How do you dry your rugs without a heated rug room?

Achinghips

Achinghips

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Be interested to know - do people have spare rugs while the wet ones dry? Seems a waste to buy 2 of the same, but thinking of doing this now,:(
 
Agree with Seth, I used to be The rug queen, 2 of everything, LW, MW, HW etc etc. I moved yards and there they used breathable rugs as both turnout and stable rugs, so they never had the problem of trying to dry wet rugs or putting damp rugs onto horses in the morning. No more smelly stable rugs either. Took a bit of getting used to but the best thing Ive done.
 
Agree with Seth - if the rugs are not saturated and horse wet/damp underneath - they dry best left on the horse. If they are removed then I find hanging them in the hay barn a good way of drying them or laid over the hay bales. Our barn is quite warm due to the amount of hay stored inside an enclosed area.

I do have a few spare rugs that I can use if rug isn't quite dry enough to use again, these are usually older rugs that have ben replaced or a couple gifted to me.

Always worth having a spare as the present rug may just get trashed, ripped, or just so wet and muddy that needs a few days to dry out.
 
Personally I detest leaving the horse in a wet rug in a stable where it can't even move around to warm itself up when it gets cold! We had DIYs that did that, and when I checked the horses at night they were always cold. They also took much more feeding than ours - as they were using their calories to dry rugs rather than heat themselves..

I would leave the rug on the horse for up to an hour to let the really wet drops drip off, then change to a stable rug, and hang the turnout rug on a rug rack in the stable, which means its still getting a bit of the horse's bodyheat without it being at the horse's expense.. Obviously the best thing to do is have two turnout rugs and alternate them..
 
Leave it on-have never had a cold horse yet, the rugs should not be cold if properly waterproof... Always dry within an hour. Always check first that horse is not wet under the rug.
Honey08-I seriously doubt you have ever tried that as the vasty majority of horses given a rug rack in their stable will pull the rugs off or injure themselves on said rug rack..
 
I have a heated rug rack. If the rugs are just a bit wet on the surface the horses keep them on overnight, but if it has been a very wet day the turnouts go on the dryer and the horses wear their stable rugs for the night :)
 
SusieT said:
Leave it on-have never had a cold horse yet, the rugs should not be cold if properly waterproof... Always dry within an hour. Always check first that horse is not wet under the rug.
Honey08-I seriously doubt you have ever tried that as the vasty majority of horses given a rug rack in their stable will pull the rugs off or injure themselves on said rug rack..
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*sniggers* I'd got used to my Welsh being perfectly happy to have rugs hung over his front wall and kept several there. When I moved my AA mare into the pen next to him I hung her rug over the wall to the front of her. During the night she pulled it into her stable and mixed it with her bed which was bad enough but the Welshy seems to have thought it so amusing that he took all the rugs off his wall and passed them to her and they were all in her bed, none in his at all. There's no way she could have reached them herself so he must have co-operated.
 
leave on the horse as long as dry underneath and will be dry in a couple of hours max
Honey08 - couldn't leave a rug in stable with Pidge he'd trash it! Plus I leave Pidge's rugs on him however wet they are - all breathable horseware ones, he's very spoilt, and in the winter he's fully clipped, he's and ISH so plenty of TB in him and he spent most of the winter in a 100g rug as was so warm and he doesn't get fed huge amounts of hard feed either to keep him warm!
 
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SusieT said:
Honey08-I seriously doubt you have ever tried that as the vasty majority of horses given a rug rack in their stable will pull the rugs off or injure themselves on said rug rack..
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If Honey08 says that's the way she drys her rugs then that's the way she does it. Basically your calling her a liar which is just rude.
You seriously have to read your messages before you post and think to yourself...does this look harsh, b1tchy or just plain nasty.
I know plenty of people who hang their rugs over stable walls while horse is in there. Heck, some people even have storage boxes in their stable.
Not all horses are clumsy or distructive.
I personally have a heated rug rack, but I have been on livery yards where space is like gold dust and people store things where they can and that includes their stable.
 
Oil filled rug dryer. It is like a heated towel rail but rug length & drier 2 at a time. Worth its weight in gold.

I leave the rugs on the horse if they're staying out, but if the weather's so filthy that they're in, I put them on the dryer overnight.
 
If there soaked and the horse is dry under it then they are left on upuntil i go home ( do not sleep in them) and then we hang them in our mini haybarn where theres a constant breeze
the rest of the yard do the same but in the big hay barn.Also have spares on hand incase the rug is to wet.
Major advantage for me is at my dads work he works in a power sation no i dea doing what but he must be good at it as he keeps getting promoted (more stuff for the ponies in my eyes ;) ) any way at his work they have a HUGE drying room and if my dads on nights he puts the rugs in the room and leaves them there to dry then when he has finished in the morning he comes down and turns out and sometimes the rugs are still nice and warm inside =]
 
guido16 said:
Are people saying that they leave the turnout rug on the horse overnight when its stabled?

Wheres the logic in that?
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the logic is that the horse remains warm if the rug is waterproof and the topside of the rug gets dried- seems very logical to me :)

i used to have lots of turnout rigs and stable rugs and now mine just have turnout rugs that they were in the stable as well- they all look great, require no more feeding than they did when they were getting rugs changed, have very healthy coats etc.
 
I Leave turnouts on the horse; but then I own 1 stable rug :o

I prefer to buy good quality turnouts and then the horse wears them all the time!

I dont see why people dont get the fact that turnouts can be used in the stable?! Its not like they are the old fashioned new zealands anymore :o
 
I let my horse dry her rugs out. That way I rarely put cold rugs on her.

Obviously she is checked under the rug frequently.

If she had to stay in her stable for a long time, like when we had the ice for a fortnight last winter, I change to stable rugs.

It hasn't curbed my need to have 2 of every rug though!
 
guido16 said:
Are people saying that they leave the turnout rug on the horse overnight when its stabled?

Wheres the logic in that?
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Have you never taken a turnout rug off the night before - wet - and find it is nowhere near dry in the morning then? Only yesterday in this heat - it was 18 degrees, my boys sheet did not dry in time (heavy rain), thankfully I had another one that he could wear. If I had left it on, it would have dried within an hour, but I thought it was a little warm to leave it on in his stable at the moment (he is in during the day, out at night), but had it been any colder, it would have stayed on, and I would not have had to use a different sheet the next day. The logic is, if you leave the turnout on if it is wet (but dry inside, and horse is warm), the horses bodyheat will dry the rug, the horse stays warm, and everybody is happy! I can't see the logic in taking a wet, filthy rug off and to change it to a stable rug?? What do you do with wet rugs in winter, it is impossible to get them dry in time to replace them the next day?
 
only_me said:
I Leave turnouts on the horse; but then I own 1 stable rug :o

I prefer to buy good quality turnouts and then the horse wears them all the time!

I dont see why people dont get the fact that turnouts can be used in the stable?! Its not like they are the old fashioned new zealands anymore :o
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I dont see the logic as turnout rugs are designed for outside/bad weather. So therefore if your horse wears it in a (warmer) stable then it wont get the full benefit of it when its outside in the colder weather.

Same way that you or I put on extra layers to go outside, a horse generally needs extra layers/thicker rug to go outside.

I presume people are removing these rugs each night to do a check of their horses.
 
"What do you do with wet rugs in winter, it is impossible to get them dry in time to replace them the next day? "

I make sure I have enough rugs to put a dry one on!
 
guido16 said:
I dont see the logic as turnout rugs are designed for outside/bad weather. So therefore if your horse wears it in a (warmer) stable then it wont get the full benefit of it when its outside in the colder weather.

Same way that you or I put on extra layers to go outside, a horse generally needs extra layers/thicker rug to go outside.

I presume people are removing these rugs each night to do a check of their horses.
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Oh, right I get your point about temperature. I would think it would not make much difference, as the horse is still in the stable, so not generating much warmth moving about, but when outside, they are hooling around, keeping them warmer, that's how I look at it :o
Everyone is different, if I had somewhere to get rugs dry, I would probably change to a stable rug overnight, just to get them out of their muddy turnouts!
 
of course my horses are checked every night under their rugs ;)

and actually turnout rugs will only benefit the horse with more warmth if the rug has more togs than an equivalent stable rug.

also horses are actually able to keep warmer outside rather than in a stable as they can move around more to keep warm (presuming they have good quality forage in both scenarios and the horse does not have a wet coat).

its another case of people humanising horses- there is no point comparing a different species to what a human would do in that scenario, otherwise i would never take my dog for a walk naked, particularly in the winter!!!
 
Rugs definatley dry quicker when they are left on a horse and most decent quality rugs are made with this in mind, hence why they are waterproof AND breathable. If a rug fits your horse properly and is well waterproofed there is no reason for the horse to be wet underneath (rain sheets excluded!).

Horses do have the ability to control their own temperature:)

And agree with SusieT, a lot of horses simply cant have rugs (or anything for that matter) in reach as they will destroy them, am always a bit jealous when i see people hanging rugs over there doors and leaving storage boxes in them!
 
guido16 said:
I dont see the logic as turnout rugs are designed for outside/bad weather. So therefore if your horse wears it in a (warmer) stable then it wont get the full benefit of it when its outside in the colder weather.

Same way that you or I put on extra layers to go outside, a horse generally needs extra layers/thicker rug to go outside.

I presume people are removing these rugs each night to do a check of their horses.
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Have not found this to be true, mine were out in -15 to -20 this year and only had medium weight turn outs with necks. I had my heavyweights at the ready and they simply did not need them, i have 3 tbs (one is 35) and a polo pony. None of them lost weight and they didnt eat a huge amount of hard food, they were hayed in the field and had plenty of hay when they came in. I was desperate to put more rugs on them but couldnt do it:rolleyes:
 
Personally I leave the turnout rugs on, they dry quickly and I don't like putting a cold wet rug on in the morning. Don't agree with guido16, it's colder for the horse in the stable where they can't move around to keep warm, that's why most stable rugs are thicker than turnout rugs. Our water froze in the stables last winter so that's pretty cold!
 
I've got a washing line going across my tackroom, great for hanging saddle cloths,rugs,bandages etc. on to dry out in the winter. Leave it hung for a couple of days and it's bone dry. I have enough saddle cloths for a week, also boots, bandages and when my horses rug does get wet it's left to dry and I put a lightweight one on.
You can get these rainsheets to go over any rug, fleece, stable w/e, They look really good and they are like a coat the water just runs off - might be my next winter purchase!
 
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