The Equilibrium Quick Chill Cooling Rug is an innovative cooler engineered to make keeping your horse cool and comfortable in warm weather a breeze, providing a refreshing cooling effect without the need for traditional soaking methods.
Carefully placed panels on this Equilibrium Rug are made from a high tech, breathable open cell structure material which is designed to effectively absorb and store water. This material has been chosen for its ability to retain water, but also to allow the water molecules to move through the fabric easily. Extremely simple to activate, simply submerge the rug in a bucket of water until the rug is fully saturated, before wringing it out and placing it on your horse. The water stored within the fabric is essential for the cooling process, but due to it being held within the fabric, it will stop your horse from getting soaking wet.
Your horse will be warmer than the rug, and so the thermal energy will move via conduction from the hottest place (the horse) to the cooler place (the rug) to equalise temperatures. The water from the rug also evaporates into the atmosphere to further aid cooling, similar to what happens when your horse sweats to naturally attempt to cool themselves down.
The cooling area of the rug is contoured and shaped so that it covers the large muscle groups across the back and hindquarters with direct contact, and the remainder of the rug is mesh to allow it to remain lightweight for use in the summer, but also to remain well-ventilated to facilitate breathability and evaporation to further aid the cooling process.
Extremely versatile, the Equilibrium Quick Chill Rug is ideal for:
- Cooling your horse down without the need to get them soaking wet.
- Warm competition days to gently cool your horse before, in between or after classes.
- Horses who get hot when/after travelling.
- Horses who don’t like the hose, or the feeling of running water.
- Yards or remote locations where running water may be limited.
- Training sessions, competitions, or arena hires where access to running water is limited.
- Countries or areas where hose pipe bans may be enforced.
If you have limited access to water, you can activate the rug where you have running water (i.e. at home or the stables), before placing it into a plastic bag and taking it with you to where it is needed. The rug will stay activated in this environment for the rest of the day. Alternatively, sprinkle water from a hose or bottle of water onto the rug, wring out the excess water and then put on your horse.
This process helps regulate the horse's body temperature while providing a cooling sensation that will last approximately 10 mins without soaking the horse. The Quick Chill Rug can be reactivated as many times as it is needed by re-soaking it in water, making it an environmentally friendly solution to keep horses cool in warm conditions.
Equilibrium recommends monitoring the temperature of the outside of the rug by feel to ensure it is removed when it feels warm. It can then either be reactivated in water to be used again straight away or left to dry out.