Horses wintering out

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Thefarrieswife

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Hi there, I have a retired mare who is nearly 22 in good condition and she lives out all year as a companion for another younger retired horse. I am so lucky as she’s so well looked after but I was told she isn’t allowed to wear a rug! She’s had 2 winters rugless so far and she’s been fine. I’ve just looked at the forecast and it’s going to be relentless rain for 2 weeks and I can’t stop worrying about her…….
They have a huge field with a big wood in one side for shelter and hay but I’ve spoken to a few people who say that she would probably appreciate a rug or even being brought in from the rain for a day or so but I don’t think this will happen as she has enough horses in as it is……
Can anyone out my mind at rest, I’m losing sleep 😫😫
 
Have to say my old mare (rising 24) loves her stable, she nearly always has a lie down in there even when she's in for a few hours in the day spring - autumn. Just something to think about. Unless she is very hairy and/or a bit porky I would rug.
 
I would prefer her to wear a rug but it will take much longer to dry if it gets damp - longer than her coat. So I'm a bit in two minds on this one. Strange rule though, I guess its because they don't want to change rugs.
 
Lady Jane said:
I would prefer her to wear a rug but it will take much longer to dry if it gets damp - longer than her coat. So I'm a bit in two minds on this one. Strange rule though, I guess its because they don't want to change rugs.
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I'm wondering what the logic is here too. If they don't want to change rugs they can just refuse to do so, they don't have to ban them. In case they get caught on something because of the wooded area?

Has anyone given you an explanation OP?

If she has lived out the last 2 years and been fine, she will likely be fine this year, unless something has changed in her condition or mobility. Its been a warm autumn so far, I know the rain might be a lot more but it isn't terribly cold!
 
It looks as if it's going to be warm while it's raining over the next couple of weeks. Ime it depends more on the temperature and the direction of the wind than the amount of rain. If she has been fine living out for the last 2 yrs, I would expect her to be fine this time. Why do you think it might be different this time?
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply, they’re not really given a reason why no rugs, but the other 3 out with her don’t have them either…..Im not we’ve had such a poor forecast for ages regarding rain so I suppose I'm just panicking…….i was a mess the first winter and when I went to visit her she was always warm as toast even in -6. They just manage with low temps but the wind and rain must be pretty miserable for them. I like to think I’m not a fluffy owner and never over rug my horses but wish she could just have a 50g on…….🤷‍♀️
Thanks to you all for taking the time to reply, your thought are much appreciated xx
 
smolmaus said:
I'm wondering what the logic is here too. If they don't want to change rugs they can just refuse to do so, they don't have to ban them. In case they get caught on something because of the wooded area?

Has anyone given you an explanation OP?

If she has lived out the last 2 years and been fine, she will likely be fine this year, unless something has changed in her condition or mobility. Its been a warm autumn so far, I know the rain might be a lot more but it isn't terribly cold!
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Nothing has changed, just me panicking!😫🤣
 
As you've found out, once acclimatised and with a decent winter coat, most are happy being out without a rug if they have shelter, enough forage and can move about to be out in the worst of the weather.

However, I wouldn't be happy being somewhere they wouldn't rug even if the horse needed it. So I'd want assurances it's a general policy that works well most of the time rather than no exceptions - even if your horse is wet, cold, shivering and miserable for whatever reason.
 
Miller who wrote the authoritive 19th century book on Polo reported on the year when he had kept the best ponies stabled over winter and the not so good ones were turned away, unrugged but with some supplementary hay. When spring came, the polo pones that had been out all winter were in better condition than the ones he had stabled. Thereafter he was an enthusiast for turnng horses out and I noticed that Carl Hester too turned out even his most valuable horses.
 
I'm with you that I would ideally rug in persistent rain but as others have said, she is acclimatised to it and has coped well the last couple of years and so should be fine. You can always monitor and act if you need to. I would agree with the others though that I'd be finding out why they can't have rugs, if it's that they don't want to have to change them then could it be possible for you to take responsibility for rugs? I imagine though that there's a good chance that it's because of the trees.
 
I would sack anyone who refused to rug a horse ‘just because’. Some sort of moral crusade? Just assess the horse in front of you and rug them if they need it, and don’t rug them if they don’t.

Persistent winter rain can certainly drag an older horse down.

Far too many horsey types have ridiculous inflexible ideas 😬.
 
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