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What should you be thinking about when purchasing a blanket or sheet for your horse or pony.
The days of the traditional New Zealand Rug made from waxed canvas with a simple lining have faded fast. Today there are such a variety of rugs available it can be quite a challenge to decide on the correct one to use on your horse at a particular time of year.
Before deciding which Turnout blanket to buy, you must first of all consider why your horse needs to be rugged up. In winter the horse blanket chosen will depend upon several factors including:
Weather conditions - the colder, wetter and windier, the heavier the rug required.
Degree of shelter in the field - good hedges, walls or a field shelter decrease exposure to the elements.
Breed and age of the horse - the older the horse and the finer the breed, the more he will feel the cold.
Style of clip - the more hair that is removed, the heavier the horse blanket needed.
Next look at the weights available. Rambo Turnouts come in a choice of three weights:
Heavy - A super warm quilt with 370g filling : found in the entire Rambo Turnout range: Rambo Original and Rambo Wug. And the entire Rhino Turnout range : Rhino Original and Rhino Wug and the Rhino Wug Plus. And don't forget the Rambo Supreme.
Medium - A warm quilt with a 200g filling: found in the entire Rambo and Rhino Turnout ranges. And in the Amigo.
Lite - Lightweight turnout with nylon lining: again in the entire Rambo and Rhino Turnout ranges, and in the Amigo Turnout.
Taking these factors into consideration it is possible to decide which weight of horse blanket is appropriate for your horse or pony:
Heavy - Suitable for fully clipped horses or for partly clipped horses in very cold, wet weather.
Medium - Suitable for clipped horses in milder weather or for fine unclipped horses on cold, wet days.
Lite - Ideal for unclipped horses in the cold and wet or for uncertain spring/autumn conditions. Also useful to keep coats clean during the summer months.
It is clear that no rug will do in all situations and most of us are not lucky enough to be able to buy all rugs! What you need to do is decide which rug would be appropriate in your situation most of the time. For example, there is no point in going for the Rambo Lite if you live in a cold, exposed area - or opting for the Heavy version if your unclipped horse enjoys a mild location. As a general rule, buy the rug that will suit the weather that will hit where you live in winter. It is easier to remove a rug if the horse gets too hot than make him warmer if the rug is too light.
Which ever rug you decide upon, it is important to keep a careful eye on your horse when he first begins wearing a new rug. For part-clipped horses it may be necessary to remove it for part of the day if he becomes too warm. Which ever Rambo rug you decide upon, you can be certain that it is the best your horse can get!
WeatherBeeta offers a wide range from the Taka, Arion, Orican, Landa and Saxons. Different fill weights and different deniers.
Now you've chosen which rug is most suitable for your horse, you must decide what size rug to get.
The fit of your rug is extremely important in order to ensure the comfort of your horse and to prevent rubbing and slippage of the rug.
As horses of the same height at the wither come in a variety of shapes and sizes, it is useful to take certain additional measurements of your horse. The following three are the most important to take into account when buying your rug:
The length of the rug - the distance from the centre of the chest to the rear of the quarters where you expect the rug to finish.
The distance from the wither to the top of the tail.
The width of the girth - a broad horse may need a bigger rug than a thinner one of the same height.
Taking these measurements into account will ensure that you are able to choose the best possible fit of rug for your individual horse and thereby make sure that he is as comfortable as possible. Also take into account that your horse will probably require one size larger for his turnout rug than for his stable rug. Horseware rugs are sized in three inch increments. This measurement refers to the distance from the centre of the chest to the rear of the quarters where you expect the rug to finish.
Fitting Your Rug
There are several things that you should look for to ensure that your rug fits your horse well and comfortably:
The withers - It is essential that the rug fits well up the neck and beyond the withers to ensure that excessive pressure is not put either on the point of shoulder or directly on the wither. A well fitting rug should lie about 2-4 inches in front of the withers.
The shoulders - The outside edge of the rug should lie well in front of the shoulder to allow for the free movement of the shoulders. All Horseware rugs are extremely well fitted around the neck. The RAMBO® WUG incorporates a new patented front closure system where the top strap instead of being horizontal is at an angle and lies along the groove between the horse's shoulder and neck. This "V" formation transfers the pressure above the point of shoulder, which lies between the straps. This maximises the freedom of movement of the horse and also prevents rain from entering the front of the rug.
The rump - The rug should be a snug fit over the rump, which is facilitated through darting of the rug. The end of the rug, where the tail flap is attached, should finish just as the tail starts. The belly - this should not be visible under the rug!
The fillet string - It is essential that on all Turnout rugs the fillet string is attached and fitted under the horse's tail. This is vital to ensure that it is not possible for the back of the rug to be blown forward in severe wind. Should the fillet string break, we advise that a piece of cord be used as a temporary or permanent replacement.
AquaTrans Technology
In 1992 Horseware revolutionised the Turnout market by introducing the Rambo Turnout, the first truly waterproof and breathable blanket that really worked, using hydrophilic coating technology called AquaTrans.
Basically, there are two ways that a fabric can be made waterproof and breathable. Firstly by the use of multiporous laminates, relying on the mechanical transfer of water molecules through tiny holes, large enough for a water molecule to pass through but too small for a water droplet to pass through. This porous material is normally heat transferred on to a carrier material.
The alternative is the use of hydrophilic coating technology, which is the chemical transfer of water molecules through a solid continuous barrier applied directly to the fabric. The Hydrophilic (which means water loving that is water attracting) coating soaks up the moisture like a sponge and the heat differential between the inside ands the outside pushes the moisture to the outside.
Horseware chose to develop the hydrophilic technology, now known as AquaTrans. The main reason for this is that the use of multiporous laminates has two major drawbacks when used in the equestrian environment. Firstly, the tiny holes or pores can become clogged with dirt, grease and salts. Secondly, there is the danger that laminated breathable fabrics will breakdown and delaminate after extended use especially when laminated to heavier fabrics as are required for outdoor use.
The AquaTrans Hydrophilic coating is a solid continuous barrier applied directly to the fabric and therefore unlike multiporous laminated fabrics there are no pores to get clogged. Since it is directly coated on to the fabrics it has very high adhesion properties - unlike some laminated breathable fabrics which can breakdown and delaminate after extended use in hostile equestrian environment.
While in theory hydrophilic technology may not be quite as efficient as multiporous laminates, in practical terms it the equestrian environment they have proved more durable and economical.
Breathability
The breathability of a fabric is measured by the amount of water vapour, which can be transmitted through a square metre of that fabric over a 24-hour period under certain conditions. AquaTrans coating allows, on average, 3 litres of water per square metre per 24 hours. This is known as the Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate, or MVTR. What this actually means to your horse is that the average size rug will allow up to 9 litres or 2 gallons of sweat to escape in a day! Obviously a fabric that is not waterproof will have high breathability so this must be measured as well.
Waterproofness
Waterproofness can be a very subjective term with words like showerproof and water resistant sometimes being used . The term hydrostatic head is used to denote the amount of pressure of water that is required in order to penetrate a given fabric. In order to measure the amount of this pressure a column of water is pressed against the fabric and the height of the column is increased until the water penetrates the fabric. The British Ministry of Defence definition for a waterproof fabric is that it must resist a column of water at least eighty centimetres high. Every batch of fabric that is coated for HORESWARE is tested and must resist a column of water at least a hundred and fifty centimetres, that is five feet high. And this is the minimum acceptable standard. Normally most of our fabrics have hydrostatic head of at least 300 centimetres and so that after years of use it should still maintain hydrostatic head of at least 100 centimetres plus.
Wicking
After exercise, in order for the hot horse not to catch a chill, it is vital that he be kept warm while at the same time he is dried off as quickly as possible. Cooler rugs, such as the Rambo cotton cooler and Rambo net cooler, allow the horse to stay warm as he cools down. Some rugs, however, are referred to as having good "wicking" properties.
Wicking refers to the transfer of water molecules from one medium to another. In relation to the cooling of horses, we need the water (sweat) on the horse's body to be transferred into the air, and a wicking rug is used to speed up this process. A rug with good wicking properties will absorb the moisture from the horse's body and transfer it into the air quickly and effectively. Some rugs which are particularly good at this job include the Rambo Supreme Fleece, Rambo Original Fleece, Rhino Fleece for horses and ponies, and the Amigo Jersey Cooler.
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