Horse shivering in rain but rugged already?

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crystalclear

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Why does a horse shiver slightly when its turned out in the rain, rugged in a heavy weight full neck rug and is dry and warm underneath (bar the very slight sections like at the base of the neck, very slightly). Horse is turned out all year and the rain has been pretty constant all day, horse fed twice a day and given extra hay. Looked on google but can't find any answers. Thanks :)
 
I'm currently sat in a house with the heating on. I have a down coat on ans a woolen rug over my knees. My body feels toasty to touch and the temp. is reading 70 degrees. However im freezing.

I know if I get up and do something i'll warm up. Even better if I eat something. ......
 
amymay said:
I'd give more hay.

Is the horse stabled overnight?
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I would do this..hay as shivering will burn up a lot of calories. I think the wind chill makes a difference ie it looks quite nice grass is growing but the temp is all over the place at the moment. or a different rug perhaps?
 
Hay 24/7. Oil for more calories. Check the rug to see if it's leaking. Try a lighter rug to allow the coat to puff up and trap more air. Try lighter rug with more layers.
 
Yes the horse is otherwise fine. No prob at all. There are stables there but not keen on comin on for long periods of time. My friend is lucky to live on site so has already put more hay out and extra rugs
 
Id be with Tallyho on this - if its in a full neck HW and healthy with ad lib food no horse should be cold if its well:(
 
meandmyself said:
Hay 24/7. Oil for more calories. Check the rug to see if it's leaking. Try a lighter rug to allow the coat to puff up and trap more air. Try lighter rug with more layers.
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Agree! Hay piled up + nice light modern rugs with a fleece underneath, what sort of temps are you having? Surely its not that cold now, I would check pulse and temp just in case.
 
bought my boy in tonight, rug was soaked but he was pretty dry underneath apart from where it had driven in around bum and shoulders. He was shivering and pitiful. I added some warm water to his tea, as much hay as I could stuff into his hay hutch and changed for a warm and dry rug in stable... he is not going out tomorrow - the field is a water plain, the rain is and still will be coming down hard and he hates it. So I have someone doing him in the morning and I will let him out into the school for an hour later on in the day...

My poor baby. When they are wet and they have a cold wet rug on - they are going to shiver, ben too felt warm to touch but he was shivering away, by the time I left, shivering had stopped and he was much better.
 
my mare, a welshie believe it or not, is like this if we get persistent rain/snow. She is fully clipped bar legs, and is in a 450g rug with adlib hay 24/7 and lives out. However if she gets as you describe, which she does in really *****ty weather, she has a neck and a 100g liner added!!
 
Is the horse clipped? Really a horse should not be cold especially if in a rug and if they have an adequate supply of food. Shivering is a way for the body to warm up so it isn't a bad sign as such but I would find it odd if the horse is rugged?

All ours are out and have rugs on and none have been shivering even in the really wet weather. That includes mine who has a hunter clip - he is turned out 24/7 in a heavy weight full neck turnout. He is usually stabled during the winter months but was turned out beginning of March as it's supposedly 'spring' and we had a few nice days and assumed we were unlikely to get any more snow etc (how wrong we were! Lol). Still, he doesn't want to come back in, he's perfectly happy outside.
 
Found out horse did have hay today but wasn't ab lib. So thats why then. She said extra rugs on now has plenty of hay and has stopped shaking. Thanks for your help :)
 
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