Education Zone

When choosing a rug for your horse, comfort is just as important as warmth. One of the key measures of comfort is water vapour permeability – essentially, how well a fabric allows moisture (sweat and natural body vapour) to pass through it. What is Water Vapour Permeability Testing? Water vapour permeability (WVP) testing measures how much water vapour can pass through a material over a set period. Results are usually expressed in grams per square metre (g/m²), showing how many grams of vapour pass through one square metre of fabric in 24 hours.A higher number means the material is more breathable, allowing moisture to escape instead of becoming trapped against the horse’s skin. A Rough Guide to Breathability While scales can vary between industries, a useful guide for equestrian textiles is: Under 500 g/m² → Low breathability (suitable for warmth but may trap moisture) 500–1000 g/m² → Moderate breathability (suitable for stable use or rugs worn at rest) 1000+ g/m² → High breathability (ideal for active use or performance wear) Where Does Our Magnetic Rug Sit on This Scale? Our Magnetic Rug scored 1166.25 g/m² in WVP testing. This places it in the high breathability range.This means it allows excellent vapour transfer making it suitable for use all year round, helping prevent trapped moisture. Find out more about the Magnetic Rug here.

If you’ve ever shopped for a horse rug—especially a turnout rug—you’ve likely come across the word “denier”. But what exactly does it mean, and why is it important when choosing protection for your horse?In this guide, we’ll break down what rug denier is, how it affects durability and performance, and why choosing the right denier matters more than you might think—especially if your horse is turned out daily, loves to roll, or is a known rug-wrecker. What Is Rug Denier? Denier (D) is a measure of the thickness (or density) of the individual yarns used to weave a fabric. Technically, it refers to the weight in grams of 9,000 metres of the fibre used.- A higher denier means thicker threads → stronger, more durable fabric- A lower denier means finer threads → lighter fabricIn horse rugs, denier usually refers to the outer shell fabric—typically made of polyester or nylon—which is responsible for the rug’s tear strength, abrasion resistance, and overall toughness. Why Is Denier Important in Turnout Rugs? Turnout rugs are exposed to a lot—weather, mud, rubbing, biting, rolling, and rough play. The denier rating of the outer fabric plays a huge role in how well your rug holds up.1. Durability & Tear ResistanceA higher denier offers greater resistance to rips and punctures. The new Equilibrium Endure Turnout Rug uses a strong 1680D outer, making it one of the most durable rugs on the market.2. Weather ProtectionHigh-denier rugs also offer better wind and water resistance. Thicker fabrics naturally repel weather better, and they hold up more effectively against prolonged rain and harsh winter conditions.3. LongevityInvesting in a higher-denier rug may cost more upfront, but it pays off in the long run. With tougher yarn you should be dealing with far less repairs, and in the unfortunate event where your horse does manage to rip it the damage is often more contained and easier to patch, saving you time and money. Which Denier Is Right for Your Horse? Here’s a quick guide to help you match denier to your horse’s needs: Denier Rating Best For 600D–840D Calm horses, dry climates, or occasional turnout 1200D Regular turnout in normal weather conditions 1680D+ Playful, or destructive horses; prolonged rain and wind, those who feel the cold   When choosing a turnout rug, rug denier shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s one of the clearest indicators of how long your rug will last, how well it’ll protect your horse from the elements, and how much hassle it will (or won’t) give you mid-season. If you're looking for:- Exceptional durability- Strong weather protection- A reliable option for all-day turnout…then the Endure Turnout Rug with 1680D outer is built to exceed expectations—season after season. Shop the Endure Turnout Rug

Headcollars are one of the most used pieces of horse equipment. In fact, 88% of owners use a horse headcollar every day*. As riders, we have safety equipment to protect ourselves, such as boots, hats, and body protectors. This is obviously to prevent injury or the severity of injury in the event of an accident. But is there a need for our horse headcollars to be safe too? We designed our Stellar Headcollar after researching headcollar accidents, read on to find out what we found. Why is it important that horse headcollars are safe? We’ve already established that headcollars are used frequently. But when looking into the research around headcollars, there didn’t seem to be any. Even ‘safe’ headcollars seemed to have no testing (from what is publicly available to view). First, is there a need for safety? Are headcollars potentially causing injury to horses? Dr David Marlin undertook a survey of 5615 horse owners to find out*. The results showed the following: Almost 1 in 3 horses were injured as a result of a headcollar related incident. More than 1 in 7 people were injured as a result of a headcollar related incident. 167 horses were fatally injured as a result of a headcollar. These incidents happened during various points of general horse handling, with most of them occurring when horses were tied up. If you think about it… Most horse owners tie their horses up daily. Then when we travel or compete, horses can be tied up even more frequently. Of course, there are always other accidents that can happen, especially if your horse is turned out in a headcollar. We all know of the freak accidents too, where horses get their headcollars attached to gates, or stable doors. In summary, these survey results certainly demonstrate the need for headcollar safety. While some horse owners may think that their horse doesn’t need a safe headcollar, it follows the same principle as our own riding hats. You may only fall off once every few years – but your hat is there to protect you when you do. Your horse may have never had an accident involving a headcollar. But a safe headcollar will be there to help them if they do. How do you know a horse headcollar is safe? The first step to find out if a headcollar is safe is to look at what could potentially cause injury. There is likely to be two reasons: The force placed on the horses’ head from the headcollar during an incident. The horses panic, if they are restricted, could cause them to fall or thrash around blindly. Survey Results These reasons are backed up by the survey results too, showing that horses sustained various injuries from headcollars*, including: Bruising Cuts Fractures Like a hat, body protector or pair of boots for your horse, the only way to know if a headcollar is safe is to test it. For headcollars, determining its safety is going to be related to when it releases. If it doesn’t release, this could cause severe injury not only to the horses’ head and surrounding structures, but also cause the horse to panic and potentially do further damage. Headcollar Testing Dr David Marlin tested a range of typical headcollars to find out their release points. The results were surprising, with some headcollars being able to suspend a horse’s entire body weight before releasing or breaking. Look at the below diagram for example. This is a representation of the amount of weight it takes for these headcollars to release shown in hay bales. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how much weight goes onto your horse’s head when they are struggling to get free. On the other end of the scale there are headcollars which released far too easily. This could mean that they are not suitable to handle your horse with for day-to-day management. This too could pose a safety risk if they were to release while leading or unnecessarily.  What is the solution? For your horse’s safety, in the event they need to get free, using a headcollar which releases at the lowest amount of force will always be the safest option. This, however, is not a practical solution. We need to be able to tie up our horses and have the headcollar be able to withstand some pressure. Or lead and have the headcollar withstand a horse pulling or perhaps feeling fresh. Therefore, the ideal headcollar will provide a balance – so that you can handle your horse safely, but it will also release if you horse gets into real trouble. Without testing, there’s no way to measure this. So, using a headcollar with testing behind it can give you confidence that if your horse needs it, it’s ready to release. The Stellar Headcollar The Stellar Headcollar was designed because of this research and testing. It can be used for everything from tying up, leading, travelling and even as a field safe headcollar too. We not only wanted to create a long lasting, comfortable and smart headcollar, but we wanted one you could trust too. Horses as we know are unpredictable, so having a headcollar there for when you need it could save your horse from serious injury.  References; An online survey of equestrian headcollar use and safety - Marlin - 2022 - Equine Veterinary Education - Wiley Online Library Opening forces or failure of commercially available equine headcollars and other safety devices - David J Marlin, Kirstie Pickles, Roberta Ferro de Godoy, Jane M Williams, 2021 (sagepub.com)