Yard how-to guides

How to correctly do up a rug

How to do all the straps up correctly on a rug.

Steps

  1. Order matters
    Always do the chest straps first when putting the rug on. If the horse spooks before the back is secured, the rug won't slip backward and tangle in their hind legs
  2. Put the rug onto the horse
    Put the rug on. Slide the rug gently backward into its natural position. Fasten the front chest straps. You should be able to fit a flat hand (about four fingers) between the rug and the horse's chest to ensure it isn't too tight. Make sure straps are tucked in. ALWAYS MAKE SURE CLIPS ARE FACING INWARDS
  3. Fasten the belly straps
    Move to the side and fasten the belly straps (surcingles) underneath the horse. If the rug has two straps, do the back one, then the front one. If it has three, do the middle one first. Always cross the two straps over under the belly. You should be able to fit a hand's width of space between the straps and the horse's tummy.
  4. Secure the back leg straps
    If the rug has leg straps. Pass the left strap around the left hind leg and clip it to the left side. Pass the right strap around the right hind leg, loop it through the left strap, and clip it to the right side. This creates a figure-eight that stops the rug from slipping.
  5. Tail strap if your rug doesn't have leg straps
    If your rug doesn't have leg straps, it will have a cord or strap that passes under the horse's tail to stop the wind from blowing the rug up.
  6. Fastening the neck park of a rug
    If your horse has a neck part to his rug. Make sure this is fastened and all straps tucked in
  7. When removing a rug
    Undo the leg/tail straps first and the chest straps last.

Where these guides come from

Every guide here was written inside Horsepower by a real yard, for the people who work on it — the sort of thing that usually lives on a laminated sheet in the feed room or in one person's head. Horsepower keeps them alongside everything else the yard runs on: horse records, vet and farrier history with due-date reminders, the shared calendar, feed plans, paddocks and turnout, team messaging and billing. Native iOS and Android apps plus the web, and it's free for yards with up to three horses.

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