am i wrong, opinions?

Kadastorm

Kadastorm

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Story goes:

Im a yard manager at a riding school with alot of working liveries, mostly connemara ponies and bought off the mountains from ireland, known them all from when they came as wild youngsters to now broken and riding and lovely horses.
now, my issue = rugs.
some are already in mediums with waffles underneath, unclipped. today it was very warm here, ponies were sweating but owners didnt want rugs off.
I took waffles off and changed medium to light weight for ponies welfare. personally i think its cruel to let them boil, im responsible for these horses whether i own them or not. am i right? Am i wrong going against their decisions? What do you think?
 
I don't know if I'd have had any rugs on at all. I think you did the right thing for the welfare of the ponies, it's much worse for them to be too hot than a bit chilly. Not that they'd have been chilly I'm sure.
 
I think you are right in that it is cruel (and quite frankly unnecessary!) that these ponies are being allowed to get so hot. However if I were you, instead of just changing them I would have a word with the owners so that they know what they are doing is cruel.
 
None of mine are wearing rugs yet and none are natives (mostly TBs!). Personally I would have taken them off. I would rather the horse was comfortable than following the instructions of a mollycoddling owner who isn't doing the day to day care of the horse.
 
Oh i have had words and expressed my thoughts prior to doing this, its like talking to a brick wall sometimes!
I feel i have a duty of care and i cant see them standing there too hot, i know they think they are being kind but its not, in my opinion. x
 
TBH if i was the ponies owner and you did it after ive said thats what i want them to wear i would be a bit peeved off unless they were dripping in sweat, then i can understand.
People might think im mean my daughters unclipped pony is wearing 2 rugs to help keep her coat short as shes naughty to clip, its worked as shes still got a summer coat right now.
 
Over rugging natives drives me mad too :(

We have a young, healthy, unclipped Section A in medium weight rug on our yard :confused:

First they over rug, then they put the pony on a diet when it gets too fat :confused:.
 
I do agree that you have a duty of care (and that they are overrugged) BUT, the owners have expressed their wish, and you have gone against them. I know I would be a bit miffed as a paying customer that some I pay to look after my horse to my wishes 'does their own thing'. I think you will also be walking a fine line if something happens that could be attributed to your removal/downgrading of the togs.

Don't get me wrong - I do agree they are over-rugged. Mine is in a no fill - or battered lightweight (near as damn it a no fill now), but this is for convenience so I don't need to chip off frozen mud at 5 in the morning!! I just think you need to be wary, that's all
 
Me too .
My WB is still unrugged my TB in a thin medium wieght my ID is in a sheet and my clipped clydesdale / welsh D is clipped and in a medium wieght turnout rug living outside .
It's so unkind to overrug .
 
I had a DIY that did that all the time. It was 70 degrees and her shire x had a 200g turnout on. I took it off that day, it was the only day I did. It drove me mad though. It was mainly to avoid grooming effort.
 
They aren't doing their ponies any favours by overrugging, my native is out unrugged and clipped at the moment and totally fine. Sweating in rugs must be awful for them. I think you did the right thing for the ponies sakes.
 
God I am delighted that I know my YO will check and if she deems necessary change rugs. As I am not psychic I have happily gone off leaving horses in rainsheets only for it to turn biblical. And the temperature can change a lot at our yard from rugging up at tea to last checks..
 
If they are all working liveries then surely you have a say in their management when they are being worked? Can't believe they've got rugs on at all :eek: It was so warm here in the SE today I felt my skin burning!
 
zoelouisem said:
TBH if i was the ponies owner and you did it after ive said thats what i want them to wear i would be a bit peeved off unless they were dripping in sweat, then i can understand.
People might think im mean my daughters unclipped pony is wearing 2 rugs to help keep her coat short as shes naughty to clip, its worked as shes still got a summer coat right now.
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That's awful. Spend time or get advice on how to get her used to clippers - Don't put two rugs on her just for your convenience.
 
sandy3924 said:
That's awful. Spend time or get advice on how to get her used to clippers - Don't put two rugs on her just for your convenience.
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Its not awful, i am getting her used to clippers but it doesnt happen over night!!!!
Also shes not sweating with her rugs on shes just not getting cold theres a difference.

Just because one person doesnt want to put rugs on there horse doesnt mean that its wrong for other people to do so!!!
Although i dont agree with horses stood in stables sweating!!
 
Everything in life is about educating, some learn and some don't, I wouldn't mind as long as you replaced the heavier rug if it was going to be a chilly night.
 
Of course you're not wrong. I assume that if the horses are on working livery you are responsible for them for at least part of the day. Over-rugging drives me mad. Why can't people realise that horses have fur coats?
 
Over rugging is probably the most common form of abuse on livery yards.
Good for you OP, having tried the diplomatic approach, I'd whip the rugs off too. Don't give a stuff about offending the owners.
 
Luci07 said:
God I am delighted that I know my YO will check and if she deems necessary change rugs. As I am not psychic I have happily gone off leaving horses in rainsheets only for it to turn biblical. And the temperature can change a lot at our yard from rugging up at tea to last checks..
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This! I'm on full livery and expect YO to discuss rugging with me but make the day to day decisions to make sure they are comfortable. Mind you, I'm more on the under rugging side!
 
zoelouisem said:
TBH if i was the ponies owner and you did it after ive said thats what i want them to wear i would be a bit peeved off unless they were dripping in sweat, then i can understand.
People might think im mean my daughters unclipped pony is wearing 2 rugs to help keep her coat short as shes naughty to clip, its worked as shes still got a summer coat right now.
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Funny this - None of my horses have got anything like a wooly coat yet until last night they haven't had rugs on.

It is not how warm the horse is kept that determines the length of coat, part is genetics and the other is the hours of light.

All to many horses are over rugged. On here many are saying that they are in thick rugs already and yet it has hardly been cold.
They only need a thin rain sheet to keep the water off their backs if they are not clipped. If they need that.
 
I'd be annoyed that someone else interferred with my horse, unless otherwise agreed!

BUT, WTF, connie ponies in medium weights today, thats a joke! I have 2 connie x tb's one is 27 with a blanket clip and is still unrugged as she get warm! the other is 2 and also unrugged because he got warm before and got himself out of an amigo, by breaking the filet string and leaving everything else done up!

I would have some sort of agreement in place with the liveries that you can take off rugs if required!
 
Foxhunter49 said:
Funny this - None of my horses have got anything like a wooly coat yet until last night they haven't had rugs on.

It is not how warm the horse is kept that determines the length of coat, part is genetics and the other is the hours of light.

All to many horses are over rugged. On here many are saying that they are in thick rugs already and yet it has hardly been cold.
They only need a thin rain sheet to keep the water off their backs if they are not clipped. If they need that.
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To be fair i did only have one rug on her and a few mornings she has had a starry coat and quite cold to touch so i added another to keep her warmer and prevent her coat growing. Ones a cotten sheet and another a very thin old stable rug so i still have plenty to put on her. No it hasnt been that cold but her stables facing the fields and the wind comes straight across them.Shes also at an ideal weight now when she was just under a while back so dont want her dropping off either
It works for us, no it wouldnt work from others. What annoys me more than how many rugs people have on there horse is people thinking because there horse is unrugged or got a 1 thin rug is thats what the next persons horse should have on.
 
poor ponies :( you were right to do that, i would have done the same in your position! My unclipped big grey is in a no fill, because it does get chilly at night so want to keep rain/wind off her and also because i don't have time to wash her and wait for her to dry every time i want to ride, and her being a grey, it is her life mission to become bay, so if she was naked i wouldn't ride because of the amount of mud!
 
While I agree OP did the right thing in that situation, my horse is currently in a 200g for specific reasons. Over rugging is wrong but then so is not treating them all as individuals. Better to listen to the horse and their needs than do something because other people say you should.
 
Horse welfare above anything else.

If the horse is clearly too hot (ie Sweating!) then i would step in and take it off and either leave them naked or put a sheet on. It's clear that the owners are being ignorant to the welfare of the animal and they need to be educated on such things as they are on YOUR yard. So if they don't understand you're doing it for the animals health they can go some where else as far as i'm concerned!
 
I think you were morally right to do it, so well done even if it made them unhappy.

My lad is the only one who isn't rugged on the whole yard, and a number of the others are natives with xtreme wool! He's in a lightweight turnout in the day, but nothing at night, and he's an Arab with a not-fluffy coat. However, he's not cold - so I don't see the point rugging him. I will pop a rug on if he's getting chilly, but I'm happy that he's comfortable so far.

Mind you we must both be made of hardy stuff, because I don't have my heating on yet.
 
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