What’s the purpose of an exercise rug?

During winter you often see exercise rug in the arena. But what do you use them for and how does it benefit your horse? Read it in our newest blog post.

Benefits of an exercise rug

An exercise rug is often used on clipped horses during winter but can of course also be used on non-clipped horses when the weather is cold. The rug can be used during the warming up to warm the muscles, but also during riding to keep the muscles warm. After the training, you can put the rug back on to avoid that the muscles cool down too fast, and so avoid sore muscles.  

You can compare it to your winter jacket. You start warming up with the jacket, but after a couple of minutes you take it off because your muscles are warm. After training, you put the jacket back on to avoid cold (and sore) muscles.

How to choose an exercise rug?

There are a lot of different exercise rugs, for example, the riding rug heavy fleece. This rug is fastened in front of your saddle with a strong hook and loop closure. There’s also a cutout for the saddle and where your legs are, so you can still have close contact with your horse. But what’s best about this rug is the material. The riding rug is made from our heavy fleece material. This fabric is super warm and soft, but still very breathable. For an exercise rug, this is the perfect material because after a workout it will evaporate sweat. This helps your horse to cool down faster.

The quarter rug heavy fleece is made from the same heavy fleece material as the riding rug. The only difference here is the shape of the rug. Instead of closing in front of the saddle, the quarter rug is attached to the girth straps of the saddle. So, the same benefits, just a different style.

If your horse needs a little more warmth, we also have a riding rug and a quarter rug with 160g filling. For extra softness, the rug is lined with our popular artificial rabbit skin. The lining will also polish the horse’s hairs, which is very convenient when you’re warming up your horse for a show.

If you love riding outdoors during the winter but want to be prepared for rain or snow, the all weather exercise rugs are the rugs you’re looking for. These rugs are a 3 in one rug. It has the 160g filling to keep your horse warm, a waterproof and breathable layer and, an artificial rabbit skin lining for extra softness. The all weather exercise rugs come in riding rug and quarter rug shapes.

Not only during walking but also in the walker or during lunging you can keep your horse warm with our walker rug. This rug has a cut-out for the shoulder parts, so the horse can move freely. There’s also a waterproof version of the walker rug. Both rugs are lined with artificial rabbit skin for extra warmth and comfort.

Which size to choose

Choosing the right size of exercise rug is important to avoid your horse gets cold. If the rug is too big, the wind will blow under the rug, even with the tail cord, and have no effect. If the rug is too small, not every part of the horse is covered. Which means the rug cannot protect all the vital parts of your horse.

Our riding and quarter rugs come in sizes M and L. A medium size is recommended for a horse with rug size 125 to 140. A large size is recommended for horses with sizes 145 to 160. The walker rugs are available in sizes 140, 145, and 155.