24/7 Turnout Winter

FlyingCircus

FlyingCircus

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Looking for tips to make it less painful for me and the horses to exercise in winter when they are out 24/7, potentially muddy and in wet rugs (outside only).

Things like turnout hoods, can I leave a thermatex on under rug or will that cause pressure points, how i manage rugs once they're off the horse, then rugging again after exercise.

Anything to make it a more pleasant experience, and make me more likely to ride. As currently feels mean to drag them out of warm rugs, into cold for some exercise then stick cold rugs on again!
 
Also, I have 2 out on 2.5 acres that last year got very wet. Last year I thought it best to leave the entire field open so that it would possibly reduce mud in some areas by them being able to roam it all, but I'm wondering if splitting and rotating would be better for the land overall.
 
I use snuggy hoods on my grey boys and they make a huge difference particularly as they keep the mud off their ears, which I think is the hardest place to get wet mud off. They're designed to be worn under rugs and don't rub. One loses his mane a bit with the hood on so just has a head but the other gets a head off so has the full hood.

The other thing is not to care too much about how clean they are. As long as nothing's going to rub under tack, leave it where it is.
 
Def don't leave thermatex under any rug, they pull back and rub or give pressure issues.
Field, do you remember if it was as bad all over? If one area more wet, then I'd be inclined to divide it, so you have 1 side that they can use when its dry and frosty, the other when boggy and horrible. If we get prolonged spell of freeze or snow then open the whole lot up.

By keeping an area back, its kinder to their feet when it freezes over, than hobbling over frozen mud holes.
 
I think you have to close your eyes to 2 muddy horse in winter if there out 24/7. rugs with necks and maybe belly covers too. Brush off where your tack is going to go and don't worry to much about the rest. Water proof/fleece exercise sheet to keep the flanks warm. try not to have them stood around tacking and untacking without a rug on if you can help it.

I hate putting wet rugs back on, but they dry a lot quicker on a horse than being hung in a damp tack/feed room making everything else more damp.


I tend to give mine the whole lot in the worst of the winter as then they have shelter from all sides.
 
Velcro in rug liners much better than thermatex as layers. Liners fit in washing machine and dry fast.

When mine lived out I had

Tail plait wraps and snuggy turnout hoods in winter.

Pig oiled legs below knee every 5-10 days with paintbrush depending on how wet

I dumped 2 builders bags of type 1 in dry part field, hand flattened it. Put four grass mats on top, tent pegged in place and cable tied together. Made a dry hay and hard feeding area. I fed ad lib hay in hay hutches on matted hard standing. I also had tyre buckets to feed in this area.
 
When I had Tatts out and hunting I had a outdoor rug for when he was wet or sweaty
I would leave that on until he was dry and then catch him groom him and put on his proper rug .
 
My cob is out 24/7, he has a shelter with big shavings bed and a MudControl mats patio (recently installed!)
I am also lucky enough to have a brick stable which I feed him in and therefore can check him over and change rugs etc.
I Irish clip him in October then when he gets too hairy in about Dec/Jan, hunter clip him = nothing for mud to stick to on the body!
He just gets too hot when ridden otherwise.
I just brush the clipped bits tbh as long as tack doesn't rub they're fine. Funnily enough, he doesn't really get that muddy, he sleeps in his shelter and we don't have a lot of mud, he just isn't the mud monster my beloved old grey cob was - I'm sure a lot of that was because he was only out in the daytime and rolled for England as soon as he went out. There's no novelty when you're out all the time!
I ride with an exercise sheet in winter so he doesn't get soaked, thermatex or fleece on in the stable after I untack, let him cool down/dry off before rugging up, the heaviest rug he wore last winter was a 220g combo for the worst of the winter, the rest he was in a 100g combo or 40g with detachable neck. I keep spare rugs in case any fail (they haven't yet - crosses fingers) and just change them if weather changes.
 
Bucas rugs (the silver one which I think is the Power turnout?) work very well as they can be put on a wet horse. They are light and very robust.
 
eggs said:
Bucas rugs (the silver one which I think is the Power turnout?) work very well as they can be put on a wet horse. They are light and very robust.
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They are lovely I almost got one for Tatts several times but he went through episodes of rug tearing and they where quite pricy
 
Ours winter out and hunt weekly - just well fitting rugs do us. Their field is on the side of a hill and catches the wind, so don't bother with tail bags as would cause more trouble than they are worth!

They have just under 4 acres for the 2 - we split into 2 paddocks with one up until xmas, and one for after. The only areas we find 'puddled' are around the trough, and gateways. Field is well draining which helps.

We can't feed hay in the field as blows away, so stable for a couple of hours after excercise/hunting and give them some hard feed and haylage then. Also stops any bickering over food......

This is the last year ours will be out 24/7 though as have bought our own land (hill field rented), and will really miss it. Will be a shock to both horses and us, having them back in at night, but at least they will be closer to home.

Good luck!
 
Depending on the horse a small bib clip and just rug the day before you want to ride? If you do rug the liner systems work well and have two ‘outers’ so you always have one dry.

Nettex mud away is going for stopping the mud stick.

Lots of thermals and waterproofs for riding :)
 
I see someone else has mentioned Bucas Smartex rugs! They have a stay dry blanket lining, so you can put them on a wet horse and they don't feel cold inside like other turnout rugs. I have one for Alf, which he didn't wear last year, as someone gave him a lovely new PE rug for Christmas - but now the novelty of the new shiny one has worn off, the Bucas will be back in service!
 
Auslander said:
I see someone else has mentioned Bucas Smartex rugs! They have a stay dry blanket lining, so you can put them on a wet horse and they don't feel cold inside like other turnout rugs. I have one for Alf, which he didn't wear last year, as someone gave him a lovely new PE rug for Christmas - but now the novelty of the new shiny one has worn off, the Bucas will be back in service!
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which Bucas do you have? My horse is out at night (recent change) and I’m thinking of investing in a winter rug upgrade.
 
bouncing_ball said:
which Bucas do you have? My horse is out at night (recent change) and I’m thinking of investing in a winter rug upgrade.
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Mine's an old style Smartex (mw). Front clips instead of the new front closure system, and no neck cover. He stays as warm as toast in it, even when full clipped, in all weathers. They are supposed to cover a wide range of temps, but my horse gets too hot in his once the temp is over about 4 degrees
 
Bucas rugs don't go anywhere near fitting anything cobby (well not mine anyway!). What works for me is a hunter clip and drying him off before re-rugging although this is expedited by the lack of hair, a clipped horse always dries quicker IMO. I'd never dry mine out if I didn't clip him and he'd get so hot when ridden.
He's sensible and brings himself into his shelter in heavy rain and of course his hay's in there. I *might* bribe him with some meadow haylage if the weather is diabolical.
 
A couple who I've seen out hunting have 2 cobby types who they hunt from the field - they clip them out but leave their bellies, heads and legs unclipped. Seems to work for them although looks a bit odd!
 
My horses live out 24/7 fully clipped hunting and ridden everyday. I'm not fussy over grooming only when I'm hunting but I find mud comes off easier then stable stains as I have 2 greys .
 
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What PatchyBabyHorse says!
5yo is being clipped for the first time this year and I can't wait. Winters are (relatively) easy out 24/7 with a good clip and a decent rug or two. That said, we are lucky with our grazing in that there's plenty so we don't have too much mud even on clay.
With your field OP I would definitely think about splitting it. Also, a good sized concrete area, preferably with some kind of barn, where they can be penned off, is an absolute godsend in really awful weather. Even my two hairy native mud monsters appreciate a few hours in to rest from the worst gales.
 
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