For those who arent rugging what breeds do you have?

Ardennes x Appie. Only worn a rainsheet twice in 5 years. He has little grass in his field so he is having 2 kgs of hay plus half a scoop of happy hoof in the morning and the same in the afternoon. As winter sets in I'll up his hay to compensate for lack of grass. A fine balancing game as he has had laminitis.
 
All natives, all unrugged and two have little bib clips. The two smaller ones are still on restricted grazing ATM so are getting hay, all are getting a token feed ATM so the can have their supplements. Only one of the four will get more hard feed through the winter as he is the only one that needs it. It will be a long time before my grass supply drops, if at all, and if it doesn't drop off (it didn't last winter) they will only get hay when it's frosty or snowy (and that's not 'cause I'm tight with it, my husband makes hay so I have three barns full of the stuff at my disposal!) They do have a haynet when they come in to be groomed, ridden, etc..
 
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21yr old Dales pony. Grows a coat like a yak. We are in the midlands. Natural shelter only in her field.
 
Middleweight Irish cob. Grazing is poor at the moment (only because we are saving the winter paddock for when it's winter) so is getting hay twice a day but has dropped a fair bit of weight in the last six weeks. He was by no means massively fat before and is by no means poor now but is probably close to ideal now. He also gets a couple of handfuls of chaff and a half-scoop of balancer once a day.

I have to admit to having rugged him once or twice, purely for selfish reasons as haven't wanted to scrap wet mud off before riding, but he doesn't need to be yet. I am planning to clip in the next couple of weeks but only a small bib so will still be unrugged unless the weather worsens. The only thing that is giving me pause is that I would quite like to hog him but am feeling guilty at the thought of taking nature's neck cover off as he is always so warm and dry under there, even when it's hailing sidewards. But that's me being soft...
 
I am from the same place as Spring Feather, I have minis that are never rugged, also one of my Quarter horses detests rugs in winter and my paso runs away when she sees one coming, so I kind of figure that she doesn't want one on. She hasn't needed one for the last two years.

As always, I go day by day.
 
1 Irish cob, 1 Andalusian and 1 Icelandic. The last two finally enjoying ditching the sweetitch rugs. All a bit porky. Will resort to lighweight rugs when Mud becomes a serious issue and the cob is clipped.
 
My section a isn't rugged - I've bought a rain sheet but don't plan on using it unless we have days of heavy rain and I want to encourage her natural coat to grow. She has a few pounds to lose too.

My tb isn't rugged today - as it's about 14 degrees but she has had a rain sheet (full neck too as she hates getting wet).
She's had a fly sheet all summer (as she hates these too and flies were awful), so I want her to make the most of the sunshine on her back
 
My Hanoverian isn't rugged, though she does wear a rainsheet if we have heavy rain as she doesn't like getting soaked and it's easier to put a saddle on her if she's dry. She spent last winter mostly unrugged and looked great.

In contrast my H/W cob is lightly rugged because he's fully clipped.

Both get ad lib hay/grass and a small token feed with a mugful of a balancer.
 
The Oldenburg is still naked she has a coat like a yak and is out of work at the moment and a bit overweight so she will remain naked for sometime yet and maybe right through the winter.
 
My unclipped Welsh D won't be rugged unless we have hurrendous wind and rain, and even then it will just be a lightweight. When the farmer decides the fields are too wet, they will all have to come in at night and mine will just be fed on hay/haylage for a good while yet. He will have a little bit of chaff and fibre nuts in his ball when the temp drops properly.
 
I've got a BFC - big fat cob! She has been out of work for a month or so, and is just coming back into it. She's also grown a great big polar bear coat, so will be getting a low trace or bib clip soon. I bring her in with her field buddy at night, and she ony wears a no fill sheet if it's raining. Gotta get some of that chub off!
 
Chukkas said:
Okay thank you everyone, moving on from that what are you feeding them if your grass is no longer in good supply?
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Mine is currently still muzzled during the day when turned out. Soaked & rinsed hay at night. A small token breakfast of hi-fi light & high fibre cubes with magnesium, salt, tumeric, the smallest amount of oil I can get away with & ground pepper.

He still has plenty of energy & some pounds to lose!
 
Fjord! Only ever needed a rainsheet in winter but he is a hardy thing, not to mention a bit on the porky side so he can lose a bit of weight!
 
Echo24 said:
Fjord! Only ever needed a rainsheet in winter but he is a hardy thing, not to mention a bit on the porky side so he can lose a bit of weight!
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The Shetland and the mini are nude as is the sec a. The holsteiner and the con are rugged, holsteiner cos she shivers if you don't and cob cos he's hunter clipped
 
My 17 yr old Tbx connie is very well covered and out naked. I put a rain sheet on for one night when it was raining relentlessly and windy but it is so warm during the day in Suffolk that there is no way I am rugging her. Feel really sorry for those horses that are rugged all day - we are having some beautifully sunny days at the moment and my girl is thoroughly enjoying sunbathing.
 
5 yr old NF and 16 yr old welsh A, are unrugged at the moment but will have rugs on in extreme weather. 16 yr old doesnt usually keep condition. The best thing for them is ad lib hay, this acts as central heating and in my opinion, is much better for keeping them in good condition throughout winter than rugging.
 
throughtheforest said:
5 yr old NF and 16 yr old welsh A, are unrugged at the moment but will have rugs on in extreme weather. 16 yr old doesnt usually keep condition. The best thing for them is ad lib hay, this acts as central heating and in my opinion, is much better for keeping them in good condition throughout winter than rugging.
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Sometimes that is easier said than done... My cob (yes you heard that right) drops condition thru the winter like nobodies business...I have to feed and rug to keep the weight on
 
24 year old Welsh b x Arab who will not be rugged unless it's both cold and continuously wet, so under 5 normally. she's muzzled and lives out in a field with natural shelter.

17 year old Welsh Cob who lives out with the pony, hasn't worn a rug for the last few years as he's podgy and has a coat like a yak.
 
Warmbloods and tb from foals to early 20 year olds normally they will be fine unrugged down to -15 but they have barns they can go in out of the wind or rain and ad lib hay so its not as if they are out on a moor or in an unsheltered field
 
HW traditional cob whose currently a bit porky, and unknown breed ex-pound pony. In Ireland (county Mayo).

The cob is usually rugged with at least a rain sheet for my convenience (and often clipped in winter and rugged more) but he's laid off at the moment, hence the porkiness, so unlikely to be rugged this winter unless we have continuous wind and rain. Don't think the pony has ever worn a rug, I have bought him an unlined waterproof one in case I want to keep him clean some time. Tried it on him today to make sure it fit and he didn't dare move in it, stood stock still for ages until I gave him a bit of fast fibre to persuade him to try moving.
 
3 of our natives are rugged up, our 2 Andalusians aren't. One is a young New Forest mare, who is due to be hunter clipped next week so I'm trying to persuade her not to grow a coat, but she already looks like a mammoth. Other two natives are veteran Welshies, a 36 year old Welsh Sec. B & a 24y.o Welsh Sec. A with Cushings Disease. The weather here in Derbyshire is already VERY cold & wet, my feet were cold when I was mucking out this afternoon.

All ours are in their stables all year round.
 
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Latvian Warmblood, 8yo, healthy weight. He hasn't seen a rug in his life and he won't either - he clearly feels at his best in colder temperatures. In winters we easily get temperatures down to more than -30C, right now those are around zero during nights, around +6-+12C during days (but dropping) and quite a lot of rain.
 
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