Being told I'm cruel for not rugging up!

When my native was the only one left un rugged on the yard I got called cruel- apparently he looked fat... But you actually lost your hand in the coat during winter when you went to stroke him, but his ribs were still felt under it.

Likewise, when fully clipped and worked over winter he was never out in more than 1 MW rug, people thought I was cruel, as he would get cold. He was the warmest horse on the yard.
 
All these replies are making me feel better about it. Its nice to know there are others out there that are also out naked

Its just not nice being called cruel when in fact you are actually doing what is best for your own horse.

Thanks everyone xxx
 
It has got to be whatever is right for your horse! donovan is a sec b, he is now fully clipped out as he is in work, so wears a light/medium rug throughout the day, and a thick fleece at night, he seems to be just comfortable at the moment, not too hot, but not too cold either.
 
If your horse is happy leave him be, if hes misserable cold and wet rug him up :) Simples :)

My section D is out naked and hes got a lovely winter coat coming on :) However, will be rugging him up january time to make him loose his winter coat ready for next years showing season :)
 
I don't think that you're cruel! My cob is fully clipped, legs hog etc all year round but that's because he's a sweaty beast, so he needs a rug on because he does get a little chilly! He'd be naked if he wasn't clipped! My WB only has a sheet on too, but because he has a very fine coat!

I think people sometimes try and compete to have the biggest and best rug on the earliest when actually it's got to be down to the horse in question, not whether or not so-and-so has a 360g rug on in early October!
 
Please tell the person who has accused you of cruelty that horses were on the planet for a lot longer than rugs. amazingly the horses managed to evolve and to thrive. Drives me nuts this it really does. No body is saying that there isn't a place for rugs for a horse that has a need, but to rug for the sake of it is frankly cruelty in my opinion.

There is a woman not far from me who rugs up umpteen shetlands at the first sign of a drop of rain. I'm fairly sure that Shetland has plenty of rain and they manage up there okay.
 
jrp204 said:
Its a wonder that any horses survive in the wild.
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Horses in the wild aren't clipped or groomed so their coats maintain their water repellant/insulating properties, and have evolved to be hardy . . .

While I don't agree with over-rugging ANY horse, I also get pretty sick of the "all people who rug are either lazy or mollycoddling/abusing their horses" brigade . . . ditto "rugging isn't natural" . . . neither is shoeing, feeding anything other than forage, riding/driving, stabling, or keeping in a field - horses in the wild are nomads. If a domesticated horse is cold, put a rug on it . . . simples ;).

P
 
Finn said:
All these replies are making me feel better about it. Its nice to know there are others out there that are also out naked

Its just not nice being called cruel when in fact you are actually doing what is best for your own horse.

Thanks everyone xxx
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You rock on - if your lovely mare doesn't need a rug, then she doesn't need a rug . . . ignore the haters. Oh, and it's cruel of these people to make you feel guilty about how you care for and manage your horse - so there ;).

P
 
Patterdale said:
:eek3: a heavyweight AND a thermatex!? What will you do when it actually gets cold!? :eek3:

If this is your normal routine I can't help but feel that it has 'trained' your horses to feel the cold.......
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possibly but equally theres NO point encouraging them to grow a thick coat, only to clip it off, they are lightly rugged all year so they dont ever get cold/tucked up, so they dont grow too much of a coat and either need minimal or no clipping.
because of CS's EPSM and Fig being used to rather hotter climes (Oz and Japan) they are happier kept warmer.

as its gets colder they will upgrade to 120 gm under rugs, then 220, then 350. they usually end up with the magnet sheet as a base layer which is thin and easy to wash and also really helps keep them warm.

i can assure you they are NOT ever hot or sweaty or itchy :)
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
possibly but equally theres NO point encouraging them to grow a thick coat, only to clip it off, they are lightly rugged all year so they dont ever get cold/tucked up, so they dont grow too much of a coat and either need minimal or no clipping.
because of CS's EPSM and Fig being used to rather hotter climes (Oz and Japan) they are happier kept warmer.

as its gets colder they will upgrade to 120 gm under rugs, then 220, then 350. they usually end up with the magnet sheet as a base layer which is thin and easy to wash and also really helps keep them warm.

i can assure you they are NOT ever hot or sweaty or itchy :)
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Bloody 'eck! really in a heavy weight already? How many rugs do you own? ... No, dont tell me!
 
OP are you on a yard? People should mind their own business! You should ask them exactly why it is cruel and see what they say.

FWIW Only the 18 yo is currently wearing a lightweight turnout because she needs daily exercise (arthritic) and being arthritic it keeps her comfortable. Next week she's being hunter clipped and will then go into a 200g. The rest are still naked. They have natural shelter in the current field and aren't shivering or cold.

There's a yard down the road where suddenly overnight every horse was rugged up 24/7 in full necks. This was the second week of September!
 
Horsey folk do seem to be the most opinionated in the world! When I was on livery yards I did try my hardest never to offer an opinion on ANYTHING unless asked. Now I can manage my horses exactly as I please which is BRILLIANT!!
OP, you stick to your own routine with your horse and remind anyone else that its not their responsibility :cool::cool:
 
I debated throwing a sheet on my hairy to keep him cleanish for riding. As the little sod opted to pull said sheet into his stable and pee on it, I told him he could forget it! He's still naked.
 
cavalo branco said:
Horsey folk do seem to be the most opinionated in the world! When I was on livery yards I did try my hardest never to offer an opinion on ANYTHING unless asked.
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LOL!

I have to say, I have NO idea what weight rugs the other horses on my yard are wearing and I don't suppose anyone else has a clue what mine are wearing as they are in lightweight rambos, with liners of varying weight that I vary as the weather changes.

Incidentally, my two ISHers, who live in neighbouring stables and fields, currently have different weights on, and the clipped one has less on than the unclipped one, because the mare is naturally a warm horse and the gelding is a wuss about the cold.
 
Finn said:
I got told yesterday that I'm being cruel for my horse being out naked in this rain.

The thing is she's a Shire X Cob, well built and very woolly. She never wears rugs anyway even in the snow or when its minus 10 as she is a naturally warm mare and even with a rain sheet on she still gets too hot.

Shes out 24/7 with plenty of hay and has a small feed every morning just to get her supplements inside her and is perfectly happy wandering around her field and eating. I have checked her religiously to make sure she's not cold or shivering or anything and she's perfectly warm still so the way I see it she doesn't need rugging up.

I just don't see why, if she's still warm and happily eating hay and grass that I should rug her up or bring her in out of the rain just because that is what everyone else does. Surely its about doing what is right and what suits your horse. Don't get me wrong if she was cold she would be in to dry off then a rug put on her.

Am I cruel or are there other's out there that are still naked in this rain? Should I be made to feel cruel just for doing what's right for my horse?

Pointless post really, just wanted to see if there are others out there that are still naked.
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Personally I would always use a rug even if 0 padding/ togs so just rain sheet.

No one has the right to say that unless the horse is unhappy - underweight- neglected- shivering.


Tell them to MTOB. or say


thankyou for your concern but its my horse my decision.
 
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Prince33Sp4rkle said:
mine are in HW and thermatexes in the day (out), magnet sheets and MW at night (in). CS is fully clipped and has EPSM, Fig is the worlds worst doer and grows no winter coat so in effect is also fully clipped!
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OMG .


Sheesh I would never put heavy weights on now, I have found in the past if you over rug while they are young / to soon, when they are older you have a hard time keeping weight and condition on and feel the cold more mine started in 4 oz rugs now moved to 7 oz rugs. They move to 12 oz once clipped (end month beg Nov) and heavy weight 14oz when the ground is frozen. I refuse to put more than two layers on my horses so at the most they have one rug and an under rug. If they were in heavy weights now lord knows what would happen when the temp drops to minus something.
 
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There no need for this sort of thing to be a fight manage your horse as you choose if you choose to put on a thinish rug because you want to be ride when it suits you that's also fine .
My TB has a medium wieght on at the moment the others old medium wieghts so they are not that warm they are out at night three will come in tonight as its getting colder I am hunting three days a week and it's time to go over to winter management .
The cob will stay out he's got his legs clipped and a chaser type clip he's got a shed and is alone so I can feed him in the field ( I never put food in fields with more than one horse ) .
You have to do what suits your horse ,your fields ,the work you are doing.
Of course it's silly to put a HW on a fat hairy cob in October but why can't people just get on with doing their own horses ?
Op it's just not cruel, in fact it annoys me because it's an incorrect use of the word , I have seen proper cruel and it just devalues the word when people use it in this sort of context.
 
WelshD said:
These threads always end up as arguements! someone will say that their horse is unrugged, someone else will say theirs is partially clipped and unrugged, someone will say theirs is unrugged with no shelter and on a hill then someone will say that theirs lives in siberia with no rugs. Barefoot and living naturally 'as a horse should' will rear its head somewhere along the line

The one upmanship will continue for a few pages then someone will say their horse is rugged, someone will say theirs has TWO rugs, the next will say theirs is clipped and rugged in wool blankets from the 1920's

Then the first set of people will set out the reasons why it is better not to rug with differing levels of rationality

Then the second lot will defend their actions

this will result in a stand off between two members with a bit of mud slinging and dredging up old posts to score points

If your horse is happy and you are happy then you will be ok, what anyone else thinks is irrelevant :)
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Lol! You've hit the nail on the head!
 
Leviathan said:
OMG .


Sheesh I would never put heavy weights on now, I have found in the past if you over rug while they are young / to soon, when they are older you have a hard time keeping weight and condition on and feel the cold more mine started in 4 oz rugs now moved to 7 oz rugs. They move to 12 oz once clipped (end month beg Nov) and heavy weight 14oz when the ground is frozen. I refuse to put more than two layers on my horses so at the most they have one rug and an under rug. If they were in heavy weights now lord knows what would happen when the temp drops to minus something.
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i dont feel its sensible to rug for the future, i rug for the here and now, in the rugs the horses are happiest in. I will not allow CS to stand tucked, cold, and muscle sore, just so he feels the benefit of his rugs in 10+ years time, and neither would NMT allow fig to drop weight just so she's got more layers to fall back on in his later years!
 
I own three rugs for my chap - a mw turnout, a hw turnout, and a mw stable rug. He has had them on him to get him used to the idea of a rug. But he won't be actually using them until the weather turns, and only if he needs them :) This will be our first winter together, so am playing things by ear. He is currently roughed off anyway and has a lovely thick coat with plenty of oils in it!

'Tis like stroking a yak...
 
Leviathan said:
Tell them to MTOB. or say


thankyou for your concern but its my horse my decision.
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Leviathan said:
OMG .


Sheesh I would never put heavy weights on now, I have found in the past if you over rug while they are young / to soon, when they are older you have a hard time keeping weight and condition on and feel the cold more mine started in 4 oz rugs now moved to 7 oz rugs. They move to 12 oz once clipped (end month beg Nov) and heavy weight 14oz when the ground is frozen. I refuse to put more than two layers on my horses so at the most they have one rug and an under rug. If they were in heavy weights now lord knows what would happen when the temp drops to minus something.
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Leviathan, thank you for your concern but it's my horse my decision :)
 
Not at all!!!

Only one of my horses has a rug on most of the time and that's because he's a wimp.. My two native welshies only wear rugs when its gales and heavy rain. and My horse only really wears one in winter because he's bottom of the pecking order so is likely to get chased out of the shelter.

At the moment I'm still trying to avoid rugging so their coats are really thing when it does get cold.
 
Leviathan said:
OMG .


Sheesh I would never put heavy weights on now, I have found in the past if you over rug while they are young / to soon, when they are older you have a hard time keeping weight and condition on and feel the cold more mine started in 4 oz rugs now moved to 7 oz rugs. They move to 12 oz once clipped (end month beg Nov) and heavy weight 14oz when the ground is frozen. I refuse to put more than two layers on my horses so at the most they have one rug and an under rug. If they were in heavy weights now lord knows what would happen when the temp drops to minus something.
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This is not rugging to individual requirements though, a fit, lean, muscled up horse with little coat either through clipping or natural lack of growth will need more rugs to keep it warm and comfortable, I rug to suit the individual and find the fitter the horse usually the more rugs required.
As for them getting older and not feeling the benefit my 2 former show part arabs are currently out unrugged and perfectly happy, they dont have much coat yet but will have by the time winter is really here, they both were very well rugged and clipped when working but are fine without being pampered so much in semi retirement. They do get rugs on when they need them but not before, whereas my horses in full work are rugged and clipped.
 
My horse is in a full neck med/heavy as he is fully clipped, getting on a bit and hard to put weight on! It's awful weather here, chucking it down constantly for the last few days and so windy. At night he's in with thick stable rug.

But if your cob is growing a thick wooley coat and in good condition then sure he can stay naked! I know loads of cobs who trash rugs to get them off, but also know wuss cobs (my old dales) who shivered like hell in a bit of rain!

To me it's only being cruel if your horse is either tucked up shivering without a rug, or sweating buckets under a rug.
 
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