Sweetitch rug

No_Angel

No_Angel

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Apr 20, 2003
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A few weeks ago Ceryn killed her Rambo protector fly rug, she has been wearing Shays Rambo fly rug since but it's rubbing her chest slightly as she is wearing it 24/7.

Anyone know of a good rug that she can wear 24/7 that won't rub and will protect her but doesn't cost a fortune?
 
Depends on what you call a fortune, if you have no barbed wire then if you can get a cheap snuggy hood on ebay I would do that as it hasnt rubbed or marked madam at all - and she is difficult to fit rugs too.

Rambo SI hoodys are good, and cheaper new thansnuggy hoods. Laceyfreckle posted a link to a rug on ebay for £40 that was for sweet itch and made of cotton so perhaps look at that? Seems quite nice :)

ETA: What brand of rugs normally fit her?
 
Her Rambo Protector fit her really well and didn't rub, that was a 6ft, Shays Rambo fly rug is a 6ft but has rubbed her chest.

Her Rambo protector worked really well for her but I got it on sale and I don't really want to pay a £80 for another one. She has an aireborn fly rug but she can't wear it 24/7.

I would rather pay around £40 or less, but the chap ones are usually cotton and rip really easily, I need a more resistant one.
 
To be honest the decent SI rugs are more than £40, so unless you get lucky & find one second hand you'll need to increase your budget. Does she need a SI rug, or just a good fly rug?

The Pagony is probably one of the cheaper SI rugs that are actually any good http://www.solva-icelandics.co.uk/pagony.htm

This http://www.derbyhouse.co.uk/prodshow.asp?id=6279&a=srch is on sale at Derby House just for this weekend at £40 (normally £80). I've never seen one though so can't say how good it is!
 
No_Angel said:
That rug is cotton and will probably get killed within a matter on mins.
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Ah see yes Harvey isn't particularly hard on his rugs. You could use a very cheap summer sheet and see if he wreck that if he doesn't then he will probably be fine with the cotton one.

If you wanted something tougher and only need a fly sheet as opposed to a sweet itch rug then I would try something like the Amigo Mio or Bug Rug. Shires do one as well but not sure how good it is although it is a good price and has a belly wrap, neck etc.

If you need a sweet itch rug then the cheapest one I found (although I don't need a sweet itch rug per se) is the pagony but is only suitable for mild-moderate sweet itch and is still about £60. I don't know what they're like as never had one but reviews i've seen have all been good.
 
The amigos aren't tough enough either, the Rambo Protector is a tough rug and lasted about a year and a half but she got stuck in it and ripped it in half, I would probably get another one but I'm not seeing any second hand ones that are cheap enough and I am not going to be paying £80 odd for a new one.

She has sweetitch but she gets it on her back, under her front legs and on her chest instead of on her mane and tail.
 
No_Angel said:
The amigos aren't tough enough either, the Rambo Protector is a tough rug and lasted about a year and a half but she got stuck in it and ripped it in half, I would probably get another one but I'm not seeing any second hand ones that are cheap enough and I am not going to be paying £80 odd for a new one.

She has sweetitch but she gets it on her back, under her front legs and on her chest instead of on her mane and tail.
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If she gets it in those places you definately want something like the Boett, DeMeulenkamp or their cheaper copy the Pagony. All of them have big belly covers & also cover inbetween the front legs so will offer better protection to her than the Rambo Protector.

I hate to say it but if you have a horse with sweet itch you have to be prepared to spend the money on good fly rugs. Cheaper ones just don't work properly - almost inevitably the material isn't midge proof &/or the coverage is insufficient &/or the fit allows the midges to get inside & bite. If you can't or won't pay out for suitable rugs - which have been proven time & again to be crucial in keeping these horses comfortable - then maybe you should have a long hard think about keeping her.
 
The Rambo Protector worked fine, and the rug she has on now is works fine but is a little on the large side and rubbing her, I can control her sweetitch fine thank you and have no intention of selling her just because I don't want to spend £80 on a rug that got ripped in half. I don't think I am asking for the impossible, just a decent hard wearing rug that doesn't cost a fortune.
 
I have used Boett, Demeulencamp & Rambo and they are great but expensive. Cheaper ones haven't worked. My pony goes through rugs regularly - goodness knows how. I have found that my local rug cleaner/repair shop can fix most things. Even totally ripped in half things! And they replace straps etc. It costs £25 for clean & repair. Other than that, I have never found a decent quality sweet itch rug second hand for the price you're thinking. So if you find one (or two!) let me know!
 
I don't think the boett and pagony rugs would stand a chance either, and I am not willing to spend £125 to find out.

She has an aireborn one which works well and it hard wearing and cost about £40 but it doesn't fit her well enough for her to wear it 24/7.

I usually fix all my own rugs, but unfortunately her rambo is beyond repair.
 
Well I went to Robinsons to have a look at the fly rugs yesterday and saw the better quality Masta rug and it seems fairly sturdy and not as easy to rip as the amigo mio, I thought I had seen one on ebay that was half the price so when I got home I searched and hey presto managed to get a 5ft9 for £23 instead of £50 :)
It should arrive soon and I will let you all know how it fares.
 
Good luck. I hope it works. There is a stick sweet itch thread on here worth reading through. We are coping really well with Jess this year, she gets it very badly. I have found that electric fencing is an absolute must for her.
 
if you got one of the cheaper boett types and put the protector on top, that might work as it would stop the rubbing but not be too warm.

I have one donkey in a pagony, which is ok but stretches a lot, another in an old patched boett, the rest in rif raff and one in a rambo protetor.
 

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I'd really recommend the Boett blankets...initall outlay seems alot £180 but Tik wears hers 24/7 Mar - mid October and we're on year 3 and she is very active, and has had quite a year of 'asserting herself as boss' with the other horses so it's withstood quite a battering...will replace next year. it really does the job, I have a Shires fly rug for the pony, but it slips down her neck so she still get's bitten, will be replacing that soon.
Robinsons do an 'anti eczma sheet' for £70 not sure what thats like.
http://www.robinsons-uk.com/product...arentGroupCode=0302&groupCode=03203#sku.52539
 
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