humanising horses

tallyho! said:
Isn't that whats in Propell???

What about cider as an aple flavoured calmer??????

Now THATS humanisation (or anthropomorphism or whatever....)
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Good lord, you're a genius! That's the answer to his new found vet-related fear of loading! Get him roaring drunk... so simple, so brilliant...
 
nutkin said:
Good lord, you're a genius! That's the answer to his new found vet-related fear of loading! Get him roaring drunk... so simple, so brilliant...
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Homemade preferably or from local monastery. Only the best will do.

 
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tallyho! said:
Homemade preferably or from local monastery. Only the best will do.

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Well, that goes without saying... I'm not about to feed my precious ponio any cheap scrumpy dross!
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I'm sure you'll all love this...when i was at college/uni in my 2nd year year a friend of a friend had NINE rugs on her horse (no exageration as had to put these rugs on the horse once, while looking after it)! None of us could get her to realise that it was actually to the point of cruel, that the horse had to carry so much weight on it's back. AND the top rug she had on was to keep the stable rug underneath clean?! absolute madness.

Now that is OVERrugging!
 
Is humanising horses not the exact same as humanising any animal? For instance if you have a house dog and leave it out with a kennel tonight, would it no sit and winge and possibly feel the cold wereas an outdoor dog which is used to it would not!! Or even cats, should they not be out hunting mice? Everyone keeps there horses (or other animals) in different ways so does it matter, as long as they are well cared for and not in any discomfort. I know that if my boy was still here he would be clipped, stabled and have at least 2 rugs on!!
 
nutkin said:
Yes, mine's in a 400g rug overnight (below 10 degrees) at the moment. No, this is not frivolous - it's based on his body temperature when I check him in the morning. Get. Over. It. :rolleyes:
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Genuine question- what do ou do when it gets colder? Or it rains and
is windy so the wind chill makes it colder still? 400g is a HW rug.
 
teddyt said:
Genuine question- what do ou do when it gets colder? Or it rains and
is windy so the wind chill makes it colder still? 400g is a HW rug.
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That is a genuine concern of mine for this winter :(. Last winter he was at a different yard, and his stable was so warm that even when it dropped to minus 10, his water buckets didn't freeze over! It's definately colder at the yard he's at now, though. I'm hoping that putting a thermatex underneath and layering a lot will help...
 
Is he old? or thin? Otherwise you may be getting him accustomed to being a wimp!
Digestion of fibre releases more heat than any other food so plenty of forage helps keep them warm from the inside. Stable bandages would help too.
I know every horse is individual and ditto the places they are kept but fwiw i have an old horse who is just right weight wise, i dont want him losing any though. He lives out and its bl00dy cold at my yard and hes only wearing a MW rug at night.
 
Nope, he's not old or thin (though you have to watch his weight - not unusual for a TB, though). He gets ad lib forage and 2 feeds a day... I'm hoping he's just not used to the temperature of the new stable. As I mentioned, even in a 400g rug at night, he's still only luke warm in the morning - I don't want to rug him any more at the moment in the hope that he'll toughen up! I haven't put a neck on his rug yet, so that and stable bandages are back up for when he's clipped/in case he stays a whimp! Also, there's a window in the back of his stable, so that creates a through draft... I want to leave it open while he's still on box rest, but when he's in work and going out again I'll close it - should help!
 
KatB said:
I layer and add a lwt or mwt rug underneath :D Same as every yard I have had dealings with has done!!
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Theres only so many layers a horse can wear though. You cant keep adding more and more rugs as it gets colder. well, i wouldnt have my horse like the princess and the pea!
 
Yep agree completely, I would never have more than 3 on, and even then, I am very particular about how heavy the rugs are to handle. 2 is normally more than sufficient in the really cold weather :)
 
nutkin said:
Nope, he's not old or thin (though you have to watch his weight - not unusual for a TB, though). He gets ad lib forage and 2 feeds a day... I'm hoping he's just not used to the temperature of the new stable. As I mentioned, even in a 400g rug at night, he's still only luke warm in the morning - I don't want to rug him any more at the moment in the hope that he'll toughen up! I haven't put a neck on his rug yet, so that and stable bandages are back up for when he's clipped/in case he stays a whimp! Also, there's a window in the back of his stable, so that creates a through draft... I want to leave it open while he's still on box rest, but when he's in work and going out again I'll close it - should help!
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Maybe being on box rest doesnt help as he cant move about to keep warm? They definately become accustomed to rugging. Fingers crossed he toughens up then!:)
 
KatB said:
Yep agree completely, I would never have more than 3 on, and even then, I am very particular about how heavy the rugs are to handle. 2 is normally more than sufficient in the really cold weather :)
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I agree, 3 rugs would be the max i would use. Ive so far only needed 2 on my old chap and it is freezing sometimes where he lives.
 
i live in the highest village in Scotland and we have very long cold winters hellish infact , my horse has no rug on, its -3 here just now. if she had a heavyweight rug on now , what would i rug her with when the winter realy bites .
 
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I think having 2 horse that are opposite helps with perspective. In my opinion, as ever , one size does not fit all.

Some horse, like some people, feel the cold more than other. Cappy doesn't grow a particularly thick coat and feels the cold. He is not in a rug at night yet but will be soon, dug out his stable rug today.

Fany already resembles a woolly mamouth and is getting hairier by the day, I swear you can watch it grow! So she will not be rugged at all this year, unless it gets artic type cold and then it will only be a fleece.

As I always say, suit the horse not what others are doing with their horses or what they think you should do. It really is horses for courses.

FDC
 
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