Horse new to the UK!

Randonneuse

Randonneuse

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 August 2010
Messages
673
Location
Stroud/Cirencester (but France originally!)
Visit site
Hi,

I am looking for some advice please!

I live in the UK since 2006 and have eventually been able to bring from France my 16 year old gelding near Cirencester (glos) in May this year.
In France, (Ardèche) the weather is pretty hot in Summer (up to 40°C) and can be quite cold in Winter (sometimes -10°C)
There you won't see horses with rugs at all and not many of them would be stabled at night. Most of them live out all year around with sometimes a "hard" shelter or very often only natural shelter (trees...).
My horse is a haflinger x anglo arab and grow a big coat in winter (which I don't clip).
My question is, what would you do?
Some people at the DIY livery where he is kept tell me to clip and rug him in winter + stabled at night.
(I have to mention I have tried to put him in a stable few times since he arrived to see his reaction and he tried to break it down as he never has been in a stable in all his life so I would like to avoid this!)
Others say to rug him in winter but leave him out 24/7 as they are few trees in his field where he can get shelter.
I would prefer him to be out all year around wit no rug at all as he is used to worse weather in France (no possibility of any "hard" shelter as on DIY, so only trees).
What do you think of this?
If you think he would need a rug in winter or when very wet and horrible, what would you recommend? (as I obviously don't know anything about rugs!)
Also would he be alright on his own at night when the others are stabled?

Any advice accepted :-)

Thanks.
 
If he is in low-level work (so wont get too sweaty) and you don't clip him then I would leave him out without a rug. You could always get a lightweight turnout rug for when it is very cold and wet because most horses don't like being soaked and cold (they also lose alot of bodyheat in those conditions).
 
Last edited:
Also would he be alright on his own at night when the others are stabled?
Click to expand...

I don't know. You will have to try him out on his own but be ready to bring him in if he gets upset.

Most horses would rather be stabled for a few hours than be alone.
 
If he is happier living out, I would leave him unclipped and let him live out. He probably will need a rug, at least for part of the winter (considering our temperatures went down to -12C last winter!) I would buy a couple of rugs so you can change them depending on the weather.

Rugs come in lots of different shapes, sizes and thicknesses and some have neck attachments. But as a guide:

A Lightweight rug has no filling and provides no extra warmth - it is is just used to stop the horse from getting wet.

A medium rug has around 200g of filling and is useful for when the weather is starting to get colder, but it isn't icy or snowing.

A heavy weight rug has around 360g of filling and are good for when the weather is extremely cold, when it is snowing and when it is icy.

It is advisable to have spare medium and heavyweight turnout rugs as these can take a while to dry when they get wet and muddy. Also, then your horse can where one, while the other one is being cleaned/reproofed.

Hope this helps. :)
 
If he was out, I would say he would be fine unrugged. My highland was out last year without a rug. On days that were particularly wet/windy, I put a rain sheet on her. (Prob 10 days in total).

I would however, try to get him used to stable so if he ever needs to go on box rest or aything, you know he will be okay. Were any other horsesin, when you tried to put him in a stable? My Newfie will not settle if there are no other horses nearby.

Take him in and feed him? I simply took my Newfie into the yard and once she settled there, over a period of days, I got closer and closer to the stable. She now walks straight in and goes to her hay.
 
I'm not understanding why you have to change for our culture = the weather has been colder and warmer where he has come from, he's lived out and been fine.

If you are worried, move him somewhere where he has a tree or two for shelter or hedge, if you are checking him every day, then you will know if he is ok or not? Don't worry about stabling, they don't have that in the wild do they?

In this country we over rug, over feed and over fuss - Yes I am waiting to be shot down, but there is also a posting of a person with what rug for this time of year. WHY? :( Are our horses made of sugar, will they dissolve?? A simple answer is no, they have coats that see off the rain and are more sensible than we are.
 
Agree that you should treat him how he was in France. You will know by now that a lot of people will interfere and try to get you to treat your horse like they treat theirs. Do what YOU think is right. If you looked after your horse successfully in France then I am sure you can do the same here in the UK. Good Luck!
 
Most of mine live out all year without rugs. In England we are obsessed by rugging, I think its the my little pony syndrome.
Saying that I have a bin full of them. We often get long periods of wet windy weather( even in May) that can make animals with the thickest coats shiver so I use these on the odd occasions when this happens.
If I am working them hard from the field they may have a bib clip or modified trace clip that leaves the quarters on and depending on the pony a meduim weght rug.
Good luck, and as someone has said if you've looked after all this time you can not be doing much wrong.
 
Id carry on like you did in France if that suits you both. The only problem you may have is him being alone at night if no one else keeps theres out.
If you do decide to rug and hes never worn one before I would get him used to it before you turn him out in one. Only saying this as I bought a hairy ISH, clipped her and rugged her, didnt give it a thought, turned her out and she went mad, running arround so fast she slipped and fell. She was a sensible sort and fortunately calmed down but I didnt know her history, came over from Ireland, so can only presume she had never been rugged before?? She soon got used to it but it came as a bit of a shock.
 
Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for all your helpful answers:-)
He is actually alright if stabled when an other horse is in the stable next to him but I wouldn't be able to match the other owners time of turning out their horses (the owners are retired and don't have times which suits me as I work all week!) and that's when Bilto gets "mad", even if left on his own for 2 minute in the stable.
I will follow your advice and keep our french routine at leaving him out all year round!
Someone suggested to put a rain sheet/ or lightweight rug on him for very very bad weather and I will look into this!(it is not as muddy in France in the winter than it is here!)

[Just for a bit more info:
Since May I have been riding him (only hacking) 6 times a week, about 2 and a half/3hours at the weekend both days and about 1hour and a half during the week after work (4 times).
In the winter I will be able to ride him at the weekend and twice during the week for about 1hour(depending of my hours of work!)]

Thanks again and anymore advice welcome:-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top