I was sent this gorgeous full body suit from HorzeHoods to review for you. This is a piece of kit I have had my eye on for a while now for show prep in the Summer months. Scottie is a mud monster, so once I’ve spent hours cleaning him before a show, I want some extra protection for when he inevitably decides to sleep in his own poo that night!
Many of you will know that I already have a similar body suit which I have used for this exact reason in the past. However, this other suit is fleece which is great for the winter months, but is simply far too warm to use on warm Summer nights for Scottie. So I was really excited when I received this lycra suit.
Now, the first thing I have to comment on is the colour! Most lycra hoods you see are your typical boring colours of black, navy maybe a brown. Now don’t get me wrong, these colours are very practical and go with most things. But WOW! You can’t help but take a second look at Scottie in his Devine Lime! It is so vibrant and with 12 other colours to choose from, including Burgundy Wine and Banana Yellow, there really is a colour option for everyone.
Not only do they cater for a wide range of colour tastes, but they also have a huge range of sizes! These body suits come in 3 different ranges, with slightly different price points; Mini, Standard and Big. However, these different ranges mean you can find them to fit any horse from rug size 2ft6 to 7ft9! Each range also has its own sizes and size guides which take into consideration height and usual rug size. Scottie standing at 16.3h and usually taking a 6ft6 rug, occasionally 6ft9, fell into their Standard Range with the size XLarge.
Despite being described as a 3 piece set, unlike other brands, the body and hood are all one piece, rather than two separate ones. I personally think this makes it much easier (and quicker) to put the suit on. The first time I tried this on Scottie it took my less than 5 minutes to pull it out of the bag and parade Scottie down the yard! The other two parts what make up the body suit are the match tail bag and Horzehoods surcingle. All sizes come with the option of ears or no ears too, depending on your preference.
The chest to chin zip makes it all very simple to put on. I simply undid the zip and the velcro on the face so I had a nice big hole. I then bundled it up in a similar way as you would a pair of tights. That way you can quickly slide it over the horses head and down the neck, which is the most stressful part for most horses! Although Scottie really isn’t bothered by this at all! Next I unroll the hood up and over the face, attach the velcro and zip up. I would then pull the rug back towards the tail and fasten the leg straps before doing the belly flap and the surcingle. If you are going to use the tail bag, I suggest putting this on first as the end of the rug can get a bit in the way.
I am looking into finding a friend to film how easy it is to put this on as I know my instructions aren’t too clear! But I must say that it is all fairly straight forward to work out!
Last Updated on 06/03/2019
