Am I doing the right thing? - turning out naked

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TT55

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I posted a while ago about my mare who has issues with wearing a rug in the field (she panics but is fine wearing them in the stable) hence she has been in all winter.

When the nice weather came I started turning her out with the intention of putting her out for a few hours at a time building up to being out all the time. However the weather turned bad and the person in charge of her well being (she is on full livery currently) wasn't turning her out because she felt she shouldn't be going out without a rug in the rain. By the time the nice weather returned, there were other horses out in her paddock and i was again left with no turn out and very pee'd off.

I didn't go to the yard for a few days as I had family visiting only to find out yesterday she had been turned out on Monday (when the weather was nice) and left out all night in the pouring rain. She has been out ever since and as you probably know, it's been rather rainy and miserable.

I feel really bad because as I sit here, the rain is hammering on the window and I know she is out in the field naked. I could bring her in again but that also feels mean as all her mates are out in the field. What would you do? Does anyone else have their horse naked right now?

FYI, horse is a TB. She was clipped over the winter but her summer coat is through. There is a hedge on one side of the paddock but no trees or field shelter.
 
Shes a horse, they are waterproof by nature!! The rain wont do her any harm, she is probably enjoying getting some air to her body after being stuck in all winter!!
I know a fair few tbs who live out naked all year round. Its not exactly cold at the moment, I certainly wouldn't be worried.
 
Why does she need to have a rug now?

IMO if the horse can't tolerate a rug in the winter, and can't cope without if they are clipped, then they shouldn't be clipped at all if it is going to mean they are stuck in 24/7 all winter. Not good practice as far as I'm concerned.

Can you not spend some time trying to get her used to having the rug on outdoors?
 
horses stay warm by digesting fibre in the hind gut.

horses can control their own body heat except in the following circumstances- rugging (they have no control over their hair), sweating (water breaking through their natural defences of layers of hair and grease) and clipping (again they have no control over their hair). if she's happy out and has no rain scald or other problems then leave her, if you have little grazing, or she's being restricted then a spot of hay might help, but she'll be fine on her own!

Mine has been out for over a month with no rug on. he can get out of the wind if he needs to but if it rains he's on his own. there's plenty of grass for them, and I bring in during the day and feed him hay.
 
EllieBeast said:
Shes a horse, they are waterproof by nature!! The rain wont do her any harm, she is probably enjoying getting some air to her body after being stuck in all winter!!
I know a fair few tbs who live out naked all year round. Its not exactly cold at the moment, I certainly wouldn't be worried.
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Thanks for the reassurance :)

Moomin1 said:
Why does she need to have a rug now?

IMO if the horse can't tolerate a rug in the winter, and can't cope without if they are clipped, then they shouldn't be clipped at all if it is going to mean they are stuck in 24/7 all winter. Not good practice as far as I'm concerned.

Can you not spend some time trying to get her used to having the rug on outdoors?
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All the other horses at the yard are rugged so I was worried she would get cold if she was wet.

I only bought her in December and she was clipped by her previous owner. I intend to see if I can work out her rug phobia before next winter, and if not she wont be clipped.
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
horses stay warm by digesting fibre in the hind gut.

horses can control their own body heat except in the following circumstances- rugging (they have no control over their hair), sweating (water breaking through their natural defences of layers of hair and grease) and clipping (again they have no control over their hair). if she's happy out and has no rain scald or other problems then leave her, if you have little grazing, or she's being restricted then a spot of hay might help, but she'll be fine on her own!

Mine has been out for over a month with no rug on. he can get out of the wind if he needs to but if it rains he's on his own. there's plenty of grass for them, and I bring in during the day and feed him hay.
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She seems happy enough when I see her (she's loving being covered in mud!!) and has no rain scald etc. There isn't much grass, but they get plenty of hay.

Sounds like i don't need to be worried then, thanks :)
 
my 'aunt' lives in Aberdeen and has always kept her dressage horses out all year round. If they're sweaty after exercise she hoses them down, lets them dry off and chucks them out. They have ad lib hay and grass when it comes through properly and she was competing at Grand Prix. she doesn't rug, doesn't clip and doesn't chuck them out sweaty. bearing in mind the depth of snow, quantity of rain and length of winters up there, they were a bit scruffy looking as competition creatures but very easy to keep!
 
I am the meanest rugger in the world, even when I had the tb, I always under rugged as he could cope being cold but if he was too warm he'd be very unhappy and aggressive. In my 3.5 years of owning him and being mean I found him shivvering once and that was unusual heavy winds and sideways rain on a spring day when it had been very nice temperatures (t-shirt weather) previously.

I had him living out one winter in nothing more than a m/w with neck with no problems and he had come to me as a poor doer.
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
my 'aunt' lives in Aberdeen and has always kept her dressage horses out all year round. If they're sweaty after exercise she hoses them down, lets them dry off and chucks them out. They have ad lib hay and grass when it comes through properly and she was competing at Grand Prix. she doesn't rug, doesn't clip and doesn't chuck them out sweaty. bearing in mind the depth of snow, quantity of rain and length of winters up there, they were a bit scruffy looking as competition creatures but very easy to keep!
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My mare barely gets rugged during the winter, even when she is clipped. The most she will have on is a fleece in the stable, and a no fill rug on outside with a fleece under (that's when she is clipped). If she isn't clipped, she mostly stays in a no fill on very wet and windy days as she doesn't have great shelter, otherwise she gets nothing apart from plenty of hay. She's not a native either. I also don't brush her all through winter. Only the saddle area when she is ridden. Any sweat gets brushed off once dry, but that's the most she will get. She has the most amazing summer coat as a result.

I think people get far too worried for no reason nowadays.
 
ETA: I have a native now and this winter as I will be riding very little I am planning on not rugging her at all.
 
My yearling has been turned out for the summer with no rug. He's out with another yearling, a 2 yo, a 3 yo and an older school pony. None are rugged.
He's been out for about 5 weeks now.
I do feel sorry for him when I'm all cosy and it's chucking it down outside. But they have good tree shelter in one part of the field and an open barn to go in. I try and convince myself that when the weather is bad they tuck themselves up in the barn... They probably don't, which in my eyes means they can't be that bothered by it!
 
My native is unrugged all winter :) I only ever worry when it's a combo of wind and rain/snow, but by wind I mean a really good blow. Otherwise she's like a toaster oven and keeps warm by playing. She almost never makes use of the shelter except when she wants to use it as a toilet...
 
To give you hope - my TB lived out naked for many years. It was only when I moved her to a more exposed field and she was getting on in years, that I started to rug her.

Melodysnow.jpg
 
My 3 are all naked now and have been for at least a month. Whilst thye were stabled overnight for about 6 weeks over the worst of winter, my little cob was without a rug though it all (i rugged her a handful of days only).
 
Thank you all!

Clearly I am being paranoid and worrying too much when i needn't bother :) haha

I'm still going to try and see if I can get her to accept a rug though. Such a strange horse, she's so quiet on the ground and perfectly fine with the rug in the stable/ on the yard/ in the trailer just not when she's left to her own devices in a larger space!
 
TT55 said:
Thank you all!

Clearly I am being paranoid and worrying too much when i needn't bother :) haha

I'm still going to try and see if I can get her to accept a rug though. Such a strange horse, she's so quiet on the ground and perfectly fine with the rug in the stable/ on the yard/ in the trailer just not when she's left to her own devices in a larger space!
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Sounds like a good plan. Would it be possible to build a very small paddock in which you could turn her out for a short amount of time each day and monitor her, lengthening the amount of time gradually each day?
 
Moomin1 said:
Sounds like a good plan. Would it be possible to build a very small paddock in which you could turn her out for a short amount of time each day and monitor her, lengthening the amount of time gradually each day?
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Not really unfortunately. Her current paddock is fairly small though. I think my best bet is to try turning her out with a rug in the arena and see how she copes. I did try once before, and she bucked like crazy but I didn't have enough time to properly monitor her and see if she stops or try different rugs. I have lots of time to try now until winter. If it's not successful she just won't be clipped :)
 
My yearling has hardly been rugged all winter and hasn't been rugged since end of march. As already said they insulate themselves don't worry. :-)
 
EllieBeast said:
Shes a horse, they are waterproof by nature!! The rain wont do her any harm, she is probably enjoying getting some air to her body after being stuck in all winter!!
I know a fair few tbs who live out naked all year round. Its not exactly cold at the moment, I certainly wouldn't be worried.
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Completely agree with this my youngster is always naked :)
 
Horses as far as I have observed dont dissolve in water Mine live out 24/7 365 days a year and grow their own rug I do rug them once clipped as it is better to be warm than cold but all are naked again the old girl hasnt grown her coat back yet but is still toasty warm and very contented naked
I think perhaps the yard has issues and I would look for somewhere else if any horse is allowed, never mind forced to spend that long in the stable you wouldnt keep a dog in a 3ft square cage 24/7 so why keep a horse in one
 
My anglo has bin naked most of the year with the odd time when its bin v.cold hes had a medium weight on (he also has big issues with being rugged) and hes out 24/7! My luso wintered out naked in the hope she shed a few pounds (she didnt!) Its bin very mild this year even with heavy rain its still warm so i wouldnt worry if i was you :)
 
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