Equilibrium Field Relief Fly Rug - Arriving into stock on the 21st May

Made with your horse’s comfort in mind, the Field Relief Fly Rug will keep them protected from the flies while remaining cool and able to move freely in the field. With a unique hexagonal pattern tested to reduce fly landings by 51% on average when compared to other fly rugs*.

Featuring:

• Anti-rub lining.
• Wither pressure relief panel.
• Shoulder relief shaping
• 90% UVB protection.
• Elasticated surcingles with belly flap.
• Extra-large tail flap.
• Contoured back shaping.

The inspiration behind the Field Relief Horse Fly Rug

We had a few requirements we wanted to address with the Field Relief Fly Rug. First and foremost was comfort. As a rug your horse wears for long periods of time and moves around in all day (and potentially all night), we wanted a rug that would fit from ears to tail for full protection, allow your horse to move and keep them cool. Features like our unique shoulder shaping, as well as our wither relief panel and anti-rub lining, offers space and allows your horse to move with ease.

Secondly, we tested several colours and patterns to see which one flies liked landing on the least! The monochrome hexagonal print had less than half the amount of fly landings when compared to other plain and coloured rugs*, and therefore influenced our design.

What is it made of?

The rug is made up of different panels to allow relief and ease of movement through the high movement areas, as well as those at risk of rubbing.

A quick dry, high stretch panel lines the top of the neck allows a snug fit for protection against flies while preventing against rubbing. The use of a separate panel also eliminates the need for a silky satin lining inside the fly rug mesh, offering a more breathable option with less material.

This neck panel then feeds down to the wither relief panel which is designed so there are no seems on the sensitive and prominent wither area.

Going down from this is our unique shoulder relief shaping, made with extra material to allow your horses shoulder to move without restriction.

The mesh of the rug is designed to be closed enough to restrict biting insects, but open enough to keep the horse cool when the temperatures are warmer. Finally, the material protects against the sun’s harmful rays, offering 77% UVA and 90% UVB protection.

Who is this UV protective fly rug for?

• Horses with a UV sensitivity.
• Horses sensitive to fly irritation​.
• Horses who bleach in the sun.
• Horses prone to sweet itch​.
• Horses who get warm easily.
• Sensitive horses prone to rubbing.

Print Testing to Deter Flies from Landing

Many researchers around the world have been curious as to why flies don’t cause zebras as much distress as other animals. There are several theories for this including light polarization, pattern contrast, pattern size and aliasing (misidentified visual signals that effects landing).

Research into these theories carried out by professors from the University of Bristol in 2020 showed that certain patterns, such as black and white checked rugs had less horse fly landings compared to a plain grey rug. This research was expanded on, again by the University of Bristol, and in 2023 an article was published, that supported the hypothesis that checkboard black and white patterns had significantly fewer landings than uniform grey material.

We wanted to develop a fly rug with this research in mind

We designed a selection of patterns that took inspiration from the research, but also remained aesthetically pleasing.

We have carried out our own testing on a selection of print designs, including plain colours, contrasting black and white, colourful prints and a monochrome hexagonal print. The goal for conducting our fly attraction test was to determine which of the fabric prints or colour choices had the least amount of fly landings. The results of this test would inform design decisions for our fly rug.

Our test method was based on a combination of the methods used by the professors from the University of Bristol and other previous studies that investigated fly landings in cattle.

The Results of the Fly Rug Attraction Test

The results showed that our monochrome hexagonal design had significantly fewer landings than plain colours – The randomised Black & White print didn’t perform as well as expected, we would speculate this was due to there still being larger patches of black within this particular design.

Our chosen monochrome hexagonal print had less than half the amount of fly landings when compared to other tested prints and colours.