Cannot decide if I should rug or not

If she is staying unclipped then no don't rug, the pony may even get colder with a rug as it will flatter her hair that she would use to trap warmth. She looks made of tougher stuff than my TBx who is out unclipped and rug less and very happy at the mo. if she's got a nice thick coat then leave her be, obviously if she has been clipped none of this advice applies, she is beautiful by the way :)
 
Its dry and cold at the moment but set to drop in temperature, with rain and possibly snow.

The thing is I don't even have a rug for her at the moment so am umming and ahhing as to whether to buy one. Maybe I should buy one to have on standby, then if it really turns can put one on.
 
harlequinwalk said:
If she is staying unclipped then no don't rug, the pony may even get colder with a rug as it will flatter her hair that she would use to trap warmth. She looks made of tougher stuff than my TBx who is out unclipped and rug less and very happy at the mo. if she's got a nice thick coat then leave her be, obviously if she has been clipped none of this advice applies, she is beautiful by the way :)
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Thanks.:) Oh and she is not clipped.
 
Will have one on standby. Although, am sure if it is truly awful and freezing they will be brought into the stables during the night. She is on holiday at a friends, who has other horses and boxes available, and do remember her saying that if it is too cold they come in during the night.
 
Field04 said:
Will have one on standby. Although, am sure if it is truly awful and freezing they will be brought into the stables during the night. She is on holiday at a friends, who has other horses and boxes available, and do remember her saying that if it is too cold they come in during the night.
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I do the opposite when it's cold with my arthritic clicky cob when it's cold...i leave him out! I would rather him have the chance to keep moving and grazing rather than stood in a stable, seizing up:) All the horses on our yard are in at night apart from my 2, who at 20 and 22 are the old men of the yard:D Dry and cold they stay out, but last week when we were flooded they were allowed in overnight otherwise they stand there knee deep in mud looking depressed!
 
Maybe get a fleece and a lightweight so she can wear the lightweight in the rain then just layer with a fleece when the temperature drops. Although if she survived last week then she should be fine! Just a suggestion if you're particularly concerned :) Keep an eye on her weight too
 
timiton said:
Maybe get a fleece and a lightweight so she can wear the lightweight in the rain then just layer with a fleece when the temperature drops. Although if she survived last week then she should be fine! Just a suggestion if you're particularly concerned :) Keep an eye on her weight too
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Myself and my friend, who is looking after her, are both keeping an eye on her weight. At the moment she just has hay, but as much as she wants. Wouldn't want anymore off of her as I feel she could be a bit on the fatter side with winter coming.
 
Im sure she will be fine doing what shes done for 16 yrs.

As long as she has ad-lib hay to convert to energy she will be fine.

Dont feel pressured to rug because many see it as the 'thing to do'.

Some info on rugging below

Here is some information on winter blanketing that may surprise you. This is the result of a multi-year study done by CSU, using state of the art thermal detection equipment. Colorado State University is widely considered to be one of the top three equine veterinary schools in the country: Blanketing horses is one of the worst things that you can do to a horse in the winter. Horses have the ability to loft and lower their coats to 17 different levels, so it's like exchanging 17 different thermal weights of blankets off and on them all day and night, depending on what they need- except that we don't know what they need as well as they do. Their 'self-blanketing' process works a little like 'chill bumps' do in our own skin. That's why long-haired horses may seem fluffier on some days than on others. Only three things make the 'self-blanketing' process not work: blanketing, clipping, and wind. Not even snow or rain stops their own thermostats from doing the job.

Also horses are in 'neutral' (meaning not using energy for either heating or cooling) when the air around them is between 26 and 38 degrees. Otherwise, they're using energy to control their temps. So- since they're cooling their bodies when the temp is over 38 degrees, they're having to use extra energy to cool themselves when blanketed in temperatures over that. Any time a horse that is outside and has a long coat is shivering, it's because the horse has opted to shiver to warm itself, instead of using the option of moving. Moving generates a considerable amount of heat for a horse, but they sometimes stand and shiver while napping, etc. It does not mean that they need to be blanketed.

However, a horse MUST have a way to get out of the wind in order for their self-blanketing' abilities to function fully. It turns out that blanketing is done more for pleasing the human, than to fill a need of the horse. The horse blanket industry has done a great job of making us think that their product is a necessary part of good horsekeeping, when it is actually an item that is very seldom needed.
 
I have two cob yearlings on short term adoption, and the society I have loaned them from advised me not to rug, and that they could stay out all winter. I understand that left alone, nature will provide all they need for winter protection and a rug will interfere with this.

I have used rugs in the past on our stabled horses, but life is so much easier not to be changing and re rugging when one gets ripped, wet through etc!

Better to have the option of protection from wind in each direction, and in extreme weather if you can stable overnight that may help you feel less worried. Sufficient food and water is the most important.

Nature does not rug up the native ponies in the welsh hills, on the cumbrian fells or Dartmoor or Exmoor. It does however teach them to know where to find natural protection depending on which way the wind is blowing, and my two are very good at this in our field, and I find it really interesting to see how they know just the best place for each wind direction to get shelter.
 
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