Rachael's Corner: Sell Your Unwanted Horsey Gear at Tictac Equestrian!

Do you have lots of unwanted equestrian clothing, rugs, boots, tack etc. lying around? Well in the Tictac Equestrian office today we have been chatting about our new exciting idea for our website and would like to hear what you all think!

 

Advertising anything you may have can be expensive and time consuming; often making you feel that you may have been better off keeping it! I know I've had that feeling before when i sold my saddle and websites take commission for advertising. At Tictac Equestrian, we were thinking about making a page on our busy website where you can sell any of your unwanted items, new or used, with little stress and of course it would be absolutely free!

What do you think about our idea? Would you use this service? We would love to hear from you. Contact us through our Facebook or Twitter.

To rug or not to rug - advice on winter horse rugs

For a great selection of rugs,
check out the Tic Tac Equestrian store

Horse rugs form an essential part of proper modern horse care, and a lot of thought needs to go into deciding when and on what occasions to use different types of rugs. However, this doesn't need to be confusing and does not take long to get into a useful routine. 

To help you with this area of horse care, we've compiled a series of helpful tips, highlighting notable differences between all common rug types and when or when not to use them: 

Turnout Rugs

A horse turnout rug is generally used throughout all seasons (with the exception of the middle of summer) to keep the horse warm and dry out in the pasture. Of course, horses are naturally built to withstand winter weather by growing thick coats and as a result, they have the ability to stay warm in the winter without the use of turnout rug, if they aren't clipped. However, many horse owners tend to use rugs anyway.

Winter Turnout rugs

Throughout the winter, you will likley need a turnout rug that is much thicker; one which is both windproof and waterproof to keep your horse warm in all conditions. For a full selection of winter rugs, feel free to visit the Tic Tac store.

Spring/Summer rugs

On milder days, your choice of horse rug will need to be less thick, as there is less need for maintaining a horse's body heat. Many rugs that fall into this category are generally just meant to keep off summer showers and breezes although some of these, which have extra layers underneath, can still be used in the winter.

Stable blankets are also an essential piece of horse equipment to ensure comfort, care and protection throughout the winter months and as the name suggests, they are designed primarily to be used in the stable to keep the horse warm. Stable horse rugs are generally not waterproof, however, these can be used underneath a turnout rug to increase warmth.

As for other types of horse rugs, fly sheets help to keep off flies in the summer which can cause irritation or even lead to potentially serious diseases in horses. Whereas Show Rugs are used to protect a horse’s coat before a horse show to ensure that you don’t have to do any extra grooming.

Mark Todd mediumweight stable rug

I have a horse that competes every weekend, which is therefore stabled inside every night meaning I was on the hunt for a stable rug. I purchased the Mark Todd mediumweight stable rug because it suited the job perfectly. The 600 denier rug features a 250g filling with nylon lining. I find that this rug is great for keeping the horse cosy with a snug fit, which provides breathability, but also incorporates a tough outer layer making the rug durable preventing any rips and tears from occurring. The Mark Todd mediumweight stable rug also features a sheepskin wither pad providing additional comfort for the horse.

The shape and design of the rug allows it to fit the horse neatly around the front end. I find that an issue with some rugs is that they can rub the shoulders of the horse creating ugly bald patches, however this rug eliminates this problem due to the inner layer of the rug which is made from re-inforced nylon creating an anti-rub shoulder lining. This reduces the friction between the rug and the horse’s shoulders when it moves due to the ‘lubricated’ material. The mark todd mediumweight stable rug also incorporates d-rings for an optional neck cover to be attached which has anti-rub lining and fleece poll protection. This creates a versatile aspect, which also attracted me to buying the rug. The Mark Todd mediumweight stable rug is available to purchase from TicTac Equestrian from £59.99.

Equiport Saddlecloth Forward Cut

Equiport Saddlecloth Forward Cut are by far my favourite saddlecloth for my close contact jumping saddle. As I had difficulty selecting the correct fit for my saddle when I came across this on TicTac Equestrian. It is a more forward cut saddlecloth adding to the style and comfort for my horse. With an extensive choice of fabric, outer binding and rope piping colours you can literally pick any colour combination in your imagination, which helps the picky customers and searching for the right colours to suit your taste. Velcro attachments for the lowergirth straps allows for easy attachment to the girth.

The reason I love this saddlecloth so much is the durability of the saddlecloth and that it washes up like new every time it's put in the washing machine. As standard these Equiport saddlecloths are made from 100 per cent quilted cotton, which add to the comfort for the horse. The saddlecloth is priced at £34.99 at TicTac Equestrian.

Mark Todd Equestrian Rugs

When it comest to finding the best turnout rugs for your horse we are faced with many challenging questions.  Here we are going to try to answer some of your questions based on our experience.

If you decided to select by price is it "an expensive horse rugs that last longer" or "cheap horse rugs – it doesn't matter if it rips"?  We have come to find that both these statements are not exactly true!  

Expensive rugs, such as the incredible Fal Pro range are certainly built to last, but no rug, yet, is fully rip proof.  These rugs however are designed with much stronger more durable stitching and offer great waterproofing and warmth against the elements.  I personally am cautious of layering horse rugs (more straps and layers offer more means for an incident), so if you have a fine horse, who struggles with the elements and needs extra warmth, then these are great turnout rugs for you.  Equally, however, I am very partial to the Mark Todd Turnout range.  These rugs are certainly much cheaper (middle of the range priced horse rugs), but have an amazing fit on my warmbloods.