feel like such a bad horse owner :(

michelleice

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nights are getting colder and windier and I'm refusing to rug my boy up with his summer turnout unless its raining and at night i feel guilty hes left out with his fly rug/mask on there is tree shelter in his park but I'm not wanting rugs on till its really cold am i a bad horse owner? his rugs rub him shoulders/withers and bum so rather he wasn't turned out till its necessary in rug (except his fly rug as fly up there are HUGE!)

Just feel I'm a bad horse owner as the TB there have there fly rugs and summer turnout on at same time

hes allways warm when i go up i allways check under his rug
 
Nope , im refusing to rug mine and the one ive adopted up either. Its only rain and last time i checked they were waterproof, they spend enough time over the winter rugged up to the eyeballs as they both get fully clipped out and get flung out for 8 hours a day. Their field has loads of natural shelter and they are checked several times a day so i know they havnt washed away.Ohh and they are both fat so could be doing with using their reserves to keep warm
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im evil - i know, i revel in it
 
Mine isn't rugged either. The weather CAN be cool through the night but it's still very late summer and when the sun comes out - boil-in-the-the-bag horse!
 
No, not cruel. As long as your horse is happy then that's fine. Crueller to do the 'boil in the bag' thing, love that expression.
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I was thinking about this yesterday, I'd been cold all day and for the first time in months was wearing long sleeves and the temperature was 15C, maybe went down to 10C over night, not cold at all really.

My horses are all looking fuzzy now but I won't be rugging until it gets much colder, yet if I still had my old arab I know that he'd be rugged by now because he'd be tucked up and as miserable as sin.
 
TBH you sound sensible to me.
Same at my yard everyone comes up puts rugs on and off if it rains/then stops/then rains.You start thinking your the one that should be rugging as majority are
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.I now do it individually only one has a light weight on as she really doesn't like rein and has started to drop weight other 3 are naked as nothing coming over them.
 
You are not a bad horse owner and you are monitoring the weather. The flies are out in abundance so I shouldn't think a rug is really necessary until they disappear, at least.

Several on my yard were rugged last night and were boiling in the bag this morning and looked very, very uncomfortable. Really no need, hardy types - NF x's.

Its August so isn't cold. Maybe a bit fresh in the evening but for most horses and ponies nothing to worry about.

Its not so much the cold that worries me but the constant rain so if it continuously rains without let up and the temperature drops I will consider putting his rain sheet on but doubt I will bother until end September when it does start getting chilly.
 
I have a TB and he gets chucked out all day without a rug xP It was chucking it down the other day and he still went out without! He just gets warm rugged up so unless it looks really bad and I'm riding in the afternoon, he stays naked. Almost all the other horses as rugged up already (including the floofeh ones! And some are even in heavy weight rugs already without being clipped!) but I just don't see the point...
Once he's clipped, fair enough, but right now, he's coping well enough!
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No not mean...I am holding off rugging my lad until I really have to as he needs to grow some coat and keep his weight down too!
 
Lanky is only in a stable rug at night when cold because he is on box rest and not able to move round, so can't keep himself warm (and we have had some quite nippy nights up here on the side of a hill!). During the day he goes back to just his sweet itch rug. He is a warmblood. George has nothing and is out all the time. He is a welsh cob - 19 years old.
 
Penny came in the other morning shivering!!!!! but not put the rug on yet cos its warm again today here, she has lots of shelter in her part of the field, trees and tall hedges on 3 sides. Must get new rug anyway, sold the other one it was too big on her
 
Genie won't be rugged until she's clipped beginning of October. And then she'll still be living out until the end of October when the horses come in.
 
hell no, very few actually genuinely NEED rugs yet. Mine certainly won't be rugged, summer weight or otherwise, for quite some time yet.
If you don't want to rug, then don't, you are definately not a bad owner!
 
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