Do you/would you rug a good doer if the stable was indoors

the thing is that as he's stabled he cant move around to warm himself up if he does get cold like he would if he was out.
I guess you'll have to judge it a day at a time.
 
No I wouldnt, horses do not need to move around to warm up, by eating they have a very efficient boiler inside them, and if they do get a little chilly, then they warm up the way nature intended and use any excess weight to keep them warm. As long as he is not underweight, he should do just fine.
 
if a youngish, good doer who dries out quick if wet and with ad lib hay and their stable shows no signs of restlessness, no I wouldnt, unless it got down below -10. (we have -20 + here in Cairngorms!).

Last winter we had 3 months of solid snow and the Haflinger girlie only ever had her turnout rug on 3 times, and her lightweight stable rug on about 10 times. But she always had hay available. She is out in day and in at night. She was fatter coming out of winter than going in.

The veteran IDxTB does feel the cold so below freezing he is rugged with something.

Horses get about 80% of their warmth from eating, and only 20% from rugs. Also if you rug, the coat doesnt trap air properly or get thick enough.
 
Personally I wouldn't rug an unclipped good-do'er in any stable, unless they were a 'cold' horse. Titch will be unrugged in the stable all winter, and Genie will only be rugged because she'll be clipped.
 
The first winter I had my native cob x (very hairy) who is the ultimate of good doers he was unrugged all winter, out during day, in at night. I was frowned upon but he was fine. Didn't drop any weight! He was in on haylage at night with very poor grazing (read mud..) during the day. His stable is an outside stable in a row of 6. I then did start rugging the following winter after a period of rainscald as he was so miserable when he had it and then also I started giving him a bib/belly clip each winter. He only wears a lightweight turnout - even the winter just gone which was the worst I'd seen since having him - and each winter has held his weight fine. I think sometimes though you have to take it on a horse by horse basis - see how yours goes without and then you can rug if it's not working.
 
along these lines, once you start rugging a horse do you need to rug day and night regardless, or just as the weather? I usually rug at night if the temperature goes below freezing, but if its a still day and dry I leave turnout rug off, always wondering if Im doing the right thing.
 
Hi, I always go with the thought if the horse cant move around it cant warm its self up, so even if its just a light weight, it will still help keep the cold off.
 
Are you kidding me?

We live in a temperate clime, not the alaskan tundra.

I'm sure he will still live if you left him outside all winter with nothing but a tree for shelter.

Still, it's fun to rug isn't it.
 
Lightweight rugs can make a horse colder than no rugs.

Horses are very well equipped for dealing with the cold, you dont see a cold horse running round the field to warm up, they eat which generates heat, and their coat stands up catching in air which warms up to keep them warm.

Rugging in thin rugs flattens the coat and stops it doing the job it is meant to do, hence a horse in a thin rug does not have its own protection against the cold and the rug is not a warm enough substitute for what its coat naturally does, so you have a cold horse stood in the stable.
 
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