Am I under-rugging?

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shadowboy

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The ladies at the yard are using medium weight rugs during the day and whopping 375g full neck at night on unclipped horses who are a warmblood, a TBx Shire and a Lusitano my little mare is full TB and unclipped. During the day she is in a Fal 40g lightweight and I throw another lightweight on top at night. She does have a full neck 220g medium weight and a 400g detachable full neck heavy weight but I think its too early for either- but the ladies were saying I ought to up the weight to the middle weight at night- if it wasnt a full neck I would have done. What do you guys think?

I dont want to be cruel but I also dont want to over rug and make her a wimp.....
 
Hmmmm id consider a mid weight soon as its starting to frost but dont think its a problem until it starts getting cold cold. Best way to tell is it horse drops weight etc
 
Mine that is stabled has a no fill lightweight NZ on at night and nothing in the day, she sweats if I leave it on. It all depends on how hairy you want your horse getting.
 
Just feel underneath the rug at night / in the morning - you'll be able to feel how warm she is. My Lusitano x TB is clipped and currently out 24/7 in a Rambo Duo, only the outer rug though which is 100g. My Welsh D who is also hunter clipped still only has his summer Amigo on! No fill in it at all! But he is generally a very hot horse. Ignore what others say, just work out what's best for yours.
 
I hate over rugging I think it is desperately unhealthy. This modern obsession is going too far as horses are surprisingly tough if you feed them.
Mine is a TB he is hunter clipped (growing back) and out 24/7 with a MW rug on at night and naked during the day. Guess what he is fine and has actually put on weight.
 
Mine has a lightweight sheet during the day and a thermatex in the evening and seems fine in this - though on the warmer evenings he just has a waffle.
 
I had to read this twice when I first read it, a normal unclipped horse who is stabled really doesn't need any rug at all, and they are definitely over rugging.
We had one livery client who kept over rugging and eventually her poor unclipped mare shivered horribly whenever it was brought outisde to be ridden in cold weather.. They ended up retiring it because it suffered forever afterwards.
yes you will make your horse a wimp or nesh as we used to say, by all means add a lightweight rug to an unclipped horse but they are horses not bloody poodles and grow their own protection as nature intended.
Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but what planet are theses women on? Why don't they just buy a poodle instead? What are they going to do when it turns really cold? Add yet more weight with rugs for their horses to carry?
The basis is feel your horse's skin and ears, if it feels cold, start with a very thin rug.. if it doesn't don't put one on!
 
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I hate over rugging I think it is desperately unhealthy. This modern obsession is going too far as horses are surprisingly tough if you feed them.
Mine is a TB he is hunter clipped (growing back) and out 24/7 with a MW rug on at night and naked during the day. Guess what he is fine and has actually put on weight.

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Here,here. I hate seeing horses in heavy rugs when it really is too mild. What are they going to put on when it is actually cold? Only one of mine has a lightweight rug on at night, and only because he is an oldie and has arthritis and it stops him getting stiff. All the others are unrugged day and night. They are all unclipped and are growing lovely winter woollies.
 
I agree. I have an Arab who is stabled overnight, and he's not rugged yet. When it's heavy rain he wears a rain sheet to keep him dry and he's nice and warm underneath. He'll get a nice fluffy coat for natural protection and be fine, it needs to get a fair bit colder before his MW rug comes out. HW rugs are for the depths of winter IMHO.
 
None of ours are rugged yet
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This is the second night my unclipped TB (who's still living out) has had a 200g rug on just at night. So i don't think you're underrugging
 
My horse who lives out 24/7 is fully clipped and is either wearing a no fill amigo or has a lightweight stable rug underneath[110g]...she's normally quite hot with the under rug on during the day so only wears it overnight.
Before this she wasnt rugged-sweated up with it on. I
 
Totally agree, what are their poor horses going to do when winter comes and it actually gets cold?! My youngsters unclipped and has just started to have LW rug on at night now as its been 1-2degrees here at night last couple of nights.
 
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I had to read this twice when I first read it, a normal unclipped horse who is stabled really doesn't need any rug at all, and they are definitely over rugging.
We had one livery client who kept over rugging and eventually her poor unclipped mare shivered horribly whenever it was brought outisde to be ridden in cold weather.. They ended up retiring it because it suffered forever afterwards.
yes you will make your horse a wimp or nesh as we used to say, by all means add a lightweight rug to an unclipped horse but they are horses not bloody poodles and grow their own protection as nature intended.
Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but what planet are theses women on? Why don't they just buy a poodle instead? What are they going to do when it turns really cold? Add yet more weight with rugs for their horses to carry?
The basis is feel your horse's skin and ears, if it feels cold, start with a very thin rug.. if it doesn't don't put one on!

[/ QUOTE ] I completely agree with you on rugging the horses, but, as an owner of two standard poodles, I must say I'd prefer these women not to buy one! They were actually produced as water retrieving gun dogs and they don't need rugging either
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[ QUOTE ]
I had to read this twice when I first read it, a normal unclipped horse who is stabled really doesn't need any rug at all, and they are definitely over rugging.
We had one livery client who kept over rugging and eventually her poor unclipped mare shivered horribly whenever it was brought outisde to be ridden in cold weather.. They ended up retiring it because it suffered forever afterwards.
yes you will make your horse a wimp or nesh as we used to say, by all means add a lightweight rug to an unclipped horse but they are horses not bloody poodles and grow their own protection as nature intended.
Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but what planet are theses women on? Why don't they just buy a poodle instead? What are they going to do when it turns really cold? Add yet more weight with rugs for their horses to carry?
The basis is feel your horse's skin and ears, if it feels cold, start with a very thin rug.. if it doesn't don't put one on!

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Totally agree!

It is also worth noting that horses actually prefer the cold to the heat. Now I'm not saying that they should be kept cold but if a horse is sweating under a rug then he simply isn't comfortable.

Think you are doing the right thing OP, stick to your guns!
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I had to read this twice when I first read it, a normal unclipped horse who is stabled really doesn't need any rug at all, and they are definitely over rugging.
We had one livery client who kept over rugging and eventually her poor unclipped mare shivered horribly whenever it was brought outisde to be ridden in cold weather.. They ended up retiring it because it suffered forever afterwards.
yes you will make your horse a wimp or nesh as we used to say, by all means add a lightweight rug to an unclipped horse but they are horses not bloody poodles and grow their own protection as nature intended.
Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but what planet are theses women on? Why don't they just buy a poodle instead? What are they going to do when it turns really cold? Add yet more weight with rugs for their horses to carry?
The basis is feel your horse's skin and ears, if it feels cold, start with a very thin rug.. if it doesn't don't put one on!

[/ QUOTE ] I completely agree with you on rugging the horses, but, as an owner of two standard poodles, I must say I'd prefer these women not to buy one! They were actually produced as water retrieving gun dogs and they don't need rugging either
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PMSL!! Agree totally regarding rugging. Check the horse before you consider putting a rug on.

Hmm, now, HH thought a Poodle would be suitable,,you have now said that they shouldn't. Is there a lap dog type animal that likes to be wrapped up in tonnes and tonnes of duvets?
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Patches has a full clip and is used to being a hair yak! She's out in the day with a lightweight rug on and in at night with a medium weight with lightweight neck cover (neck cover keeps her mane lying nicely!) We've had some heavy frosts for a couple of nights and she seems fine like this.

Oliver has a bib clip. He's out in the day naked and has a lightweight stable rug. Tweenie is naked in the day and in a lightweight at night. She's unclipped but her stable is directly opposite the outside door to the barn, so it is a cooler stable. Dinker naked day and night at present. He's a shetland though, so VERY hairy!
 
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PMSL!! Agree totally regarding rugging. Check the horse before you consider putting a rug on.

Hmm, now, HH thought a Poodle would be suitable,,you have now said that they shouldn't. Is there a lap dog type animal that likes to be wrapped up in tonnes and tonnes of duvets?
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ] I understand that whippets and chiahuhas feel the cold and need rugging!

On the horse rugging question - my mare was fully clipped on Wednesday. Its avaraging 2 degrees here at night now, so she has a 220g with neck on at night, but a lightweight without neck during the day (she is out 24/7).
 
here here! i will never forget the numpties at my last yard who insisted upon putting 3
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yes THREE rugs, (1 x fleece, 1x l/w and 1 x h/w ) on an unclipped new forest when stabled overnight.......i arrived one morning to find them in a panic on the verge of calling the vet as the poor pony was flat out sweating....they thought it was colic, but i checked the gut sounds and they were normal, i got the pony up, stripped it, and within 1/2 and hour the pony wasnormal - it had simply overheated......
my cob has a m/w on overnight as she is fully clipped, my sec d has a l/w on purely to keep him clean so i can spend more time riding/working him without having to scrape 1/2 tonne of mud off...
my 2yo welsh wears nothing, she gets a l/w on cold wet days as our feilds are exposed....
and my old anglo who was PTS earlier this year had nothing but a l/w to keep the rain of her back....the numpties called the RSPCA on me for that
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I really so agree with this - apart from the poodle bit!!
I know someone who has a Welsh D and a shetland, they are both aleady in heavyweight, full-neck rugs.
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My two are as yet unclipped and still living out. My TB has been wearing a l/w overnight since the temp dropped but Cob is still naked!! He will be clipped next weekend then the will probably wear his h/w combo out or in but he does feel the cold.

Totally agree with the rugging. A horse at my yard last year was in a fleece and a marktood ultimate (400g) I heard lots of banging and thrashing about and paniced fearing colic. When I got to her stable she was running herself along the walls to try and get the rugs off, she had sweat running off her!! Took big rug off and she was fine!
 
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I know someone who has a Welsh D and a shetland, they are both aleady in heavyweight, full-neck rugs.
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I wonder how these poor creatures survived thousands and thousands of years without us?
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Thanks for all your comments guys you are making me feel much better about my decision to stay with the two lightweights. She is out 24/7 untill clock change but seems warm when I come up in the morning at 7am and remove the top lightweight. i too think they are way over rugging but the way they were going on made me feel like I was being cruel! I think 80g is fine at the mo- thanks for your re-assurance!
 
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