Are some horses wimpier than others?

[LollyDolly]

So as the title suggests really, do you think that some horses are wimpier than others?

I ask this because my Native crossbreed has a very thick coat at the minute, so much so that you can bury your hands in it. I have been trying to keep him unrugged, however I find him shivering in the morning. He is currently in a lightweight stable with a full neck at night and he is cool when I get to him in the morning, both his body is cool and the inside of his ears.

Is he just being a mard a*se? I mean, he has a very thick wooly coat!
Ideally I don't want to rug him up even more, not so early on in the autumn/winter season at least! What do you all advise, just let the mard a*se suffer or rug him more?

So much for a hardy Native

 

[FreddiesGal]

Lol! My Welsh D is out 24/7 un rugged and is only just starting to sport the very beginnings of a winter warmer!

 

[LollyDolly]

Lol! My Welsh D is out 27/7 un rugged and is only just starting to sport the very beginnings of a winter warmer!

I'm hideously jealous, maybe Freddie can teach Sandy to stop being so wimpy?
I had no plans on rugging him until he was clipped, and yet if I leave him unrugged then the next morning he is shivering!

He is a disgrace to all Natives!

 

[FreddiesGal]

At the same time it is ridiculously annoying! Last winter it was absolutely FREEZING with snow/ice etc, (this was when we were both in France) so I thought 'Oh poor baby, I'll stick a medium on you tonight to keep you all toasty and warm' ..got up there in the morning and he was sweating buckets!

Maybe they should buddy up for a few days..Freddie will teach him the ways of the true Native

 

[TallyHo123]

I think they are, I mean it may be the way each individual has handled them from birth etc.
My TB mare I had when I was younger was clipped & had a heavy weight on in snow and was always fine. My current gelding who is TB x ID gets very cold, he shivers if he is cold or wet (even when its raining but warmer) he really isn't a fan of the cold weather and stands at the gate whinnying and pacing.

 

[Auslander]

Agree with TallyHo. I've always been very mean to my horses, and only rugged them up if they were clipped, but had them all from babies, so they grew up tough!
Alf came from a very different background - he's used to being managed like a competetion horse, not a feral beast. He has always lived in, been rugged up the eyeballs, and had individual turnout for a few hours. He came to me, and got chucked out 24/7, with other horses, and was left to man up and ge tused to it. He loved it, and has settled into a more relaxed way of life very well, but winter approaching has rather caught him by surprise! He has only started growing a winter coat in the last week, and is very keen to come in in the evenings! He's definitely going to need more rugging than any of my others have needed.

I also feel that as his body is working hard to fix his physical issues, that he probably needs more help in terms of rugs and feed than a horse that is structurally sound.

 

[Spottyappy]

Yes,sure some are. My home bred boy was total wimp. He had 450 rug on in winter,plus an underrug and still barely held weight. He shivered in the slightest shower. His dam,however,was pure TB,hardy as a native. I rugged her one winter as she was living out and I felt bit sorry for her. Every time I put a rug on,later that day,she would have removed it,and usually wrecked it in the process.
Our welsh mare has,also,only just got her winter woollies coming through,but is gaining weight at an alarming rate inspite of restricted grass and no feed. The NF mare,however,has lovely coat,isn't cold,but is having large feed as being on restricted turnout with the welshie,is not maintaining weight as well as I would like.
Like people.all different. I am permanently hot,and turn the heat very low. Our friends come over,and sit in their jackets as its too cold for them!!

 

[barnbrookaa]

My native has a bib clip and he is in a 300g atm at night as he is a chilly bean x he Would not survive on exmoor!

His coat is very thick but I think he is a whimp X

 

[LollyDolly]

At the same time it is ridiculously annoying! Last winter it was absolutely FREEZING with snow/ice etc, (this was when we were both in France) so I thought 'Oh poor baby, I'll stick a medium on you tonight to keep you all toasty and warm' ..got up there in the morning and he was sweating buckets!

Maybe they should buddy up for a few days..Freddie will teach him the ways of the true Native

Haha, you can't win with horses!

They should, Freddie can teach him how to man up!!

I'm enjoying reading all of the replies, it's good to know that I'm not the only person with a wimpy horse!

 

[fidleyspromise]

I think they are, I mean it may be the way each individual has handled them from birth etc.
My TB mare I had when I was younger was clipped & had a heavy weight on in snow and was always fine. My current gelding who is TB x ID gets very cold, he shivers if he is cold or wet (even when its raining but warmer) he really isn't a fan of the cold weather and stands at the gate whinnying and pacing.

This could be true.
I've one highland that was never rugged and she has a trace clip in winter and left unrugged and is happy as larry.
Other one gets a thick coat, but shivers with rain. New forest has been brought into barn for 3 winters. I leave her out and as long as she has shelter she's ok, but she's not as hardy as highland. She'd be happy in stable on bad nights (but I'm mean and leave her out).

 

[Supertrooper]

Both the shire x and my friends sec a are wimpy in this weather. When we got the sec a in today he was shaking :-(

 

[Littlelegs]

I think some are. Not just with the cold, but reaction to pain/injury too. Same as with people. But I also think there's truth in what they have been brought up with to an extent too.

 

[NinjaPony]

Yes! I have one fully clipped connie who is in the same rugs as my unclipped welsh a with a very thick coat that does nothing
My welsh boy always needs rugging early, he is in a heavyweight tonight, and reacts very strongly to pain, injury etc, if there is something wrong we alll know about it!
My connie is always warm, if in doubt I underrug, and is generally a lot less wimpy.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

Mine are wimpier this year than last! I alway try to minimal rug.. but the temperature hit 1C and they were cold in mediums! so they are already in heavyweights. The little pony was hunter clipped out in a 100g all winter in the frost last year.. and still warm but tbf it was a very mild winter. very worried about how they will cope when it really gets cold... I try to keep them out as long as possible

 

[Archiesmummy]

Yes, for sure. You have to manage accordingly, not what other people are doing at the time.

Archie is a big strapping lad of a horse but gets cold. Even when I tried to toughen him up his coat still didn't grow a great deal and he was shivering and utterly miserable. Once I rugged him appropriately he was happy as Larry living out.

Pain is another issue, some horses have a low pain threshold, some a lot more. You have to judge every one as an individual. Archie can tolerate pain, to a degree, but when he gets his teeth done, for instance, when its been a particularly hard going on his mouth, the vet gives him some pain relief, for his comfort and my peace of mind.

 

[geegee84]

Sometimes rugging makes them colder as their hair can't stand up to insulate them with a rug on, shivering is a way they keep warm.

 

[el_Snowflakes]

If he's physically cold to touch I wouldn't say he was being wimpy some people feel cold more than others due to circulation so font see why horses would be any different.

 

[Megibo]

Definitely! I have two Welsh D's, one that has been with me 7 years and always wintered out naked unless clipped.
My newer one (that I got in May) has been pandered to I think, and rugged up in the cold! She had a really thick coat and light rug on to keep her clean for riding and was cool to touch on her shoulder and ears, whereas my little welshie who I've had longer was in the same and hot! Til I gave her a bib and belly anyway.

 

[Brimful of Asha]

deffo! My connie feels the cold as soon as it gets about end of september time! she is the wimpiest horse I have ever known/ seen...ever! even when she isn't clipped and got a medium rug with a neck!

She's worse than the tb's next to her that have light weights without neck's!
you defiantly can't win!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Definitely, my Draft horse has a fabulously thick coat and feels warm to the touch behind her elbow, if I can get my hand through her coat. But she really prefers to stay in in cold/wet weather - not that she gets the chance! and she is always the first to come to the gate at tea-time. Now that really is wimpy!
OP, I wonder if your horses thin stable rug is flattening his coat so that he can't fluff up the hairs to keep himself warm.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

Yes, my TB X Welsh sect D manages to live out 24/7 unrugged all year round with no hard feed and just ad lib hay through the coldest part of the winter. She doesn't have a particularly thick coat but hates being rugged, she will just stand by the gate not grazing if I rug her. She is 19 years old and comes out of the winter looking amazing. My full Sect D, 10year old gelding who looks like a teddy bear by October stands and shivers without his rug if it rains on him. even in the summer he shivers in the rain he is a wimp! I think if there was a wimp competition he would take first prize every time! I think he thinks he is a TB, he acts like one all the time, a drama queen or what!