How do you check if a horse is cold...

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MissCandy

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...because I'm getting paranoid!

I have a 7 month old WB colt. He is out in the day (for 4-5 hours) and stabled at night in a barn. He has ad-lib hay and a small hard feed twice a day. His coat is about 1 inch thick. He is unrugged.

I always check him to make sure he is warm enough. I put my hand on his neck/body/bum and although the top of his coat is cool to touch you can feel the warmth underneath. The base of his ears and 'armpits' are always toasty so I think he is fine.

However the new YM keeps telling me he is cold and needs to be rugged overnight and for turnout. All the other horses on the yard are rugged 24/7.

So how do you check and when do you decide to rug?
 
That sounds good to me - dosent sound like he needs rugged up more :)

I check the base of the ears, and check warmth inside rug just to make sure. Usually if the horse looks happy then I don't change rugs :)
 
He sounds just fine! If mine felt like that then I would be happy that they were warm enough without a rug. I check base of ears, if cold then I rug, if warm then I leave. Bear in mind that the warmth has to travel through a nice insulating coat for you to feel it. No horse needs to feel 'toasty hot'! I also check inside armpits too, more to back up the ears and make me feel happy that she is a comfortable temp than to be the main thing I go by. I prefer to rug cooler than warmer as horses are adept at warming themselves with long fibre. They don't wish to be hot to touch!
 
I was always told that if you touch a horse and they are cold to touch at first but then the warmth travels through, then they are just right. If they are warm to touch then they are too warm.

If he is getting plenty of hay then he should be fine as the fibre ferments in the gut and creates heat.

I think what you are doing is fine :D
 
He sounds fine. It is actually worse for horses to be rugged too warm than not enough as their bodies are not that effective at releasing heat, and they are very well-adapted to keeping themselves warm.
Ears are a good indication, if they're warm, chances are your little chap is too!
 
I've always been told to feel their 'armpits' or the inside of the back legs, where the skin is and to see how warm that is.
 
He sounds fine and much better for being left unrugged. Never rugged my foalie, an ID X TB unless we had persistant heavy rain. As long as he has ad lib hay and he looks bright and healthy, he'll be ok.
Your YM sounds like one of the 'rug everything' brigade.
 
base of his ears is fine - Don't rug him as too dangerous, they haven't got the strength to snap the straps and horrific injuries can occur. Also don't rug feeding mares in case foals hang themselves on the leg straps.

I've got a 7 month WB x TB, lives out 24/7 (with mum for hot drink) and we had 4 inches of snow this morning.
 
Thanks all!

I do think a lot of people rug for no reason and a lot of the horses on the yard are hot to touch which I didn't think was right, but as the only one with a naked horse I'm the one thats thought to be in the wrong :rolleyes: you start to question your own judgment!
 
I check 'armpits'. I think you getter a better feel for the horse's temperature, as that bit will be dry, without much hair for the heat to travel through. I do wish people wouldn't rug their horses for 'toastiness'. I've even seen this being advocated in horsey magazines - no wonder novice owners struggle to do the right thing for their horses.
OP, it sounds as though you're the sensible one on your yard.
 
My 7 month old WB only wears a rug if it is raining and even then it is just a rain sheet as she hates getting wet.

She is so fluffy and is never cold. Infact last week when it was really cold she was a bit damp and sweaty after being in the stable.

Go with what you think and ignore the others.
 
I agree with all the above.

When the women at my yard start worrying about if their horse will be warm enough, I always tell them not to worry too much as they are wearing a fur coat (even if they're clipped!).
 
I agree with the above, if he feels warm under his coat then I would only rug up if we were going to get horrendous non stop rain, if she wasn't clipped my mare would not be rugged at all, that is what god gave them fur coats for after all.
 
My Dartmoor colt was unrugged for all of last winter in the snow. Never felt cold at the base of his ears or his armpit even when he had frosty ear tips!!

If yours feels warm to you then I'd say you are fine and don't need to rug.
 
You are doing just fine, no need to rug a foal if warm.....don't rug for the sake of rugging.


Oh by the way guys i'm off to dartmoor, Exmoor and the Welsh Mountains this weekend to rug all the wild ponies I see!!!! How do they manage without us interfering in thier lives???!!!!:rolleyes:
 
I tend to feel the ears and the armpits, look at the general behaviour of the horse, is he miserable or bright eyed and bushy tailed etc.

Forage will keep them warm from the inside out, so plenty of hay/grass bit of both will work wonders to keep them happy.

Some people feel the coats of unrugged horses and say theyre cold. But like other posters have mentioned, that is a good sign that they are not losing body heat because if you burrow down into the skin, it will feel very warm indeed, and so is the horse.

My vet once commented to a girl on my old yard that he'd heard say that her horse was "toasty and warm" as she slipped her cold hand beneath the side of her horse's rug. "Actually, he said, your horse is TOO warm and marmite and horses do not belong together"!!.

I think he meant that we have a habit of wanting our horses to feel as warm as we do underneath our clothing, but horses just arent like us!!.

I took off the cross over rear leg straps from my mare's rug when she had a foal at foot. Instead, I kept one and used it like a fillet string under her tail and out of the way.
 
My vet was having a grumble about rugging yesterday. Basically his opinion was that only horses in hard workand clipped out should wear rugs. Said that the healthiest horses he sees are TB broodmares out at pasture running in herds worth millions of pounds,all unrugged through the winter. Most of his work is caused by owners of fat, over rugged, stabled horses.
 
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