Sunday, March 27, 2011

Going For the Best Turnout Rugs

By Ana Wallace


Turnout rugs are useful to have around to protect horse from the elements. Much like people, horses experience an elevated risk of various illnesses when constantly exposed to extreme weather conditions like excessive rain or cold. For this reason, it would be a good idea to have the proper turnout rugs ready for each horse. But what is the proper one for your horse? The purpose of this article is to help you make this choice by providing important information about the three basic types of turnout rugs based on their weight. So, if you're a horseowner who's on the fence about which type of turnout rug to get for your beloved pet, then read on as you might find helpful information in the succeeding paragraphs.

There are a few crucial factors to determine whether a horse rug is well suited for your horse. However, the more important ones are that they should be made of breathable, waterproof materials and that they should be of the right weight for your horse. After all, what you want is to protect your pet and not burden it. Let's talk about determining the proper type based on weight.

Basically, there are three types of turnout rugs based on weight: Lightweight, Medium and Heavy

Lightweight turnout rugs = These rugs are for horses which have more or less ample protection in the form of their winter coat. Another thing to consider is that the horses should have enough muscle and fat and are not too thin or old. One may also use this when the temperatures haven't dropped too low or if the rains aren't to heavy.

Medium turnout rugs = This type of rug must be used for horses with more or less medium built and are generally chosen when a lightweight one is unable to give adequate protection for the horse.

Heavy turnout rugs = These kinds of rugs are regularly intended for skinny or old horses as well as for those with very thin hair or coating. These types of horses normally don't fare too well against extremely low temperatures and heavy rains.When temperature ranges fall to single digits or lower, it could possibly be a great idea to make use of this type of rug for your horse.

Just a reminder though, in case you are still undecided which kind of turnout rug to use for your horse, it really is a healthier choice to go with a lightweight one first. That way, if you're wrong(and the horse needs more protection and warmth), it's easy to just purchase another one and add a layer of protection on top of it. Remember that the heavier the turnout rug gets, the more expensive it costs as well. Discovering you need a lightweight horse rug after you've already obtained a heavy one can turn out to be an costly mistake to make. So as much as possible, prevent this mistake by thinking about the tips we supplied above and making the proper selection .




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