What's the purpose of an excercise rug? Does it really keep your horse warmn just on rhe hindquarters? But don't horses usually heat up with work. Can it be used walk,trot canter and too jump? I just want to know the purpose of this.
It used to keep horses warm during work, mainly horses that are body clipped and don't have any hair to protect themselves from the cold. It's especially great for before warm up and to help with cool down as well. Several have ones that wrap around the riders legs as well to help keep them warm too. You can ride in all the gaits with it, although I haven't seen many people jump with them.
I use an exercise sheet in the winter when walking out to keep my horse warm as her back is clipped. I use mine for slow work or for warming up when riding as I can remove mine whilst riding as it wraps around the saddle. Generally you wouldn't need it once you start cantering and jumping. The other reason for using one is for visibility. Mine is fluorescent yellow so I use it as high viz gear when hacking out.
Exercise rugs are mainly used on horses that have a poor coat or are clipped to give them a bit of extra warmth in the winter. They are primarily used to put on a horse when doing work such as hacking or activities that involves a lot of walking or some trotting. They arent really used so much when they horse is in harder work like cantering and jumping as the horse will be working harder and get hotter easier and there is the risk of the rug flapping which might scare the horse when working in faster paces. These rugs are often also used just to put over a horse to keep them warm when they are standing around waiting for a competition or the likes to start. xx
