Being told I'm cruel for not rugging up!

As with most things you have to assess the individual. My arabs cry out for their rugs, especially in cold/windy weather (despite adequate food/shelter), they just like to feel dry & cosy, even the 5 yr old. But. I also have a 13 yr old who hates wearing rugs, she lives out most years (with haylage & shleter), no rugs in fact if you try & rug her she over heats & gets distressed, ends up in a much worse (& wetter with sweat) state, so we leave her au naturel. Breed? She is 3/4tb & 1/4id, reg ISH. Looking at her you'd never think she was the one who hated rugging, both her daughters have been physically hot bods as well, it's just in her make up, she is very proficient at generating her own warmth. If I forced them all to follow the same system due to my beliefs, something would suffer. Just have to adapt according to what suits the horse.
 
WelshD - H+H prophet correct again on rug thread! : )

It all turned out just as you said it would.. spooky, but maybe not so surprising.

Personally, I'm happy understanding the great variations in rugging requirements, and faintly amused that anyone can confidently slate another poster for her management of (judging by her photos) bright,healthy and blooming animals.
By the way Patterdale, my whippet wears a coat in cold weather because he is happy and comfortable that way, like most whippets. If I don't dress him, he will be tense, cold and miserable. He is thin skinned with very fine hair, and some horses are like this too.
 
Last November, when I got my boy, we had to majorly rug. He went from racing, to two years off on a yard where he was in at night and rugged up in a 360gm in October for turnout for a few hours during the day. Plus he has EPSM, and we live in North East Scotland on the side of a hill. So when I chucked him a field to live out 24/7 he had NO coat, and even without clipping him he lived in a 400gm November - January, then down to a 300gm, then down to a 220gm in April til the grass came through and weather improved.

He was rugged all summer - we are PLAGUED by horseflies and midges so he had at least a fly sheet on until late August, and had a lightweight and even up to a middleweight when we had a nasty windy rainy spell in August. For September, he was back into a lightweight and naked during the day.

This winter he is ALREADY sprouting a winter coat, which will all need to get clipped off probably the end of this month to start the cycle again. But it ha staken him a year just to get used to living out temperature wise, so yes I DO RUG UP! Recently I have been surprised by the sudden change of him being very comfortable in the lightweight (unfortunately it soaked through today and he was soaking and cold so I put him back into a middleweight, but once it dries up he'll probably go back).

As soon as I've taken away his little furry insulator blanket though he may well go back to feeling the cold. I will see how he feels - have three MW, one which can take a liner to a HW, one HW and one 400g extra HW, plus detachable necks to we can chop and change as to how he's feeling. But I agree with PS that I would rather keep him slightly too warm than too cold as with EPSM he gets so much stiffer and sorer if he's cold, that I err on the warm side.
 
Oh good grief, I've got two Warmbloods and a TB X who are still out mostly naked or only in lightweights. I do get gawked at a bit by some of the owners on my yard, but none of the nags have come in cold and shivering yet and have, once or twice, been a bit too warm in their lightweights. I go by them, if they're fine, then I'm not worried. (Of course, the too lazy to groom the winter coat part of me will kick in eventually and then they'll be bald and rugged, but until then they can dictate what they wear! ;-) ).

Justabob, your phrasing made me LOL!
 
My WB has been out in a rainsheet most of the last month mainly to try and stop his weight dropping after a tooth extraction - had a few days of sunny when he was out naked - clipped him the other night and put a lightweight on which was swiftly replaced by his rain sheet again when he came in the next morning rather too toasty. So long as hes comfy I dont give a toss what anyone else thinks
 
No, you just completely bypassed any mention of the subject being discussed and started hurling personal insults instead...

edit - justabob did, which is who the original remark from PS was aimed at.
 
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there's no smoke up my bum, I just find it odd that we can accept not every horse needs rugs galore and don't need or want to start an argument over that, yet certain posters feel it ok to point fingers and name call or make fun of us/ our management.
By all means disagree but perhaps do it in a more adult way, with factual back up instead of lies.

I'm not always perfect at keeping my cool but I can see both sides of the rugging/ not rugging debate, to resort to lies to try and force an argument DOES show a lack of education and class IMO :)

Moomin, my comment wasn't aimed at you...
 
JenJ said:
No, you just completely bypassed any mention of the subject being discussed and started hurling personal insults instead...

edit - justabob did, which is who the original remark from PS was aimed at.
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No, but NMT insinuated a personal insult towards me, completely unwarranted in this thread IMO.
 
Mine live out and have lightweights on with necks just to keep the rain off. Did put 100g ones on but they got too warm.

I was guilty of over rugging last year as it was his first winter ever living out and I worried he wouldn't cope. He surprised me thou :)
 
justabob said:
More easily riled too. Oh do get over yourselves. No body gives a Fig what you do really, you are just such fun to wind up. xx
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I wouldn't say I was riled, what have I got get riled about? You impact on my life not a jot other than to put yourself forward as an example of the above mentioned lacking in class and manners and if you didn't give a fig you wouldn't keep replying ;)

I imagine that people whose only source of entertainment is to try to wind others up, must be a bit bitter about life, or jealous or just plain not quite all there, but that of course is just my opinion :)
 
It never fails to amuse me how a thread about rugging can turn into a playground fight. Just agree to disagree and leave the personal insults out of it.
Everyone has different opinions because every horse is different! People have had a go at me for rugging my welsh section a- to which I reply, I've had him 7 years and he is happy and comfortable so I think I'll carry on.... No I wouldn't put my clipped Connemara in a heavyweight and thermatex at this time of the year as he would melt, but who am I to judge how other people rug- as long as the horses are happy.
I don't think its particularly relevant how other people rug, you have to rug for your horse.
As it is, my unclipped welsh a is in a medium weight and my fully clipped Connemara is in a medium weight. They are happy, end of discussion.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
I wouldn't say I was riled, what have I got get riled about? You impact on my life not a jot other than to put yourself forward as an example of the above mentioned lacking in class and manners and if you didn't give a fig you wouldn't keep replying ;)

I imagine that people whose only source of entertainment is to try to wind others up, must be a bit bitter about life, or jealous or just plain not quite all there, but that of course is just my opinion :)
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Lol........touche. Just a little reminder to you, people that do have "class" find it vulgar to mention the word, you have, in two posts.
 
*whispers* I gave fat cob a neck and belly clip tonight and then chucked him back out naked, that's right, naked - and it's supposed to get down to 6 degrees tonight! Someone phone the RSPCA!!

*runs off to avoid the angry mob*
 
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