Clipping, exercise rugs & feeding... all in one!!

[icklemadame]

Apologies to all of you who have read this in new lounge - I never know where to put these kind of questions!! Thought it may help to put it in stable yard too!!

I've always had slightly rotund fluffy ponies who if they've been clipped for winter & hunting have just always had bib clips/trace clips, mostly because it was easier and my mum always believed in leaving ponies in their natural state so they had protection against the elements!! Last year my pony had a high trace clip and hunted 1/2 days most weeks all season, but she lost a huge amount of condition, in her coat and with her weight, she'd come back from a day all tucked up and skinny and I was feeding her 4/5 feeds a day to keep any weight on her at all. Also to get her anywhere near clean enough to go hunting I was having to wash her fluffy bits (she's piebald with a lot of white, it's a nightmare for hunting!!) which wasn't helping, even though I tried really hard to keep her warm when I was doing this, any amount of shivering doesn't help her weight etc. On top of all this she is very very fizzy and works herself up into a frenzy out hunting - she actually starts shaking from the moment I get her in from the field and she works out what is going on, and continues on and off throughout the day!!

Anyway... this year I've done a blanket clip on her to try and not to have to wash her so much, but to still give her some covering, (although from this weekend she will be stabled overnight so this isn't as much of a worry) but out hunting on Tuesday I noticed that yet again all the other horses were standing around quietly and calmly and seemed to be warm, but by the end of the day Clover was cold, but she was the one with the most hair!! All the fully clipped/hunter clipped horses were fine, she was shivering, and I presume this was because her hairy bits were wet with sweat and hadn't dried, and that was making her cold? So should she be clipped more? Will this improve the situation? And if she is fully clipped, I'm then worried that when I take her out in the mornings (I ride at 7am during the week) that she will be very cold when I first start, but if I put an exercise sheet on she will be very hot by the end!! (I do lots of fast work in the mornings, and tend to use our hunt rails/fences instead of gates quite a lot

) Also... any tips for keeping her weight/condition on over the winter? She is coming in this weekend as I said and I don't know what to feed her to keep her weight on and keep her energy levels up...

Sorry its so very very long!!

Emily xx

 

[hannah87]

first of all if she is in hard work like you have described i would clip her fully out - but leave legs on for protection 4 hunting.
i would say they amount of sweating she is doing is making her colder wen stood about hunting as she will be so wet - and making her lose condition.
get her clipped out, use an excersise sheet if its cold - once shes warm fold it up and sit on it.
what feed is she on at the mo?
to keep weight on - heaps of quality hay / haylege - as much as she can eat
u could give her some conditioning cubes to get her condtion up, also feed a slow release energy type feed which will help give her energy all through the day but in small amounts, may help with the fiziness.
good luck
oil is very good for condtion, i find soya oil particulary good
make sure she has access to a salt lick to replace after all that sweating

 

[lucym]

heya

i would deffo full clip your horse. life will be nicer for him and you. he'll dry off quicker, and if he comes in at night then it shouldnt be a problem. also he should sweat less, so lose less weight through sewating. my ponies that i used to hunt when i was little were never full clipped, and in hindsight they sould have been, because they lost so much wieght through sweating.
if the weather is really cold, i would put an excersize sheet on, or if there is a bitter wind etc, and as bramble87 says, you can fold it up if she gets too warm.
as for feeding, loads of hay, sugarbeet is good for bulk and weight gain, plus maybe alfa a oil, and a cube or mix with lots of energy.
nowadays with all the rugs on the market, clipping out is not really a problem, beacuse they can be wrapped up warm

hope it all goes ok

 

[ISHmad]

The Equafleece exercise sheets are completely made of fleece yet are waterproof. They also wick away moisture if your mare does sweat whilst you are exercising her.

Sounds like clipping her out other than her legs would be a good idea, with appropriate rugging etc And lots and lots of ad lib hay or haylage to keep her warm from the inside out.

 

[aimeerose]

I would agree that she will actually be warmer and happier fully clipped. she'll dry off quicker, wont sweat so much etc

the way a horse dries off is to evaporate the sweat - but in doing so they loose body heat.
no coat = no sweat, no excess heat loss.

As others have said, lots of adlib hay, and warming feed such as Alfa-A.