Bringing a clipped horse in from Europe and with Melbourne’s legendarychangeable weather in mind, I was in need of some light summer protection for my new steed.

The Caribu Eclipse 1200 Denier Rainsheets have been one of Caribu’s most popular rug designs– and they have just made it even better. Caribu has a genuine commitment to listen to theircustomers; the Eclipse MarkII combo has been based on what their customers want in awaterproof combo.

For my purposes I needed a lightweight waterproof rug and the Eclipse MarkII was just theticket.

Ordinarily I don’t rug until the coldest months but taking into account my mare’s longjourney, the stress of travel and our infamous changeable weather I thought I’d better beprepared. And I was right. We would plunge from 40+c days, and nights of 30c, to 20c daysand 12c nights with wind and rain in the space of just 24 hours. It’s a bit of a shock tothe system! Granted my mare has just come from the extreme cold of a Northern Hemispherewinter, but at least the weather was constant!

The first thing you will notice is that Caribu don’t sacrifice quality for price. TheEclipse features a 1200 Denier with Ripstop. As Jane from Caribu told me when I asked abouta rug suitable for my purposes, “Many manufactures have decided to revert back to using 600Denier fabrics to save on costs – and it’s the consumer that misses out. A 1200Denier weaveis considerably stronger and more durable and will long outlast a 600 denier fabric. Bothfabrics will perform equally when it comes to breathability, insulation and waterproofing –it’s only the strength that varies.”

The new Eclipse combos feature a revised shoulder cut and offer more shoulder room. Theyalso feature a unique soft can-can mesh lining. “The Can-Can mesh lining creates an airspace between the rug and horses coat and helps with breathability”. The combos have a fullanti-rub lining high into the shoulders, as well as along the mane – so are ideal for usingdirectly on your horse or as a top rug in the cooler months.

What you do notice with the Caribu Turnouts is that they use one continuous length of denierfabric for the combo. You don’t have a neck join. As Jane explains “We prefer to use alittle more fabric and avoid neck seams – when it comes to waterproofing the fewer seams thebetter!”

The Caribu 1200 deniers feature some of the best waterproofing and breathabilityspecifications for their fabrics on the market.

Once again I found the rug to be a perfect fit, just throw it on, do up thestraps (again, they seem to have been pre-adjusted exactly right, so no fiddling around) andbob’s your uncle!

The Combo also has lots of little extras like a tent tail flap, removable webbed leg strapsand stainless steel buckles. No velcro in sight. At a remarkable price of $90.95 thesecombos are great value and reflect the benefits of buying direct from the manufacturer.

Easy as! Love it!

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