horse rugs – sizing chart

If you are looking for a rug for your horse, and you do not have another rug to take measurements from, here are some instructions on how to measure your horse.

To measure length: Measure your horse from the chest to the back of the rump, beneath the top of the tail (the dock) You should also measure from the wither (at the base of the neck) to the dock.

For neck measurements: Measure from the front of the wither down the shoulder to a point level to the top of the chest.

Below is a horse rug sizing chart, but please note this is a guide only, as there are other factors to consider when sizing a horse rug, ie the breed and build of your horse.

Horse Rug Sizing Guide
Height of horse (in hands)	British sizes (centre of chest to tail)	Continental sizes (wither to tail in cm)	Exercise sheet sizes
17.2	7′0”	155	5′3”
17.0	6′9”	150	5′0”
16.2	6′6”	145	4′9”
16.0	6′3”	140	4′9”
15.2	6′0”	135	4′6”
15.0	5′9”	130	4′3”
14.2	5′6”	125	4′0”
14.0	5′3”	120	4′0”
13.2	5′0”	115	4′0”
13.0	4′9”	110	3′9”
12.2	4′6”	105	3′9”
12.0	4′3”	100	3′6”
11.2	4′0	95
11.0	3′9”	90

10.2

3′6”

85

Catch me if you can

As both my ponies were rescued, and suffered greatly at the hands of people who were less than gentle with them, they both literally gave me the run around in the early days. My rescued mare would not let me near her in the paddock. She had become so defensive and I suspect that as she is prone to laminitis (something that soon made itself known) one of her previous owners had more than likely dealt with the situation by shutting her in a stable and never letting her out. She was practically stable phobic. But, at the livery yard where I kept her, she was turned out in a small, well grazed paddock, so laminitis risks were low, catching her though, seemed an impossibility.

I was at a loss, but I didn’t want to take the advice of everyone at the yard. They kept saying things like ‘Don’t let her get away with it’ ‘She’s just playing a game’ ‘She’s taking the mick out of you’ etc etc. But I didn’t see it like that. I saw a pony that had been abused and simply had enough of humans thank you very much! People offered me their help in various different ways of ’rounding her up’ or cornering her. To me, it just seemed pointless, and would just perpetuate her mistrust of humans. So, I decided to listen to my gut instinct and let her come to me. Ok, it’s not revolutionary, and it isn’t quick, but I wanted her to come to me because she wanted to, not because she had to.

For some strange reason, some horse owners at livery yards don’t make it easy for you if you want to try something different, break away from the norm, they can even seem determined to convince you that what you’re trying is a waste of time, and cannot possibly work. If this sounds familiar, ignore the doubters, ignore everything but your gut instinct. After all, you’re the one who knows your own horse better than anyone.

So, with ’stick to your guns’ as a mantra in my head, I set about on a mission for my pony (who, by the way, thought I was a pain in the backside!) to want to be at my side, or at least want to have a headcollar put on and be led out of the paddock. I took a book or a magazine with me every morning and went and sat in her paddock and read. I did this every day much to the amusement of my fellow horse owners, who all thought I was completely barking mad. Like I said, this wasn’t a quick fix, and yes, it took a long time, but it worked and I truly believe that this was the foundation for the wonderful relationship we have now, which is based on trust and understanding.

The first day that she approached me I didn’t try to put a headcollar on her, I didn’t even have one with me. I just did nothing and let her stay with me for as long as she wanted. (she wasn’t with me for long on that first day) Gradually the time she spent with me increased and I got to the point where she let me stroke her. Next, when she came over to me, I stood up and stroked her, no problems. I started taking a headcollar into the field with me, but I still didn’t try to attempt to put it on her, I just kept it laying on the ground with the books and magazines. The next step was to have the headcollar in my hand when she was with me. There were still no problems, ie she didn’t run off. When it came to actually putting the headcollar on her, it was actually easy and caused no problems at all. By that time, she was just so used to me being around and not trying to do anything, that she just accepted the whole thing.

This is a special case, and it took a longer than normal time because the pony was a rescued one, and because I was new to it and was just going on my own instinct. But with my next rescued pony, and in fact, every horse or pony that people have asked me for help with, it is just a question of patience. I’m not saying sit in a field for months, that was my first experience at catching a horse that doesn’t want to be caught. But I am saying if you want it to work long term, then be prepared for it to take time.

It seems that a lot of horse owners would rather stick a headcollar on a horse and turn it out in that rather than deal with catching problems, even though it’s known to be risky and be the cause of some nasty accidents.

I find the way that works best for me is to just go into the field without a headcollar, simply to pet the horse, and then just walk away again. Once you’ve done that a few times, you should be able to go in and put a headcollar on but then take it straight off again and then walk away. If you find that as soon as you produce a headcollar, the horse goes back to square one and runs away, then go back to square one yourself and return to going into the field without the headcollar just to pet your horse. Perseverance is the key, as is a calm attitude, even though sometimes you may want to scream and swear very loudly and have absolutely nothing more to do with horses, ever. (well, I sometimes feel that way!) It can be frustrating, and that’s an understatement, but the more wound up you become, the more your horse will know about it – Never underestimate how tuned in horses are to our feelings! Variety seems to work wonders too, so say, for instance, that a horse has become used to being brought in for the field only to be ridden, he/she isn’t going to be particularly keen on being caught. (unsurprisingly) It helps to bring the horse in just to be groomed and then turn it back out straight afterwards. Or bring the horse in and do something different with it, ie a walk in-hand, anything to break the pattern of catch=being ridden.

If your horse has got an aversion to headcollars (and some do) something that worked very well for me with one of my rescued ponies was to show my pony the headcollar, let him sniff the headcollar, and ‘reward’ him by taking it away, which led to him becoming more curious about it and therefore wanting to ‘know more about it’. I’m no Pat Parelli, but these natural horsemanship techniques have been invaluable in my daily relationship with my ponies.

Further reading:

Web:
Parelli – Catching Problems

Books:
Kelly Marks: Catching Made Easy (Intelligent Horsemanship)

Kelly Marks – Perfect Manners – How to behave so your horse does too