Are your horses wearing rugs at night?

a rain sheet on the tb just because we don't want him losing any weight. nothing on the fat connie as he needs to lose weight. if it is warm though they both wear fly rugs
 
only a fly mask and fully covering fly rug as the fly's really upset her and make her sweet itch worse. the fly rug she has at the moment is very lightweight which is nice as it's soooo hooot!
 
My tb is out in just a fly mask & fly rug atm cause the weather is to hot, & again, the flys love her cause shes Chestnut & she hates them!
 
I got shouted at a long time ago for suggesting that maybe horses are over-rugged these days. Glad to hear so many of them are managing to get away with naked after all!!!
 
My tb is out in fly rug at night, it's boiling here and so many flying ants about! Keeps spitting on and off but he'll be fine and my id is naked!
 
Haven't read whole thread - but no, no, no, no, no.

It's August for heaven's sake! I would be able to sleep out naked tonight (might actually sleep better in all honesty!) let alone my horses.

They have fly masks on and fly spray and are out overnight until the end of October when the clocks go back. They have a rain sheet on if its very wet overnight because I want them dry to ride in the morning, but it's a sheet without any fill until the end of October. Then they are either turned away for a fully naked field holiday for a few months, or clipped and rugged accordingly.

I was once told (and it makes complete sense) that the more you rug a horse the less tone he keeps in his skin and the less able he is to respond to temperature fluctuations by raising the hairs in his coat. If the muscles responsible for raising his hairs are not exercised they atrophy just as other unused muscles would and it makes it much harder for them to regulate their own temperature by raising their hairs to trap warm air next to the skin.

So if you're rugging now at the end of the summer when today the temperature has reached 28/9 degrees and overnight it's not supposed to drop below 16, then what on earth are you going to do when it's -6 in just a few month's time? How many rugs will your horses need to be wearing, and how healthy will his skin be? What will his skin muscle tone be like? When you're out on a hack next January will your horse actually be able to raise his hairs to keep himself warm, or will all those tiny muscles be non-existent through lack of use?

I might be talking absolute bo**ocks, but the theory makes sense to me.
 
Oshk has a UV rug on during day as he is photosensitive.
I do not worry about my horses getting wet, I doubt very much they will melt in the rain, if anything they will be getting burnt this week, not cold.
I spend my winter dragging numerous rugs here there and everywhere, I will be damned if I am dragging turn out rugs around in August!
It has forecast heavy rain tomorrow, it has also forecast 27degree heat... Like I said, I don't worry about my horses getting wet or cold in August, October when they are clipped yes, but not August.
 
NAKED!!! apart from my mare with sweet itch who has to wear a fly rug, but its the thinnest one i could find to try and keep her cool inside it. If only fly spray lasted...

I rug my horses less than i rug myself and id quite happily be out there naked at the minute, nevermind with a whole body full of thick hair :/

Rain sheets if its peeing it down but only then and i mean terrential rain!!!!
 
Not a chance! If everything goes to plan, he won't even have a LW TO on until November! Despite all my best efforts, my horse is always a bit fat so it doesn't hurt him to be left unrugged for as long as possible. If I didn't need him to be dry to ride or didn't clip, he would stay unrugged all year, quite happily.
 
Old guys get rugged if the temp drops and it rains at night but they are in their 30s. Everything else gets rugged if it goes below minus 7 ish and the cobs still sweat through their rug at that. Some people seriously over rug :-(
 
Er.... NO!!

It is waaaaaayyyyy too hot, even at night.

Well she was wearing a fly rug and mask until she shredded the rug and removed and hig the mask so until my new stuff arrives she's out in her birthday suit and a heavy layer of flyspray.

If the temperature drops AND it rains I will pop on a no fill turnout but only if it gets below about 10C, with sustained rain, especially as her weight is now on the "well covered" side of ok, rather than looking a bit light as she was in spring.
 
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude pony. Each winter, he wears a rug maybe 5 times...only when it's really disgustingly rainy and windy outside. He still came out of the winter fatter than he went into it.
 
No no no, I had to buy a fly rug for my girl this week due to her getting bitten and I don't even like putting that on! The only way she would have one on is if it dropped below 8 degrees and constant rain. x
 
hi
you've all got too much money!! My horses are european heavies some ridden, some breeding, so very fine coated. we live on top of one of the highest mountains in wales and we only rug when its snowing, it doesnt really rain in the winter as its too cold, at nights our temps reg drop to -19 or below. They live out 24/7 and they are all too fat but all very happy! I should add no hard feed, just an armful of hay each daily in winter when snow stops foraging. When we rug its, no filler light sheets just to keep their backs dry. At present one of our horses being broken at a very posh yard on much lower ground I'm finding it difficult to cope in the heat when we go to ride. Laugh we're in our going to do horse things oldest clothes and when we get there, everyone in pristine jods etc and horses all rugged. My darling hubby actually questioned whether we should rug ours in the summer as well. LMFAO NO! I bet you're all feeding as well, what is grass for, i have to confess when we moved to our mountain we initially started to stable ours in the winter as the snow can be 6 feet deep at times for weeks but all of a sudden our vet bills started to shoot up with a colic and other much less serious ailments meaning at least 2 visits per month until i said do you know we need to get these out! Now only see vet for routine things and i have spare cash to spend!
 
It is supposed to rain heavily tonight and he still won't be rugged. I shall rug as late as possible, when he is clipped which I have to do because of a very thick winter coat.

"They don't shrink and the dye don't run"
 
No rugs overnight!
If I rugged mine overnight I dread to think how fat she would be now :eek:
She will be naked until October when she may have the pleasure of a rainsheet to keep clean. I only rug her up properly if she is clipped out mid winter.
 
Kokopelli said:
Mine hasn't had a rug touch his back for a good 3 months maybe longer. Even in the rain :eek: he hasn't melted yet.

I should add that this is a 'skinny' TB. ;)
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Snap!!!
He won't see one either until he comes in at night for winter and gets clipped, probably at the end of October, and the poor struggling soul is 20, mean aren"t I!!
 
I make one exception and that is the 36 year old. I go out late and put a very light rug on, even last night. He just needs a bit of help now he is old, he is half Arab and has the finest coat in the summer. Soon his New Forest half will take over though and he will grow his triple layered monster coat for the winter and be fine.
 
Good lord no!! :D :D Not even my veteran who was fully clipped a couple of weeks ago.

Rugging in August. Madness!

ETS - I had to have the electric fan blasting on me to get to sleep last night. It's horrible being too hot.
 
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Rugs? At this time of year? We are talking horses yes - animals meant to live out in all weathers??

I have just clipped mine as he gets too HOT! To be fair IF (and it probably will) it gets a fair bit cooler and rains like it's supposed to I will possibly put his rain sheet on but that's only because I have removed the majority of his natural protection.

I have to clip him every year about this time as he just gets too warm and lethargic otherwise.
 
Abolutely not! If it gets a bit cold at night it would do them both good, they could do with useing up a few calories keeping warm! One I do rug in the winter 'cause I clip him, my sec B never wears a rug.

orsolya80 said:
The fat little welshie is naked until it starts to snow, then maybe gets a lightweight on. She has enough insulation of her own as it is!
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Have you considered that by putting a LW rug on your pony during the snow might actually make feel the cold more? A LW rug will offer little warmth itself and will actually prevent her coat from working as it's meant to by flattening it down and preventing it from trapping air like a duvet. My sec B never wore a rug in all the snow last year and she was her usual spritely self.
 
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I have just turned out our pure bred Arab 24-7 he has the finest coat I have ever seen his naked and will be until it drops to single figures at night, then he will have a lightweight sheet on, his well covered and is happy.
 
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