tips on rug buying (stable and turnout)

Having kept my eye on ebay for rugs for my herd, I've noticed that the bargins are FAST dissapearing!

Don't buy a dud, its worth investing more in a GOOD rug, not just a cheap one.

Tips!

NEVER buy a turnout rug that has been or needs repair to the main body.No matter how hard you try it will neverbe water/ weatherproof again.
Small repairs needed to stable rugs or the straps of turnout rugs are fine if you are handy with a needle but this should be reflected in the price.
Keep in mind that the older the turnout rug the less weather tight it will be, even if it has been "reproofed".
Horses (like people!) come in many shapes and sizes, try to find a brand that fits your horse rather than taking it for granted that any 6 foot rug will fit.
When taking this into account areas such as neck length (for rugs with a rull neck cover) and chest size as these can vary considerably. One rug may fit sung, but another of the same size could have a larger neckhole and slip back, rubbing the shoulders and or withers.
Measure your horse for a rug as normal (middle of chest to point on flank level with base of tail), then measure for your horse, paying special care to chest width, neck length and the point at the start of the whithers (where the rug would sit) to the base of tail. This means that you can ask the seller to measure these points on the rug to ensure a good fit.

Questions to ask the seller.

How many seasons it has been worn.
Why are they selling.
Has it EVER needed repairing.
If it's not a known make where did they buy it from.
Don't be shy, get them to measure EVERYTHING!!

As always with ebay, check out the postage before making the final bid, a lot of rugs are going for almost full retail if you include postage and thats too much for a two or three year old rug.

Brands I recomend.

Horseware (Rhino, rambo, wug and the economical Amigo tick all the boxes, nothing else goes on my horses backs!)
Masta.
Weatherbeta.

Rugs I wouldn't line the dog bed with.

Requiesit. (They don't even model them with horses waring them, they even look like a bad fit in the CATALOUGE!!)

Try as many rugs as you can, through friends, to find the best style and fit for your horse and keep an eye on the RRP, the whole point of ebay is to find a bargin not pay over the odds!!

Happy hunting!

Bagersgirl77