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Question:

How to put on a horse rug?

This must sound like a really dumb question, but...I'm still a novice with horses, and one of my stable jobs is putting rugs on the horses to be turned out.And I have quite a lot of trouble getting the rugs on, especially as the horses are 17-18 hands, and the rugs are volumus! I end up with them spilling about in my arms, and by the time the thing is on the horses back, it's inside-out! I feel such an idiot when people are watching me!I wonder if anyone here could give me some tips, especially on how to have the rug before putting it on, and how to actually get it up on the horses back in the first place, without getting in a mess.

Answer:

There are two basic types of blankets; those that open in front and those that you must put over the horse's head (closed front) For blankets that open infront, normally, there is extra padding (usually white at the whithers. At the back, there is a tail flap. If you grab the padding in one hand and the tail flap in the other, it makes it much easier to swing over the horse's body. For blankets that are closed in the front, the first thing you have to do is put the horse's head through the front. In order to do this without it being inside-out, check and make sure the buckles are on the outside. If the horse is really tall, and you are short (like me) ask the horse to lower its head by doing short gentle tugs on the lead rope (if you just hold, the horse will most likely just throw its head up)
first; look at the blanket find the front and back, and make sure it is not inside out, look at the buckles and straps to help second; look at rug as you would see it on a horse, hold it out straight in front of you. put a hand on the withers of the rug and a hand where the seam is across the bum to the tail flap, then i usually fold the font part where the withers are back to the bottom of the rug so it is folded in half showing half the inside of the rug and the breast stapes are one each side. thirdly; stand on the horses left side, hold on to rug with a hand at the front fold(which is technically the middle of the rug as you have folded it) and a hand at the back holding the withers and the back seam together. throw it with a sweep pull the withers back from the back of the rug then adjust to make sure it is level on each side, do up breast stapes the tail, the lastly belly, i know it is embarrassing but ask for help if you get stuck, people prefer you to ask ins-ted of you getting wrong and catching a horse with a buckle etc... or you injuring yourself... and just keep practicing ;0)
The trick is to flatten the rug out on the ground upside down, hold the front of the rug either side of the neck opening. Swing the rug up and over the horse so that the rug lands the right side up. This needs to be done at the right speed so that the rug sails over the back of the horse and lands in the middle... Think of a matador's cape.
Horse Rug Buckles
it is a bit of a case of trying to flip it up onto horses back, just takes practise with the big boys!!!! to do it the bhs way fold the rug in half with the tail flap on top of the neck bit, flip it onto the horses neck, well up on the neck, fasten front buckles/clips. fold the back half of the rug back into place over the bum and fix surcingles/clasps at side then any fillet string/leg straps at the back. you can tug it back a little but dont pull it back completely snug against the horses chest as th rug will pull back during the day so its good to have a bit of give to start with. this is tghe correct way to do it (albeit ithout the pinickity little bits like clipping up the unused straps etc!!!) definately before putting it on have it folded in half across the way tho - working with a half size is much easier. hold it halfway down as you flip so the momentum carries the far side of the rug over the back then use the front bit to give a bit of a tug and push to get it squared up!!!! dont worry about the people watching - nobody looks cool putting a rug on a massive horse!!!!! just practise and finding your own routine will make this job go quickly (you'll be doing it all in 30 seconds or less before you know it).

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