Do you change rugs in winter for cleanliness reasons?

As others have said don't care about the outside as long as inside is clean. I do change mine though, but more to keep the t/o clean. She likes to sleep and even with a thick bed her rugs can get grotty. Like PS I don't like washing t/o's as I don't think they are as waterproof once reproofed, so easier to clean stable rugs.
 
I don't change mine through the season, brush the mud off with a plastic curry comb whilst it's on the horse to get the dried mud off! And he stays in his turnout in his stable, but is on a thick paper bed so it doesn't get stable stains on it if I'm honest!
 
Mine have lovely clean bed but still manage to get poo everywhere. The other day I put one in a completely clean stable, lovely deep fresh bed. He pooed and then rolled in it. Worst is when it gets on the buckles on the cross straps. That's when a fresh stable rug comes out.

I don't like washing turnouts either, I had to do two this year because they needed repairs and repair person will only do them if washed but that was the first wash in 7 years for one of them.
 
generally mine wear the same one unless thet need a different weight rug or they get lice, or some other reason such as ripping them, not just for cleanlinessas they are not generally dirty animals, mud on the outside won't harm them. perhaps i am just lazy.
 
I wash the stable rugs when they get smelly and covered in muck .
Not nice for employees to have to handle or for me for that matter .
Fatty gets his indoor rugs filthy, much worse than the others . I wash a rug around once a week .
 
Im lucky my ponies are 4'3 and4'9 in rugs so stable rugs can go in my normal washing machine. I use under rugs/ shiny petticoat rugs/ cotton sheets or Snuggy Hoods bodies as under rugs and wash them after the fourth wear (same with fly rugs in the summer)

I dont use normal fleeces under turnouts as i find they do slip back but none of the above tend to

I dont care how dirty the outsides of turnouts get but i do sponge down cross surcingles every so often
 
My turnouts get sent away once a year, at the end of winter for cleaning. They don't get that greasy inside, I change to stable rugs when they come in - I do have two medium weight turnouts because this is the one I use the most. I swap it regularly and it doesn't get too dirty.

If stable rugs get smelly I wash them at the yard. Vests/bibs are washed every week.
 
If my horses were in the same rugs all season I'd have two sets. I think even just pulling them off for a day or two and airing the inside by hanging them inside out would help.
 
Ours get changed to new rugs about every month. Not actually new :p but changed. We have loads of rugs in the same size and weights (all MWs tbh), have a yard washing machine and a rug drier. The outdoor ones get professionally cleaned. We live on thick clay and some of our rugs are over 15YO but still going strong :)
 
Mine stays in her turn out - she is not clipped. I brush her most days and she is in the field every day. Her rug isn't dirty at all and she has been wearing it for 6 weeks (obviously a bit of mud on the outside!) Normally rugs go greasy at the front because the horses are too warm in them (an observation based on many years in the job). If the stable is kept clean then the outside should not be too bad either. Turn outs should repel the worst of the pee and poo moisture!

For those who wash in a domestic machine and use detergent. I get a lot of summer sheets/numnahs/bandages in my laundry that have been washed at home, they are always full of detergent. Try and use much less detergent and rinse through a few times :)
 
Nope! Don't change rugs (lives in a TO), BUT I am careful about the weight and they never have more than is need, e.g. my fully clipped horse is currently in a 70g, and don't find they get particularly greasy. If they do then at the end of the season I just give them a good wipe down. I also don't get them professionally washed, agree with PS, they're never as waterproof once they've been through the wash/reproof cycle. Tbh I also barely groom my horse but she is clipped regularly, gets a bath when clipped and looks like this...I think she's OK with it ;)

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PolarExpress said:
Another one who uses cotton sheets under rugs to keep them clean (YO does it too) . . . and, yes, I am very picky about taking care of my rugs - all turnouts have a sacrifice rug (an extremely lightweight rain sheet) on top so that the heavier rugs don't get wet which makes them ridiculously heavy, disgustingly muddy requiring washing and reproofing, and are protected from boisterous gelding play sessions. It's a darned sight easier/cheaper to wash/reproof and/or replace lightweights than it is some of the lovely M/W and H/W rugs Kali has.

Cotton sheets, fleeces and thermatexes (worn as underrugs) and stable rugs get washed regularly because I can't stand having him (or me) stinking of wee. Ditto gamgee and bandages. We now have a small washing machine and dryer that can handle cotton sheets, light fleeces, etc. When I wash his H/W poly, it has to go to the laundrette - it's far too big for the machine at the yard - or mine at home.

P

P.S. He is fully clipped - so rugs aren't interfering with his ability to fluff up his coat to keep himself warm . . . that's why he is rugged ;)
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I am exactly the same - I cant bear dirty rugs, all mine are changed every three months and throughly washed, cleaned and proofed if nesessary, ready for next time. They all wear cotton next to the skin and they are changed as required. I send them out and each rug costs £10 am comes back clean, repaired and packed.

OP - I actually think that that it sounds really mean to expect your horse to survive in one rug all year
 
Thanks for all the replies!

Vallin I am so jealous of your immaculate horse! Do you want to swap for two dirty greys?!

And bestreindeerdasher I'm clearly very mean then :D
 
Mine generally wear theirs all winter without being washed but I change them regularly from lw to mw to layers depending on weather.so they don't get too bad. The 4 big turnouts now go to rug wash to be cleaned and reproofed but I wash everything else myself. My mare has lived in a mw turnout 24/7 for 3 winters without it getting cleaned and it and she Were fine (realised how nice it was to have nicely clean rugs when I sent one off to be repaired so dod do them now) tbh for the pony if they get totally yuk and ripped I just buy a new one for £40 off ebay.

Like the idea of cotton sheets though.

Rather than grease build up I am more concerned about rug causing pressure and sore points hence why I change them over lots.
 
I was always taught to have a couple of summer sheets and swap them weekly to clean. As for the outside I would hose them off when they get very muddy.

Personally I always have a couple of rugs of the same weight as they always seem to leak and then I can swap to keep dry or if there are repairs needed. Whatever works for you :)
 
NellRosk said:
I ask this because both mine are in mediumweights and probably will be all winter as their clips are nearly all grown back and I don't think they're doing enough work to warrant being clipped again. They live 24/7 in these rugs as I don't have time to put stable rugs on at night. So their rugs are pretty filthy as you can imagine. I have clean vacuum packed rugs in my garage but I'm always trying to cut down on costs and don't want to pay for loads cleaning in the spring if I don't have to!

So my question is do you swap rugs when they get too dirty? Usually in winter I'll be swapping them to increase weights so they get a clean one on anyway but I might not have to this winter (provided it doesn't get really cold!).
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Nope mine live in their turnouts full time even in stable - I do not wash them till the spring and then I use my kachar jet wash on them job done - no cost.

I hose them in the spring and that is is the only time they get hosed/washed. Washing them every 3 weeks is a bit OTT in my opinion.

I do not send them to be washed and proofed I do it myself - and if the rug starts to leak I just buy a new one and sell the old one cheap.
 
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To keep the inside grease free I use a Snuggyhoods petticoat. It is like the satin bibs but covers the whole back. My boy is a hot horse and a cotton sheet even under a light weight rug can be too much. Being the thin satin material it is therefore easy to wash and dry. I therefore don't have to change rugs very often, only to accommodate changes in temperature.
 
ester said:
Those using cheap cotton rugs underneath do you not find they rub/pull back? I buy the turnouts I do because they do fit him so well around the neck/shoulder (v-necks on rambos/rhinos) and do find that anything not designed particularly for turnout use/movement fits as well. The only one that I put under a turnout is his fal domino multipurpose sheet but he wouldn't have one of those if it was more than the £20 on ebay :p.
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All of his cotton sheets have satin shoulder/wither linings for just that reason (so they don't rub) :).

I find the concept of a LW turnout over a heavier weight v. bizarre, they are designed to get wet and muddy :D, I can sort of understand on the gelding play thing but the current pairing are a bit more sensible than last years ;) so far Frank still has a tail flap :p.
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I still have four turnouts that Kali came with - they are rather old fashioned - very warm but extremely heavy when wet and I just don't like the idea of all that weight pulling on his withers/shoulders/hips, etc. - a wet rainsheet weighs a darned sight less than these do when wet, I can assure you! Regarding the gelding play thing - Kali is currently sharing a field with a four-old trotter and two mini shetlands - his current "sacrifice" rug is already without most of its tail flap and has the odd hole and he's only really been rugged properly for the past couple of months or so (since his first clip) . . . liberal application of "crib stop" and a sacrifice rug means his (rather expensive) middleweight rugs stay intact and do their job of keeping him warm and dry from year to year.

Lastly, all his turnouts only get washed and reproofed (and repaired) when they need it - every couple of years or so - by looking after them, they last much longer. Stable rugs do get washed regularly, though . . . particularly cotton sheets, fleeces, thermatexes and lightweight polys . . . the heavier weight ones probably get washed once or twice a season.

P
 
I only change them to change the weight of the rug if needed or just every nown and again because I feel that if you use the same rug for ages, the pressure points will be the same. Change it and rubs don't happen. I did change my warmbloods rug the other day because he was literally dripping in mud and it was drenched in it!
 
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