Arnie's Boett has arrived

[augermoon]

Well Arnie's Boett blanket arrived in the post this morning. Looks a tad complicated although they assure me it is easy to fit. Only thing is that the hood looks HUGE - do they normally look big until you get them on?

Well, will try and follow up with piccies tonight. Am getting a bit annoyed as am having comments from non-horsey colleagues about how its cruel and how he'll be hot and uncomfortable bla bla bla. Can't they see I'm just trying to do the best for him :( :(

[Bozzy]

Wow, that was quick! I have no idea about them as have never used one but don't worry what others say, you obviously know best :)

[Big Ears]

my donkey wears one all the time and she never sweats in it - keeps nice and cool - it is quite easy to put on if the horse will cooperate. like you i have had comments about them being hot but compared to her discomfort in being bitten and irritated. anyway the donkeys without a rug ahve been sweating a bit during this weather and Aimee hasn't, so I guess she is cooler. she is really easy putting it on.

ideally lay it on the back with the loop sections on top. leave the tummy piece to one side as you don't need it yet. bring it as far up the neck and possible and feed horses head through the neck piece (best not to have a headcollar on as it will tend to stick). Horse will be temporarily blinded by this so may not like it too much...the horses head has to go through the hole then the neck piece pull back over the head and under the gullet to only cover the neck. make sure that the strap behind the ears is as slack as possible to ease the rug over the face. if you get this bit on then you are home and dry.

once this is in place, pull it back along the back and do up the leg straps round hind legs. then put the tummy piece on and do up on both sides (make sure that the long flap is at the front as it needs to attach to the straps which come between the front legs) once that is all in place you are ready to go. there are two clips then a piece of velcro to secure the tummy piece to the main body between the front legs.

I take it off every week or so and give it a wash but otherwise Aimee wears it all summer. the only problems i have had with it is that it tears easily and that the straps which hold up belly piece tend to stretch a bit and get too long - I have now stapled these to make them shorter.

[augermoon]

thanks guys.

Big Ears, thats reassuring about the fact that Aimee is cooler than the others. You're not the first person to say that so hopefully it'll be the same in Arnie's case. And am I right in thinking you don't apply any sort of fly repellent or anything aswell? I was planning to give him a good bath tonight after our lesson to get rid of any old creams, oils and things and then put it on.

Thanks for the instructions too - am dying to get home and try it on but gotta get through a whole day of work yet. Roll on 4pm.

[Big Ears]

I don;t apply any fly screen as well but you may want to spray his legs if he is getting bitten there (though you can buy anti fly gaiters for his legs, made of the same material as fly face mask or you can just bandage).

I would continue to use a full face mask and if you can afford it maybe buy a very very cheap mesh to put on top of the boett to stop is getting snagged - see how destructive he is. mine is about 3 years old and rather patched....

good luck, Aimee is very happy in hers and never complains about it at all. she can be out all the time which makes it better for her than trying to do creams all the time.

[augermoon]

I acutally bought the matching head piece as its his poll area that is the most sore, so I thought we'd go for the whole outfit.

His legs don't seem to get bitten so should hopefully be okay with just a good dose of fly spray on there. One last thing, I've been applying a soothing oil spray onto his mane and tail. Should I stop doing that once he's had his bath and is all wrapped up?

thanks again XX

[Big Ears]

you could probably continue to spray his tail but his neck will be harder to do unless you flip the rug forward up his neck to access.

i would probably due it once before you put the rug on and see how you go - the only dangeryou have is that if he is currently itchy and scratching, then he may continue to do so with the rug on and tear it till his skin calms down.

[LesleyR]

The customer service is great with the sweet itch people isn't it? Everything we've ever ordered has arrived the next day. He WILL look daft in the hood - the ears are more like donkey size but I think the idea is that they don't restrict him from moving them around within the hood.

It can be a bit daunting putting the whole caboodle on at first but you will soon get the hang of it. The only tricky part is getting the neck piece over the ears. Hopefully you have a horse that will stand for this. Ours is so very patient as we yank him around - don't even bother gathering it up anymore. Just tug and heave until his ears appear again. He doesn't bother in the least.

Your horse will NOT be too hot in it. We do still get the odd comment but yesterday our boy was no more sweaty than horses that had been out nekkid. They really are lightweight and breathable as the blurb says.

Depending on how itchy your horse is I would continue to use spray and cream - at least until the itching calms down a bit. There's nothing worse than spending a small fortune on a Boett and then finding the ungrateful swine trashes it in a week (luckily they are easy to stitch and patch!)

Good luck with it - let us know how you get on

Best wishes

Lesley

(P.s are you feeding marmite? It's our wonder cure this year!)

[Kanuma]

boettes are easy to put on and take off, i turn mine inside out and put his head through the bottom of the neck piece (the bit that will in the end endup next to his ears) then i just pull it over and it ends up right way out on the pony! then i put the belly bit on! stan will let me do it whilst he is loose in the field now and he is actually cooler then the other ponies.
we had them in a field close to a caravan site and some do gooder took it off because apparently it was too hot for a rug in her oppinion (non horsey woman) stan did an awful lot of damage to himself, and i think i did an awful lot of damage to the womans eardrums! have now painted on the side of it "this rug is on for medical reasons. dont remove"

[augermoon]

thank you everyone. You've put my mind at rest. Will let you know how we get on.

[lizzy]

One horse on our yard does get incredibly hot, he's a warm blood and I think that it's because he has quite bad sweetitch and gets depressed etc etc - they hose him down with it on to cool him down!!! :eek:

I will post this thread to Ian, he is an expert on sweetitch and Boett blankets!

[augermoon]

Well, I got it on after a few false starts (god, he's a star - he was stood blindfolded for at least a minute whilst I tried to get the damn thing over his head!!) and it seems to fit really well. Only thing is that the neck bit is a little loose, even when I tighten the strap up fully. I'm worried that midgies could get down inside there. Are they supposed to be fairly tight round there? Don't want to send it back as everywhere else fits really well so will get my dad to add another strap if needs be.

He marched out to the field full of it. Made me chuckle as he looked like he was showing off to his fieldmate, who was very confused by the whole thing. Decided to leave the head piece off for tonight so as not to blow his brains fully. Tried it on though and thought the eye holes didn't seem quite right. Was worried that if it slips at all, he may end up blindfolded. Thought I'd ring the helpline tomorrow to see if they think a smaller size will fit better.

otherwise am really please. Forgot to take camera down so no piccies I'm afraid.

[Bananaman]

Err, thanks Liz. Not sure I am any particular expert on this :o as you've had as much time with Miranda and the Boett as me, but I'll write what I know... :)

Boetts are easy to put on and take off, i turn mine inside out and put his head through the bottom of the neck piece (the bit that will in the end endup next to his ears) then i just pull it over and it ends up right way out on the pony! then i put the belly bit on!

That's exactly how Miranda has hers put on. I've found that it's much quicker and easier to just gather the thing up and put it straight over the head in one go. Once you've got the head in then it's easy to sort out if you need to twist it on their neck so that the back section is in the right place. :o

You're right though Big Ears, I think it does keep them quite cool... I suppose it must be the loose fit in hot weather (I suppose like the things that they wear in the desert!), but Miranda never has been any hotter in hers. :cool:

Depending on how the sweet itch is, you might find that he'll still scratch for a few days until the itching subsides. You might still want to use a fly repellant though, just to keep things under control initially.

Even with the Boett she was still scratching her belly... Laying down, hooking her front legs up as if she was about to stand, off-hind underneath her and rubbing her belly against it, most people who saw her thought she couldn't get up!!! :o Miranda now uses this stuff called Itch Stop Salve Complete (http://www.net-tex.co.uk/product_page.cfm?pid=233&men=3) and we've also clipped her belly hair back a bit to make it easier to apply. Have to say that since we've been using that she looks loads better and never itches her belly. :D

As to the fit; I wouldn't worry too much about the top of the neck, so long as it doesn't slip down too far. It's not elastic, so shouldn't stretch too much (can't say the same for the belly or leg sections).
Miranda wears a normal fly mask rather than the head section (I think she would have destroyed that in minutes :rolleyes: ), which seems to work fine.

Sorry if you know this all already, but Lizzy and I have spent 3 years with Madam looking at this and going through all of the rubbish on the market which claims to work for sweet itch sufferrers. :) :)

[smiler22]

Oh just one tip. When the horse has been moving around wiht it on there tends to be a bit of er....static on the horse so when you take it off try not to touch the horse as it can give them....and you a rather nasty shock!

[augermoon]

Finally, got some pics of Arnie modelling his outfit.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b301/augermoonarnie/Picture024.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b301/augermoonarnie/Picture030.jpg

[rache]

awww very cute arnie!!!! Showing off i see as normal :cool:

[Big Ears]

he does look smart! hope he enjoys wearing it....

[Clairabel]

Yogi loves to roll in his 'just washed' Boett :rolleyes: I love that I can repair it myself with a standard sewing machine........ :)

Enjoy a happier superman lycia horse! :p

[Bananaman]

Very nice... And you're using the mask too!!! :)
Looking :cool: good :cool: Arnie! :)

Oooh, you got the lighter colour than Miranda's one.

Nice grass for time of year BTW :)

[Moomin]

have you really had people telling you how cruel you are? Actually there's no public at our yard so maybe I've escaped that!

Moo is terribly grateful for her rug - she gets a bit antsy if she thinks I'm putting her out without it. It keeps her lovely and cool.

The only thing I find is that she gets very miserable if she's caught in the rain in it - but then again she hates the rain anyway - but sometimes it has to come off her for a quick spin in the washing machine while she dries off. I try to keep a lightweight turnout on her if it's going to rain (over the boett) - this keeps her happy!

[augermoon]

Luckily, Arnie's field is hidden between a few others so I don't have to suffer the annoyance of 'well-meaning' people taking his rug off.

He hasn't really been out in the rain in it yet but I thought it might be a bit uncomfortable for him. Will have to see how he is next time there is a downpour.

[LesleyR]

I always worry about my boy being uncomfortable in a wet rug but actually they seem to dry off again incredibly quickly. Last week when it absolutely tonked it down all day until late afternoon he actually came in dry enough to ride and certainly no wetter than any of the unrugged horses

[Bananaman]

actually they seem to dry off again incredibly quickly.
Lesley's right about that and I don't think they're uncomfortable wet wet anyhow. One horse at my yard is hosed in his. :eek:
He actually seems to enjoy it and it does keep him cooler (especially in the hot sun of the last few weeks) :)

[Volvic]

Looking good Arnie! :D

[Moomin]

I think the wet thing must be Moo's personal problem - if she gets caught in anything more than a light sprinkling of rain while wearing her Boett she gets all dramatic and starts shivering and looking miserable - even thought she's perfectly warm!!! - and doesn't cheer up until you take it off and put on her drying off rug. Drama Queen!

[Roseanne]

Hi Augermoon-my mare has developed sw for first time in her life-i'm told that rug should not be used if already rubbing, also that an injection can cause laminitis-is this correct? Would appreciate advice-wld like to buy rug.

many thanks

Roseanne

[Big Ears]

my donkey Aimee ws already scabbed when we got one for her, and she wore it straight off, together with fly repellant.

there is a risk that if they are already showing signs of sweetitch and rubbing when they wear the rug they will continue to scratch and damage the rug. but you are going to have that risk anyway.

what you might be able to do is put a lightweight rain mac on top first to protect it - or buy a cheap cheap mesh on and put on top of the boet at first so it takes most of the rubbing

on the other hand, she may be so relieved to not being bitten that she may not rub at all, though you might be best to put soothing cream on any bits first to help them heal.

this year one of my other donkeys, aged 18, had has to wear a rug for the first time so it seems to be a year for it.

[Kanuma]

you can use the rug if he has already started rubbing, but be prepared for him to damage it! i put the boette on then a cheep fly rug over the top till he stopped rubbing.
which injection are you planning on giveing him?
stan is on the sweetich vaccine course (still experimental) and that has had no side affects at all, although it doesnt appear to work at the moment.

[Bananaman]

Big Ears is right, there is a danger of her rubbing it but if you stick a thin rain sheet on top then that should protect it some.

Seriously consider getting some Itch Stop Salve Complete from Nettex (http://www.net-tex.co.uk/product_page.cfm?pid=233&men=3) though. I can't emphasise enough how good this has been on my mare, as she's not scratched AT ALL since having it (even with the Boett she still had a couple of itchy areas). :D

Good luck with it if you do get one... About to get Miranda her third as this one's on the verge of total collapse!!!

[Roseanne]

Thankou all=definitely buying rug and Nettex product. Good luck with your rug Augermoon!

Roseanne

[augermoon]

Roseanne,

Am so sorry - have only just seen your response to my thread. Think the others have told you what you need to know. Just to add Arnie's Sweetitch was well developed when I got his rug. There is definitely some mending of holes to do for the first few weeks but that has now worn off and he looks fabulous with all his mane and tail back - no itching at all. Well worth every penny.