ARE YOU RUGGING AT NIGHT YET?

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Bagface06

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There are a few at my yard that are already clothing their poor ponies at night just because is gone below 15 degrees!
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Would not be so bad but they are all cobby, native types! I have always been told that a horse getting too hot is far, far worse that a horse feeling a bit chilly? I always thought that the rain and wind made them feel the cold, not it being a bit chilly at night when they are in a sheltered box?
Any thoughts?
 
i agree with you. i've rugged up for one night so far, cos the wind was very cold, and just used a super-lightweight nz.
i think it's far far worse for a horse to be too hot. if it gets cold out in the field, it can run about a bit to warm up, or go in the shelters. i guess if i didn't have shelters, i'd worry a lot more.
no way would i rug up a stabled native type at the moment.
 
Ours have been pretty much all summer. Anything below 10c and we've put lightweight turnouts on. I was horrified yesterday though to have seen a top competition rider's eventers heavily rugged up in their stables, and being turned out with lightweight rugs and hoods in the roaring sunshine! I was boiling in a t-shirt!
 
but there's no windchill factor in a stable (unless it's draughty) and they have a huge body mass, which keeps them warm. different in bitter winter, but it really isn't cold yet. (well, not here, anyway.)
even eating forage warms them up!
 
Mine has a fleece on - but we are in huge pig pens which are akin to being out and I want to keep control of her coat TBH. She was also starving without the fleece and now she is back to normal, so that proves to me that she was feeling the cold.
 
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but there's no windchill factor in a stable (unless it's draughty) and they have a huge body mass, which keeps them warm. different in bitter winter, but it really isn't cold yet. (well, not here, anyway.)
even eating forage warms them up!

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I always thought the same until I spent several nights in a stable with sick horse.....
 
Oh no, I mean I agree with you entirely It's been so chilly at night down here, but he thinks I am babying her! Still he isn't there and I am so I just do it and don't tell him!!
 
Mine has had summer sheet on since August except the odd very warm night. It goes down to about 7 degrees most nights, if that was in winter I'd have rugs on at that temp so why different now? Mine does feel the cold though.
 
Yes and no, i play it very mych by ear.
for a start the owners of the yard are wonderful people but they are soft when it comes to horses and rugging. I find it easier to rug her when there is a bit of rain just to stop them asking if she'll be warm enough and saying she looks cold!

But there have been some awfull days this year and i would say that there hasn't been a time when i have really 'put the rugs away' although they have generally lightweight, with the bad stuff we were going for medium at times. And before we sold the cob she was nearly always in a rug to thin her coat and keep it nice for shows.

But as i say am playing it by ear, the other night she was rugged, last night she wasn't.
 
Yes my 2 big ones are rugged. D got his l/w stable rug on at Blair as it's blooming freezing up there & DA got his m/w Amigo on at the same time & have had them on at night since. Cob won't get his on til he's clipped & it's sufficently cold to stop him trashing it
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Mine gets very sweaty when being worked so most days I have to sponge him off at the moment. Therefore, I keep a summer sheet on him in the day when he is in, a shower proof thin t/o on when he is out and a very thin stable rug iat night.

Will be clipping in the next couple of weeks so he will probably need the stable rug on all the time then!
 
Nope, but then three of mine are natives. Two littles never have rugs on, the two biggies will be turned out with rugs on when it gets cold, mainly to keep them clean and dry for me, rather than for them. I rarely use stable rugs as I dont clip.
 
Was told the other day about a local yard where all 4 horses (all natives) are out in MW rugs- only one is clipped, what are they going to rug them in when the temp does drop?!
Our day time temp is roughly about 12degrees at the mo, dropping to 9 odd over night.
My lad (tbx) is still living out and gets rugged when its raining and windy in either no fill or LW (70g) rug- he does tend to feel the cold and hates getting wet but he's not feeling cold with what he gets on at the moment. I'm reluctant to rug him up too much just yet.
 
No rugs on ours!! Can't get to them even if we wanted them as there are a 'few' bales of hay in the way! Will have to move the hay before mid/end October, suspect will be rugging them over night by that point.
 
not yet, I figure if I'm still walking round in short sleeves the fat hairy ones don't need coats either. They are getting rather hairy tho, so clipping and rugging soon!
 
I think all breeds, as long as they have adequate shelter should be fine at a minimum of 10 degrees overnight. Even then, I don't think I would ever rug up a native unless is was very cold/wet.
 
NO, it's way too warm for an unclipped horse atm. I don't rug as per the season, I rug as per the weather conditions! If it's persistently wet & windy (like earlier this summer) then I will rug - no matter the time of year. It depends on the temp as to the weight.
 
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