Bench seat question, rods sticking through the vinyl.

[The Swed]

I want use a horse blanket cover the bench seat to prevent any further degradation of the exist foam. I noticed that the back of the frame has a support area with metal rods stick through the remaining vinyl. This must have had some kind of coverage when it was new. For the time being I was going to grind smooth the rods to take off the sharp edges. Is this the correct approach?

Thanks!