Fly sheet rubbing

[Scarlett 001]

Skeeter gets back reactions to bug bites. Lots of welts and such. And bugs are bad this year in Calgary. So I bought a fly sheet for him - the Kensington type that will dry out quickly if a quick rain shower etc. He has been ripping straps off of it :( So I have a thin fly sheet I bought to use when other one is out being repaired.

I just noticed after 3 weeks of wearing fly sheet he has slight rub marks near his shoulder. Don't know which fly sheet - or if both - is doing it. I don't have money right now to buy a 3rd fly sheet - besides others looked ok in terms of fit. Maybe he just has a difficult shape or is sensitive to blankets etc.

Are you better off with a flysheet snugger around shoulders (so material does not move up and down) or looser I wonder? Maybe I don't have it done up correctly? I am loathe to take off the fly sheet as he does get bad bug bites and welts. What should I do, do you think?

[helenc]

you can get lycra vests to go over the shoulders & stop the rubbing - they are about £10 here in the UK

[Janicexr]

Yeah i have the same with my fly rug - its rubbed 1 shoulder. It has shoulder guesets too. :( :(

poor chaps - it was soo hot this weekend i felt quite guilty putting it on him.

[galadriel]

Duch gets shoulder rubs in her canvas sheet. It is a little too loose for her in the shoulders (in addition to bad neck hole design). I've had some luck with lining the shoulders with knit cotton; you could probably do the same with the lycra material used for shoulder protectors. I'd think a shoulder protector plus a flysheet might be a little warm for summer, but putting a lycra lining on the shoulder might be less restrictive/less hot.

Incidentally, since you know someone who does sheet repair ;) I'll mention this too: Before it gets time to use these again, I'm planning to alter them so they fit around the shoulder better. I'll put the sheet on, open the front, and move it around until the neck is about the way it ought to be (tighter, more closed through the neck). I'll probably have to angle the front halves down a little, so it won't have a nice clean edge anymore--but still better if the fit improves. Once I get it positioned right, I'll take a marker and trace around the edge of the half on top to the half on bottom, to get a clear idea of where they need to meet.

These are the kind with grommet holes in the front through which you put straps. I'll take a grommet punch and grommets and just make some new holes. It should be pretty east to have straps & buckles moved just the same way, if you've got straps at the front. You might also be able to have the edging altered if the appearance ends up not pleasing you ;) Should be relatively inexpensive just to have some straps moved or some grommets put in.

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On the other hand, is there some reason you don't just have him flysprayed? It'd take about the same amount of time as putting on/taking off a flysheet...or do you usually just leave it on him all day? With a relatively long-lasting flyspray, I can spray the girls on the evening and have it last until the morning *after* the next morning...so once a day whenever you happen to be there should be quite enough. My girlies wear flymasks but all-over flyspray suffices for the rest.

[Styric]

My horse gets a rub on one shoulder and his withers from his fly sheet too even though it fits right. We finally found out it's because of him being rambunctious outside and our resident blanket puller (that's one evil horse, generates 90% of the repairs around). But anyways, we sewed fleece over the rub area on the underside of the sheet, and over the withers and haven't had a problem since.