Although Legacy has many rugs there are also a few I'd like to add into her summer wardrobe. So here's my summer rug wishlist.

First up is the Shires Performance Maxi Flow Waterproof Fly Rug

This rug has: 

- A 600D Shiretex waterproof top section

- A breathable top section

- Tough top section to help against any nicks which fly rugs are prone to.

- Lower section made from maxi-flow mesh

- A Neck cover which has the velcro closure

- & an adjustable belly flap for maximum coverage.

• Now Legacy isn't one to majorly summer with the general horse flys but the bot flys just love to chase her around the field. I feel I spend most of my time trying to skill them when I'm with her. I feel this rug would be great as it would help her with the summer sun against her skin, as she goes very dark in the summer she can struggle with the heat throughout the summer. This is great as the British summer weather is so unpredictable you wouldn't know if your going to need a fly rug one day and a light weight from the rain the next, so this doubles up as both and you won't spend most or your time wondering if you need to change the rug or not.  

Next on my list is the Weatherbeeta Kool Coat Combo

This rug has:

- A durable 230 Poly-cotton outer which allows the air to circulate around and keep the horse cool

- It's ideal to keep the sun from bleaching the coat of dark horses

- It keeps the horse clean and cool on the hot and sunny days, it's ideal for horses which absorb the heat

This one rug I know I won't get much use out of but it's also one I think would be vital to have in Legacy's summer wardrobe due to her coat getting darker in the summer. At times she even looks black. Although she does live by the sea and she is lucky to have a breeze to cool her down sometimes from the sea, she does get quite hot throughout the summer when the sun's out. I've chosen the combo neck over the standard with this as I feel she'd need her neck covered as she gets very hot there throughout the summer. I bet this rug wouldn't stay as white as it arrives long though as Legacy would typically go for a roll soon as she's let loose back in the field.

Finally on my list I would be happy with any of these 2, first up is the Shires Tempest 100g standard neck rug. 

 This rug has: 
- 100G quilted filling
-  600D ripstop

- Breathable ShireTex Outer

- Tapered Seams

- Blanket Set Breast Fastenings

- Adjustable Cross Surcingles & Fillet String

& A Tail Flap.

Now Legacy already has a 100g standard neck rug but I would like to have a new one and add it onto my wishlist as the one she already has doesn't fit her as well as this cut of rug does. 
This rug is ideal for the chiller spring/summer/autumn night's where a no fill offers no warmth and doesn't do the job. It has just enough fill to keep Legacy warm throughout those nights. 

The other rug which I would also be happy having under this category would be the Weatherbeeta Comfitec Plus Dynamic Standard Neck 

This rug has:

- 1200D ripstop Outer
- 100g Polyfill
- A Memory foam wither pad to fit to the horses shape and lift the rug off the withers to prevent rubbing.
- 2 Eazi-clips for fast and easy closing
- Large tail flap
- Reflective strips on tail flap and front flaps
- Leg straps
- Side gusset for easy movement. 

There isn't much difference between the 2 of these rugs in terms of what they are used for, okay they have different features and there is one more tougher than the other but I'm very lucky with Legacy and she does look after her rugs and I've never had to throw away a rug due to her wrecking it in the field. She's only had a few nicks here and there. The 2 horses have the medium detach a neck version of this same rug as a spare between the 2 of them, and it's a great fit for them both, lovely high neck for those who struggle to get that in rugs. It leaves them with plenty of room and freedom to run around and the memory foam wither pad is great on Cloudy who is always loosing a bit of this mane to rugs.

Find this rug on EquineSuperstore and get a free miracle brush, currently £66.99 reduced from £79.99, you also get free delivery on orders over £45.

  

Legacy's Take on Bedding

In the 3 winters I've had Legacy I have tried a variation of types of bedding. Most of them have worked well in the beginning and then have just majorly fallen down hill as I thought that plan and type of bedding was working. During the time she's been at the current livery yard she's been in 4 different stables. In these stables her stress levels have been different in each one, this has contributed to how messy each stable has been. Pretty much each variation has included shavings at some point and it even went to the point of trying out different types of shavings. 

All of the stables she's been in have had rubber matting in, so this has been a major help when it comes to putting down a bed for her. When I first had her she was on shavings, in a average stable size she would just poo where she was standing when eating her hay, the only problem with this would be that when she would walk around the stable, the poo would be walked into the shavings. 

Apart from this the main dilemma I've always had with her beddings is that she's very wet, this at times could be to the point there would be a slight puddle in the middle of the shavings if there wasn't a thick enough layer down. 

The bedding variations she's had are:

- Shavings with thick banks and thin bed layer

- Plenty of shavings all around, thick banks and bed layer

- Shavings banks with Megazorb in the middle

- Shavings banks with shavings and wood pellets mixed in

- Wood Pellet banks and bed

- Straw banks and shavings bed

- Shavings banks with straw bed
- We've also tried deep littering her on shavings

Before trying her out on what she's on now she was going through a bale of shavings a day if you were mucking her out properly she was that wet, so I knew I had to find a better alternative for her. She now has Straw all over for banks and bed with a sprinkle of shavings underneath in the middle. This seems to be working well for the time being, and she will probably be on this until she goes out for the summer which I'm hoping will be within the next few weeks if the weather sorts itself out. The shavings layer beneath the straw is enough to soak up the wee from the bedding to make it not so soggy or have wee running through the stable. 

She also seems to be very much less stressed while she's in this stable, she is now next door to Cloudy who she is very close with as their never separated now, being in both summer & winter fields together. He has really seemed to calm her down and it's really helped cut down on her separation anxiety. She still has a few stubborn moments trying to get her into the stable on her own, but with a little persuasion she's much more better and willing to be on her own. 

Here is a quick before & after picture of Legacy's stable. 

Feeding for time of year & Behavior

This time of year can be tricky when it comes to feeding, as your horses will either be coming out of winter well or needing to be fed up. In recent years and this one for sure there isn't grass always readily available to put these horses onto to gain the needed weight, so that's where people start or continue feeding conditioning feed. That can be fine depending on the horses temperament, how much they are worked, if they are on any grass and how much condition they need.

The fresh spring grass that is coming through is full of sugar, there is less sugar in the grass at night but it's still there (tip if you have a laminitic prone horse that has to come in for some time, put them out at night). If you have a horse that can be easily fizzed up through sugar & starch you will be best putting them on a low starch feed. This can be a fibre based feed with mainly chaff, fibre cubes, or a complete fibre feed. Complete fibre feeds are good as they are typically aimed at laminitic horses meaning they will have low or hardly any sugar, but there are also condition fibre feeds out there such as Dengie Healthy tummy or Spillers conditioning fibre. These 2 I've heard have great results on ex racehorses & the Healthy tummy on ulcer prone horses. I've used both of these for Legacy but as a 'chaff' rather than a complete feed as with the size of her she would be going through the bags too fast.
Cubes are also lower in starch than mixes although they are created with the same high ingredients as the mixes. Cubes also cost less to make which means they cost less to buy off the shelf which is always a handy added bonus. When a feed has high starch the blood sugar levels are always changing which can cause the horse to become fizzy at times but when they are on a high fibre low starch feed the blood sugar levels are maintained, meaning you will have a happy horse.

Some horses can be really sensitive when it comes to feeding sugars & starch while others can have it all and still be laid back (these are rare to come across). 

Here are some ingredients in feeds which your horse may be/or react to:

- Molasses (Pure sugar)

- Barley

- Oats

- Beet (through either Sugar Beet or Speedi Beet) 

Allen & Pages Calm & Condition is good as it's molasses & Barley free but some horses can react to the barley replacer that they use. This is something to keep in mind if you ever use this product. If you are feeding a few of the above list and have a fizzy horse my best suggestion is to try and cut some of them out so you can pin point which one is causing any trouble for you.

Not all horses express their excess energy through being fizzy they can become bargy and boulchy to handle. This is where it's important to sort out their feed as they can learn this behavior if not corrected and if left before changing feed they may carry on like this after the feed has been changed. 

I had a scenario with Legacy the first winter I had her, she was in need of a little extra fat on her so she was on a good amount of conditioning mix and she was behaving as normal as she had since I'd had her and she'd been living out August- December. I then moved yards and be became stabled and had ad lib hay in the field & 2 haynets in the stable at night to get her filled up, along with her usual amount of feed but now in 2 meals instead of one ( can anyone see where this is going? haha) anyway the weight started to come on her and when I was riding her in the school she would like to blot off, and at this point she had not been re-mouthed and hated turned corners in any speed above walk. I just through she needed more schooling and it was the racer part of her that wanted to go in an open space in a straight line, I mean she would go from bolting off in a fast canter to dead stop in seconds she hated the corners so much. In the end it got to the day before new years eve last year and she took off, I tried to stop her and she was having none of it, she was up vertically in the air then down to buck and I think this repeated about 3 times before I flew off in the rear. This was my first fall off her and my first fall ever so atleast it was an eventful one. I had to go to A&E with a bad headache as I could still feel the rim of my hat on my head hours later, and I was completely fine and didn't even end up with a bruise. But I learnt the hard way about feeding too much starch  and feeding mixes to a sensitive horse. She's completely fine with sugars but I have to watch the starch. 

Have you had any experiences like this? Did you find this blog post handy? If you'd like more like this let me know.

Chart taken from the Allen & Page website. 

Horseware Ireland Turnout Guide App

It's now got to that time of year where the horses that are kept in for the winter have been turned out, and the worrying that your horse has the right rug on or if you should take the rug off has started, well it definitely has for me.
Last month I found the Horseware Ireland Turnout Guide App it's available for Android and Apple products.

This app is great because you can add in a picture of your horse, then add in their name, choose your location on the map, say the age of your horse, the breed of your horse, say how good they are with condition out of 3 options, if they are clipped or not and if it's a pony. 

After entering all of this your horse will be added, you can add more than one in. 

You then click on you horse and it tells you the weather for your area for the next 5 days and nights. The weather for it isn't 100% correct as its currently about 13C outside and full of sunshine but Legacy still has a lightweight on as there is a chilly wind where she is and she now has her full summer coat and after checking her over she wasn't warm enough for my liking without a coat. As I said this app might not be 100% correct but it gives you a good idea for what to put on your horse when you have no clue what the weather is going to do.

Some more great things about this app is that after you've uploaded a picture of your horse you can try different Rhino, Amigo & Rambo rugs on the picture to see how they fit. You can also tap on the rugs and see the different weights available in certain styles and the app will show you where you can buy them from.

Do you use this app? What do you think about it?

I thought this app was great and it needed to be shared.

 iTunes Link - Android Link - App Website