3 Ways to Fit Your Horse Rug Leg Straps

When it comes to fitting horse rug leg straps, there are three main methods: straight through, crossover, or looping. Each has its own benefits depending on your horse, the rug, and personal preference. Looping is especially effective for minimizing rug slippage. But no matter which method you choose, always adjust the straps equally, leaving enough room for the width of one hand (10–15 cm) between the straps and your horse’s inner thigh to ensure freedom of movement.

Option 1: Straight through

As the name implies, you simply keep the left strap on the left side and the right strap on the right. This is often the best method if you are layering rugs and have multiple sets of leg straps. Or if the horse in question is a stallion!

Option 2: Cross over

Connect the left side leg strap to the right rear D ring, and then complete the same for the opposite side. This is usually a sturdier arrangement than the straight through option.

Option 3: Looping

This is the most secure option. First, take the left hand leg strap and pass between the horses legs attaching to the rear left D-ring. So essentially the first leg strap is attached on the same side. Then, take the right hand side leg strap and pass in between the horses legs, but also passing it trough the left hand leg strap and connect it to the right rear D-Ring.

The leg straps are now linked and will act with each other to keep the rug into place. With this setup, a good fitting rug will have limited movement sideways. If the leg straps are too loose, the rug will still slip. We do not recommend using this method on stallions.

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