Do you Change rugs and Pick out feet?

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I've recently taken up riding a friends pony twice a week having moved house and sold my two after having babies, but I have some concerns.

I could just be showing myself up as naïve or inexperienced... they don't change rugs from outdoor to stable. The horses come in every night and sometimes stay in during the day if it's wet. I always changed rugs as they can slip and become uncomfortable, also surely the needs of an outdoor horse are different to the needs of one inside?

They also don't pick out feet which was something I did before and after riding and every day. Another friend admits she doesn't do this either and that her farrier advises not doing this if you have barefeet.

They also expect a horse who might hack out for 25mins twice a week at walk to go hunting or jump in a hired out school for an hour. it seems a bit much for an unfit horse... but if you don't have facilities I suppose it's difficult to get a horse fit.

What do you think?
 
Yes, every day.
Missy only has one rug at the moment, which is a field rug and she wears that out and for bed (if it's dry) but I take it off twice daily and groom her before putting it back on. And she has her feet done daily too :)
 
Jesstickle said:
I don't change rugs.

And I rarely pick out feet. Horse isn't dead yet ;)
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Phew glad im not the only one at weekend i may put stable rugs on and maybe 3 times a week pick out and spray feet but thats about it. As long as horse is dry under his turnout rug then i leave on to dry overnight
 
I don't change rugs but do take them off completely or check under them. Turnout rugs are breathable and no different really to stable rugs. My horses are quite good with rugs in that they don't tend to slip.
I do pick out feet everyday - my shod gelding is great at accumulating stones and my unshod mare has had thrush and frog infections so I like to check them and swill with a mild disinfectant (hoof cleanse). I also think that picking up feet means you check for other lumps, bumps, stiffnesses so you do two tasks.
Agree with your point re unfit horse...
 
My horse isn't stabled so can't really comment on that, although whenever I have stabled horses I have changed rugs on coming in and before turning out.

RE feet though, I very rarely pick feet. The yard I worked at for years had a long walk along a private tarmac road from the field, and a concrete yard, so half the time the horses flicked the mud out of their feet coming in. On my old yard with my lad, we did a lot of road work, so same applied. Current yard as well needs road access to get to good hacking, or else the nearby hacking is tarmac, so same applies again!!

I do, however, carry a hoof pick when I got out, and when it is snowy I pick out religiously to stop feet getting sore and packed with snow.
 
I don't change rugs. I prefer them to keep the warmth inside, and a wet rug dries quicker on the horse. They do of course get taken off most days for riding, and I think they should be checked / readjusted.

Definitely yes to picking out feet. If nothing else it's good practice for even barefoot horses to have their feet picked up every day, and it is possible if less likely that a stone may get stuck.
 
I dont see the point in changing rugs. Horseware outdoor rugs are so comfortable, whats the point in a stable one? If a wet outdoor rug is taken off, its still damp the next day when you go to put it back on. Yet if you leave a wet outdoor rug on the horse, it will be fully dry within an hour.
Stable rugs get all manky, whereas an outdoor rug is practically self cleaning. A good shower of rain will get rid of any stable stains.

I rarely pick out hooves. I just trot on a hard surface and all the mud etc falls out! On the rare occassion I go to pick out, theres nothing there to take out. What a waste of energy:D
 
When I worked at a livery yard I always picked feet out. I always left turnout rugs on if they were wet (how else are they going to dry?) but some owners used to come at night and insist on taking their wet rugs off and putting on stable rugs. Which is fine until morning comes and then I had to take a nice warm rug off their horse and put on a cold, wet turnout rug. Not nice for the horse and I used to feel very guilty!
 
khalswitz said:
See, my current horse is a shiverer, so through no fault of his, picking out feet is traumatic.
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Ahh in that case, things are different. My old boy wouldn't pick up one back foot for ages due to arthritis, although since treatment it has improved. We had to leave that foot alone too.
 
GlitterPup said:
Haven't heard that it's bad to clean ponies if they're barefoot.. Does anybody know if there's any truth in this?
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There is truth in it. It is a recommendation by Bob Bowker, one of the top researchers into barefoot. It is his recommendation to leave the foot packed because it puts pressure on and stimulates thickness and quality of the sole.

Unfortunately in our climate it risks thrush and soft soles, but there is a logic to it.


OP,


No I don't change rugs, the lightweight breathable ones we have now simply don't need changing.

No I don't pick out feet except when I ride.

I totally agree with you that unfit horses are being taken hunting, at enormous risk to their tendons and joints and possibly heart.
 
I pick out. or lift and check feet every day both shod and unshop, unshod tend not to have much to pick out anyway. Our rugs are all well fitting good quality rugs, in my opinion, if it slips it doesn't fit well. My old girl was terrible to find a non slipping rug for, but we found a brand that suited her in the end. I too leave on to dry as they are breathable and the warmth of the horse is what draws the moisture away. If horse was cold and wet underneath I would take it off, but that has never happened. I think that a good quality turn out rug is probaly going to be a better, more comfortable fit than a lot of stable rugs. I havent used a stabLe rug for years and only use a fleece post bathing and for winter travel - so why is it I have a cupboard bursting at the hinges with rugs!
 
What CP says, generally I still do though ;) I tend not to pre schooling as it stops us collecting rubber ;)

re changing rugs - I do because I didn't use to have such good turnouts and his stable rugs are lighter for the same warmth (unless the rain is blowing in on him). He could probably happily live in his rhino T/O though and others on the yard don't change.
 
dont and haven't for a very long time change rugs why put a cold damp rug on a warm dry horse as stable rugs are almost inevitably left in stables while the horse is out in its turn out. I do try and make sure the rugs are removed on a bright day and the horses groomed and feet done usually about twice a week but the wet windy weather has meant they have had them on for a longer time this time although all worked today so they had them off today for an hour or two. Feet are picked out by the farrier in the main if they are not ridden or everytime before being ridden
Horses that live out are pretty much fit enough to go jumping for an hour or hacking about even hunting if it isnt too manic stabled horses not so much
You can do a 25 mile pleasure ride pretty much straight from the field not that I would but you can
 
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I don't change rugs unless they are wet underneath them. A turnout dries much quicker on the horse than off (or on the hay lol) and turnouts are dual purpose :)

I do pick out feet before I ride and when he comes in from field as have had a horse in past where a nail managed to impale the horse's frog at a sideways angle - no idea how, it went in at approx 80 degrees! I unscrewed it out and luckily it was short enough to do no damage.
I dread to think what would have happened if I had rode him with screw still in - but funnily enough screw did no damage and he wasn't even lame with it in - bit odd as that horse was a walking accident lol :p ! strange, strange horse with a very lucky outcome :)
We did poultice it for a day or 2 and when nothing appeared we plugged it with stockholm tar.
 
GlitterPup said:
Haven't heard that it's bad to clean ponies if they're barefoot.. Does anybody know if there's any truth in this?
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It not bad as far as I know, but the hinds usually self clean and you can hear if they are unlevel if you walk them over a bit of concrete. I don't wash the legs either, unless they are really bad, I' d rather give a quick brush to check them before they are put out.
When they first go barefoot they tend to change a lot, so it is interesting to observe the process, also depends if they are likely to pick up gravel, in which case I would clean them, its easy.
 
The rugs and feet picking aren't biggies to me. I do generally change rugs, but if they come in sopping wet they stay in their outdoor rugs - the reason being they are good quality rugs (so not wet underneath) and leaving them on the horse dries the rug off better (if you take the rug off they generally get damp/clammy and you end up putting a cold/wet rug on the horse the next morning).
Feet picking - again frequently, but if it gets missed/forgotten every now and again it's not a handling offense.

The hunting/jumping an unfit horse is to me the the significant offense ;)
 
Jesstickle said:
I don't change rugs.

And I rarely pick out feet. Horse isn't dead yet ;)
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Same.

Don't use stable rugs as I think they're happier keeping the same warm rug on.
Feet only get picked out when the farrier comes or if they're lame, which is rare.

Been doing this for 20+ years now with youngsters to serious eventers, and never had foot problems beyond the usual odd abscess.
 
Turnout rugs are left on if wet, but as he is ridden most days I do get to check underneath for any bumps and scrapes and/or readjust . . . if rugs are dry, I change to stable rugs because they are lighter/less likely to rub. Feet picked out every day, twice a day. Also, he gets a good brush at least once a day.

P
 
I was thinking about this the other evening.

It was absolutely bucketing it down when I brought them in. They had rolled previously, so liquid mud was pouring off their turnout rugs. Horses were warm and dry underneath though.

Rugs off, hung by the rear leg strap d's on the wall, wet side out obviously. Quick flick over each horse with a brush, they had a quick mutual groom over the dividing rail, mud and small stones removed from their (unshod) hooves, and lovely warm dry stable rugs put on.

I felt immensely happy looking at my warm dry horses, tucking into their hay.

I would rather have dragged my fingernails down a blackboard than leave them in their soggy, muddy turnouts.

And their turnouts were dry by the morning.
 
I should add though, feet are generally only picked out when brought in from field was the primary purpose is to check if 4 shoes are still on...

The delights of clay soil and a very steep hill field :p
 
Turnouts left on if wet they never seem to dry otherwise, I pick feet out everyday and always if they have been in the field, leaving compacted mud and stones in the feet overnight thats just horrible.
 
there is a school of thought that picking out feet should only be done before riding and before turnout in the morning apparently the mud in feet actually protects the feet from the urine/poo in the stable
 
I do both. She is brought in hooves washed off and picked out. ~Rug taken off, then brushed over and stable rug put on. Rug is hung up to dry if not dry the next morning then a spare is put on, but most times the rug is dry.
 
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