Do you rug for you or your horse?

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

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Oh this is going to start a huge debate but what the hell ;-)

If you were totally honest with yourself do you think you rug according to your feelings or how your horses??
 
Possibly Pre-clip I rug for myself to keep him dry and clean(ish!), once he's clipped or the weather really changes it's for him though, he is a big pansy, feels the cold and drops weight easily.
 
Have to say, I do try and not rug till later on and then keep her in as light weight as poss, but then when the weather turns I do sometimes whimp out,every year I say not going to but you know the one lol. Would never totally over rug, but perhaps put on when she really could cope without it :)
 
To be honest I rug to keep them both to keep them clean when its muddy and dry when its constantly raining because they aren't clipped.
 
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I admit there has been the odd occasion that I'll put a sheet on if I need him to be clean to ride, but the rest of the time, rugging is according to his needs as a horse (and not as a pet).
 
I rug because it keeps my lads coat well,I dont have to clip,and it saves me time,as I will not ride a dirty horse,anal?maybe,but I would spend hrs grooming before I rode every day,rugged I can give a body brush and get on with it!I always get comments on how good he looks in January,so works well for us,he is TB aswell!
 
I don't rug (bad "mummy"...), I don't clip, grooming is part of my relationship with my horse! :-)


Can take time when he is muddy but then I have time to brush him at the weekend and during the week I only brush saddle/girth/bitless bridle area if in a rush :-D

They don't need rugs, they are horses...mine is 17 and hasn't melted yet ;-)
 
Both, mine goes naked when its hot (18+ degrees) otherwise rugged as he gets cold easily and goes all fluffy and it helps keep him clean! Doesnt really matter so long as the horse is not suffering (eg sweaty/shivering) its just personal preference IMO, especially as far as owning a grey horse is concerned ;)
 
I rug for my horses.

Captain is almost permanently rugged, fly or lite in the summer, unless it is too hot which was about a week and a half this year! He has a very thin coat and feels the cold. Also drops weight almost in front of your eyes if he gets cold.

Fany was only rugged if ill. However, this year she is getting almost full clip, just leaving feathers and half neck because she rubbed herself raw in January, because the weather changed and she could not moult fast enough.


That said I did once over rug Cappy, just lucky we have a good YO who spotted he was a bit warm. I do get very worried about him, so yeah maybe a bit for me as well!
FDC
 
My grey boy is a connemara x but a mud monster so what do you think? lol however my warmblood mare has a very fine coat summer and winter and will shiver in a cool breeze so she needs to be rugged!
 
I rug for both me and my ponies.

For them, my shetland was shivering yesterday when I brought him in after a horrible 24hrs of wet and windy weather, so I kept him in till dry, rugged up and back out he went. He doesn't need to be shivering his bum off. My welsh has had a sheet on when ever the weather had been raining or fields have been really muddy as he's a hippo and i'd never be able to ride him! He does feel the cold tho :-( x
 
If I'm totally honest gotta say a bit of both! My girly gets very hairy & also very muddy & we've had some very hard winters lately!
 
Hand on heart I rug for her :)

She was clipped with a trace last year and went the majority of the winter without a rug, living out and was happy as larry. On the worst of the days - wind and sleet etc then she was rugged.

Young one was brought in one night due to shivering but not rugged (terrified of it).
 
My boy is a funny one because he is a very 'hot' horse, i.e. never really feels the cold, but he has very sensitive skin and gets rainscald in anything more than a light shower :rolleyes: I need to keep him dry but don't need to add much in the way of rugs to keep him warm. He is normally fully clipped but even so is rarely in more than a mw/hw rug.
 
I'd like to think I rug for him - I'm used to bog hipponess so not bothered about mud and unless it gets down to serious sub-zero temperatures I don't think they get too bothered by the cold. Haven't decided on a clip yet, was just waiting until he 'told' me he wanted to be rugged... I took him dropping a bit of weight (when all other factors e.g. feed/turnout etc were consistant ;)) when our cold snap arrived as a sign that it was time for the lightweight to go on.
 
I'd say 50/50 if I'm honest :p

I don't over rug him, and I always check that he is just right. But as he is living out, I know he can cope unrugged but I just spend all night worrying about him :rolleyes:
 
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