:D . The trouble is that he really needs the rug as he looses weight without it (he is right up on Hadrian's Wall where the weather can be quite severe). There is probably no solution to this problem, but ideas are welcomed.

Rupert and Bobby wear a Rambo and a Rhino respectively and never get out of theirs.....When I took Bobby's off this weekend to check him over he climbed back into it when it was on the ground (he is a Shetland so does daft things like that) - I think he certainly appreciates his:D

I have checked that Pablo's rug isn't rubbing him or making him hot...and he is quite happy when we put it back on again.:rolleyes:

[Esther.D]

Okay, even if this is an unanswerable question, at least reassure Stephen that Pablo is not the only horse that can do this !

[lisae]

We bought a weanling filly at a sale in October and she had a full body clip! Looked very pretty but we were worried and with cold weather we got her a blanket. Every morning, we'd come out and find it in the chips! No idea how she got it off but we finally gave up. Happily, she grew a super haircoat before our current COLD weather.

Our home-born filly got a virus with fever at about that time and I then put it on her. She liked it when she was sick but once she was feeling better, she was ready to unload it. So cute, she would round her neck and tuck her head and back up, back up-- no doubt hoping she could walk out from under it!

So now our aged Australian shepherd dog is enjoying it in the house as her winter bed. It washes up nice so it's perfect.

[Maria]

Just some thoughts:

Has anyone seen him in the act of removing it? If not do you think someone (human or equine) is removing it for him?

Is your fillet string adjusted correctly? You need surcingles + fillet strings to keep the Rambo rugs on.

Do the buckles on the surgincle straps have the little rubber washers on them? Carrie's first Rambo came with her and didn't have any and came undone and she kept walking out of the rug. My kind local saddler spotted the problem and put new ones on free of charge. Problem solved.

Maria

[Esther.D]

Could be having equine help....very unlikely to be human - he lives 2 miles off a road and half a mile off nearest footpath in deepest darkest Hadrian's Wall country...oh and the local farmers are the type that chase walkers with a shotgun if they stray off the paths! If that was not enough - he is hard to catch!

It could be equine help though as he lives with 4 Shetlands and a New Forest none of whom would be adverse to 'helping' him remove it! But Rupert and Bobby's rugs stay on even though I would have thought they would be the most likely targets for equine 'help' of this kind.

The surcingles are okay and have the rubbers on, will check the fillet string though, might do with tightening up a bit. Thanks.

[Peace]

Don't have any advice, but I can definitely offer reassurance that Pablo isn't the only one who does this!:)

Quanah not only escapes from his blanket but has the lovely habit of shredding it and then winding it around his back legs so that he becomes immobilized.:eek:

I've just been leaving him unrugged, but of course South Carolina is not Hadrian's Wall.:) Although we are currently having our coldest winter in 15 years, and it's snowing outside as I post. (Quanah's in the barn today, with all his Arabian pals, so he's toasty.)

Tell Stephen he has my sympathy!

[artemis]

Several years ago I had a horse that "escaped" from his rug. After several weeks of this I found out that he was getting out of it while rolling. I tightened the straps & it was ok.

At least he doesn't rip it in two, thats what my friends horse does on occasion.

[Esther.D]

Pablo is the only one who leaves his rug intact - Rupert has ripped some of the binding on the hood of his Rambo and Bobby ripped a strap off his Rhino :mad: . However the fabric of the rug seems to be very rip-proof, Rupert normally destroys rugs so he is doing very well. Bobby kept his rug on even with only one strap left and I thought he'd be the one to get out of it as he is a Shetland!

Pablo may be getting out of his while rolling, we keep the surcingles as tight as we can (comfortably) but not the fillet string, so as I said on the previous post- that may be the answer.

Thanks everyone, oh and Stephen says thanks for reassuring him that there are more rug escapers out there!

[Gemma R]

There is a horse that can do that down our stable. the only times he does though is if teh rug is to big either on the straps on the length. Silly thing but you sure it isn't to long for him???

[Esther.D]

Straps are fine. It is quite a deep rug if that makes a difference - I must admit I was pleased we managed to find one so deep for such a chunky horse! It may be making a difference though...Unfortuately unless this becomes a huge problem he won't be getting another one - his is a Rambo and I'm not made of money :D

[Bebe]

Bebe has never taken her turnout rug off but when I first got her she had rain scald quite badly. She was going to live out so we ummed and aahhed about what to do with her as it was pretty much constantly raining at the time (Feb 2001). In the end we decided to put a fleece cooler on under her breathable rhino turnout.

For 3 days running I'd turn up in the morning to find her rhino perfectly in place without a mark on it, but the cooler would be on the floor. She never undid any of the fastenings on the cooler or ripped it so I have no idea how on earth she got it off without moving the rug that was over the top of it!

She's quite good at ripping rug bibs without marking the rug that is on over them, must be a gift (not!).

Anyway, it's not just your horse that can take it's rugs off. Not sure what you can do about it though other than tighten the straps. I usually tie an extra knot in the fillet strings that come with Rhino rugs (adjust them to the shortest length and then put an extra knot in) as I find they're a bit too long for my liking without it.

[Esther.D]

Thanks everyone, just to let you know that I tightened Pablo's fillet string and now it has been 3 weeks since it last came off and the rug is still on, so (fingers crossed) we have the solution! :D