Heavyweight rugs or lightweight with liners?

[minimex2]

As weather forecast is set to getting cold need to up rugs

Debating whether to buy a heavyweight or liners for lightweight

Liner will be cheaper but wondered people’s views who use liners over heavyweights

Thanks

 

[Pippity]

I use a mix of both. I have a no-fill turnout and a 200g turnout, with 100g and 200g liners. I like to have two outer layers on hand in case one gets damaged/soaked through, but I like the flexibility of the liners.

 

[Leo Walker]

I changed it liners this year and no going back for me! They are easy to wash and store and you have so much more flexibility.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have lightweight outers with 100 and 200gm liners which are so easy to take off and put through the washing machine.

 

[blitznbobs]

I hate liners... if you need to take a layer off you have to take both off and then put the top one back on... thus putting a cold layer on the horses back. I use thinner rugs and layer these as necessary so all I have to do is take the top one off .

 

[Meredith]

At the moment my clipped horse is wearing a cotton sheet with a medium weight rug on top.
In the rug store ready for use are a heavy rug, a light rug and a homemade rug liner.
I also use snuggy waterproof hoods.
I have made many ‘liners’ over the years usually out of covered old sleeping bags.
They stay in place because I clip the rugs together on the fillet string.
I change the cotton sheet regularly. It keeps the rug insides cleaner.

 

[tankgirl1]

Layers will keep them warmer with less weight, and is cheaper. The one and only time I clipped my mare out fully, she wore a cotton sheet with a cotton lined no fill turnout over it. I just took the turnout off when she came in. Much cheaper and easier than loads of different stable and turnout rugs

 

[fawaz]

I hate liners... if you need to take a layer off you have to take both off and then put the top one back on... thus putting a cold layer on the horses back. I use thinner rugs and layer these as necessary so all I have to do is take the top one off .

You can just undo the front of the top rug and the liner and then unclip the back and pull it out. They are usually made with a slipper outer so come out very easily.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

You can just undo the front of the top rug and the liner and then unclip the back and pull it out. They are usually made with a slipper outer so come out very easily.

This is exactly what I do with mine, the outer doesn't move and the inner slides out through the back of the rug.

 

[elliejhb]

I don't use liners but I do layer rugs rather than have a multitude of different weight turnouts. It's working well for my mare and means that I can wash most of the rugs at home which I can't do with turnouts.

 

[Red-1]

I don't mind either, but would never not take the rugs off twice a day anyway. Have a look on here for the lady who nearly lost her horse as it had a scratch on its wither which she did not notice because the rugs stayed on for 3 days or something. The rug on top was fine, the horse was severely injured.

Currently I have a light outer rug with a liner. I also have a heavyweight. The light on its own and the heavy on their own sit better on the horse, but the light with a liner also is acceptable. I find they just don't sit as easily through trying to get the layers all straight. I also don't like that the liner has a flat strap whereas the front of the rug on its own had a V closure (Rhino). The V closure sits better and allows more movement.

As mine is in at night she has totally different rugs day and night. I prefer this so there are different pressure points, plus a night rug is more breathable than any 'breathable' outdoor rug. Even if she were out at night I would fully remove and replace the rug so I could inspect the whole horse.

I have never noticed her suffer from having a cold rug put on. However, I would never put a damp rug on. If a rug is wet it comes in and dries in the house. If they are muddy I hose the outside first. As she is brushed twice daily and they never go into the stable they are not too horse-ey in smell.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I hate liners... if you need to take a layer off you have to take both off and then put the top one back on... thus putting a cold layer on the horses back. I use thinner rugs and layer these as necessary so all I have to do is take the top one off .

This is my issue! It’s fine with stabled horses but not so great out in a field pee’ing down with rain and blowing a gale to have to get a horse naked to up its rugs. So I do have lots of liners but for my live outs atm they have 100g turnouts and I chuck another 100g over top at night

 

[meleeka]

I have no proof of my theory but think that heavier weights are more comfortable. My mares heavy rug isn’t heavy at all and feels like it weighs as much as her medium weight. I have used multiple rugs but current oldie has a few rugs of varying weights.

 

[Antw23uk]

Liners is the way forward in life, lol A couple of rainsheets and/ or a lightweight and a small box full of liners … luxury

 

[milliepops]

I changed it liners this year and no going back for me! They are easy to wash and store and you have so much more flexibility.

yep this is what I like about liners too, plus it means you can save money on buying zillions of rugs and buy a really top quality outer one rather than lots of cheaper ones.

 

[pansymouse]

I prefer liners so I can fine tune without having a vast collection of rugs - last night I changed from a 70g rug to a 0g rug with a 100g liner for example. With 3 rugs and 3 liners I can do 0g, 40g, 70g, 100g, 140g, 170g, 200g, 240g, 270g, 350g, 390g and 420g! My horse is naturally warm so I like flexibility at the lighter end particularly.

 

[minimex2]

thank you all!