humanising horses

i do disagree with over rugging - ie a sweating horse - i dont disagree with managed rugging.

however - i have never actually SEEN over rugging in practice at the many yards i have worked and liveryed at - maybe i've been lucky though ;) what i HAVE seen is horses rugged to their eye balls and but said horses have been fine under the rugs as they are conditioned to wear that many - admitedly not a management choice of mine - but i really can't feel i can comment on it as said horses have been healthy and happy and certainly not sweating.

however - i have also seen many people ASSUMING that the aforementioned rugged to eye balls horse are sweating - as their own horse who is not rugged would sweat in those rugs - yeeesss - that's not rocket science - of course it would - as its conditioned to live without rugs

does it matter how someone chooses to manage their horse so long as the horses welfare is not being affected?

a horse conditioned to rugs will need them now - a horse used to being nakid will be fine - does it really matter which way a owner chooses to manage their horse so long as its happy and healthy?


or am i missing a point here?!


*steps off soap box* :o
 
Taffyhorse said:
I rug to what my horse tells me. If he's cold, he gets a rug, if he isn't he doesn't - simples :-)

I don't tend to go by the seasons either - if its p*ssing it down and freezing cold in July, he'll get a rug, if its a nice warm sunny day in October he won't.
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Tis good advice! I must admit that I am more likely to stick a lightweight on to keep heavy rain off in July if it is cold as she only has her thin summer coat, in Oct she is much better able to deal with it as she gets a fab winter coat - then a pile of hay is all she needs to stay toasty! With the warmer autumn weather we have been having, her being too hot in the field has been more of a prob as it is at odds with her coat!
 
posie_honey,

Your points are very valid.

My point was about humanising horses, not rugging in general.

Ref over rugging - having seen it, it is trully shocking. Horse was hyperventilating, nose on ground, back arched, horrid.
Within 5 mins of rug coming off it was 50% recovered.

Feeding - look at all the overweight threads? a lot is to do with over feeding (and some isnt before the native folks get all shouty shouty)

I truly beleave that people do a lot of things because "the horse next door gets fed it" or "i weally weally like that rug" or something is the latest fashion so my horse "must have" which turns in to my horse "cant cope without it"
 
posie_honey said:
i do disagree with over rugging - ie a sweating horse - i dont disagree with managed rugging.

however - i have never actually SEEN over rugging in practice at the many yards i have worked and liveryed at - maybe i've been lucky though ;) what i HAVE seen is horses rugged to their eye balls and but said horses have been fine under the rugs as they are conditioned to wear that many - admitedly not a management choice of mine - but i really can't feel i can comment on it as said horses have been healthy and happy and certainly not sweating.

however - i have also seen many people ASSUMING that the aforementioned rugged to eye balls horse are sweating - as their own horse who is not rugged would sweat in those rugs - yeeesss - that's not rocket science - of course it would - as its conditioned to live without rugs

does it matter how someone chooses to manage their horse so long as the horses welfare is not being affected?

a horse conditioned to rugs will need them now - a horse used to being nakid will be fine - does it really matter which way a owner chooses to manage their horse so long as its happy and healthy?


or am i missing a point here?!


*steps off soap box* :o
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^^^ This is what I was trying to say, in my own coffee deprived way. :D
 
yeah sorry i jumped on the rugging point as its a personal bug bear of mine when people critisise other people choice of management when welfare is NOT concerned - obviously in your case it was and the person ought to be banned from keeping horses tbh

acutally i agree 100% with the food thing - i personally feed only as a top up from ad lib grass and/or hay - ie i feed if horse needs more for weight or energy - horse in my siggy - when those piccies were taken she was on a handfull of chaff twice a day for joint supp and vits and mins - thats it - she did not need anymore - judges were always amazed when i said she lives out 24/7 365 and dones't get proper feed until she needs it for stamina for hunting etc.

i do think that people forget the benefits of ad lib good quality forage - and pile way too much hard feed into horses - i like to cut it all down to basics and add if necessary

oh and don't get me started on tack lol!! i've even been asked by a steward at xc where my breastplate or martingle was - i do 2'6 FGS lol!!!
 
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Oh god.

Tack! Now you are going to get ME started on it, AND nutkin has no coffee!

Thats another of the "my mates horse has it" or "it is 1/2 price at the tack shop and I like pink" things

Here is an idea. Why doesnt everyone strap as many things on their horses heads, necks, backs, legs, girths etc etc (fill in the gaps as required) then hopefully it will be so restricted that it wont beable to be bad!

Jobs a good un!
 
ok am preparing to have head bitten off and risk being called vain, stooopid and a humaniser but here we go.

Our HW cob was grey and being shown the last season we owned her, during the summer time said cob wore a lightweight rug in the field (cue averyone gasping in horror) she did not sweat, she was not clipped, it was for completely practical and yes VAIN purpose. It kept her coat thin and clean. She was being shown and was up for sale, before this time we never rugged anything in the summer.

The first winter we had the cob despite the fact that she was unbroken and would remain so for the winter, we clipped her :0, she came to us pickled in lice and it was a good way to solve the problem and introduce her to clippers. She then was rugged.

My mare (a TBx) for most of her years was clipped fully, even for light work. Vainity? NO. I do not like riding my mare out for a long hack at the weekend and having her sweating, the salt makes it take ages to dry and I can't abide using cold water to wash a horse down in the winter. Either way I far prefer to clip them, they remain cleaner, and also ' who here finds it as irritating as I do trying to brush WET mud off a horse?! When they are ridden, it is easier for them to cool down etc. In short it is far easier to ride a horse that has been clipped and rugged in the winter than one who has not. A rug is also a practicality if one wants to ride a horse that has been standing around in the rain all day and they do not have a hair dryer to hand ;) I certainly can't abide putting a saddle on a wet horse.

Now for my final sin of 'vastly over rugging a horse' see the little fluff monster in my signature? No, not the whippet, the brown and white thing with ALL THAT HAIR? I rugged him too! Was he cold? no. Did he need a rug? No. Was it good for his education to have a rug on so I wasn't fighting with a big monster and a scarry sheet the following year? You bet! (and yes, I am guilty of humanising my dog too!!! :) :) :)

I say, each to their own, for me keeping my little nags has to be as simple as possible, I choose methods of keeping them that make my life a little easier for me, not for vanity or humanisation purposes.
 
My horse is a cob, he has been unrugged pretty much until September when I had to rug to stop his mammoth coat growing through. He had it off during the day though.

He is now high trace clipped complete with his face off, and still only rugged at night with the same LW rug and fine. He won't have heavier rugs untill he needs it.

I saw horses in 20 degree heat earlier this year with full neck rugs on, poor horses.
 
unclipped shetland ponies rugged in a field near where I live - temp hasnt dropped below 6 degrees at night yet, I know said ponies, no health problems, not old - just absolutle madness?! lady on same yard had heavy weight stable rug on unclipped 6 year old in aug/september?!?!!?

We live in the midlands not the blooming arctic!!

Mine are still nakey :)
 
guido16 said:
Oh god.

Tack! Now you are going to get ME started on it, AND nutkin has no coffee!

Thats another of the "my mates horse has it" or "it is 1/2 price at the tack shop and I like pink" things

Here is an idea. Why doesnt everyone strap as many things on their horses heads, necks, backs, legs, girths etc etc (fill in the gaps as required) then hopefully it will be so restricted that it wont beable to be bad!

Jobs a good un!
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LMAO! Love it! I was actually at a PC event earlier this year, and the steward was shocked to see me about to go XC in a rubber snaffle and a cavesson noseband! She wanted to thoroughly inspect it, just in case I was hiding some horrendous impliment of torture!! :o The other ponies were all in disguise as pack donkeys ;)
 
Pfft, why stop with tack?? How about supplements? I think once I was actually feeding eight supplements simultaneously!

Then there's booting/bandaging, I'm an offender there too :p
 
I've recently fallen foul of not humanising my poor 'oss enough.

The vet was out this morning as she's picked up a leg injury in the field that will probably see her on box rest for some time :( The vet had been out 2 weeks ago about a different leg injury and she remarked to my daughter that said 'oss has dropped a lot of weight in that time (may I please join the TB injury clique btw)

Vet advised us to change her feed to Calm and Condition and rug her up a bit more (she's unclipped, on grazing 24/7 and has been out of work 2 weeks) This is not an old or sick horse, I'd been advising my daughter not to over-rug so she'd been mostly in a lw/no fill, how bad do I feel?!
 
My hairy cob (clipped) is in his no weight rain rug and will remain in it until he comes in with icicles on his moustace, then he'll go to his medium weight.:D
 
nutkin said:
Pfft, why stop with tack?? How about supplements? I think once I was actually feeding eight supplements simultaneously!

Then there's booting/bandaging, I'm an offender there too :p
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I think you have been supstituting supplements for coffee...

EIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
 
guido16 said:
I think you have been supstituting supplements for coffee...

EIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
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Heh, 'supstituting' - I like it :D

Let's see...

Pink powder - for condition
Joint supp
Garlic
Seaweed
Aloe vera juice
Immuforte (this and aloe as he had a weakened immune system)
D-Tox - this is the only thing (apart from steroids) that clears up his midge-allergy reactions
And (shoot me) Equitop Myoplast - for lean muscle development.

Yep, that's eight. And he looked bloomin good on it, too. Now he's just on the top two, but if I felt he would benefit from something else, he'd get it.
 
Well....prepare to hate me.

One of mine is wearing the PJs inthe second pic.

She has several shows coming up, and I cannot clip a 2 year old.

I'm happy, shes happy :P
 
nutkin said:
Heh, 'supstituting' - I like it :D

Let's see...

Pink powder - for condition
Joint supp
Garlic
Seaweed
Aloe vera juice
Immuforte (this and aloe as he had a weakened immune system)
D-Tox - this is the only thing (apart from steroids) that clears up his midge-allergy reactions
And (shoot me) Equitop Myoplast - for lean muscle development.

Yep, that's eight. And he looked bloomin good on it, too. Now he's just on the top two, but if I felt he would benefit from something else, he'd get it.
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Make in nine - give him coffee aswell.

Your beastie needs a drug rehabilitation clinic!
 
nutkin said:
Well, imagine my chagrin upon arriving at the yard one morning with freezing hands, tucking them under my horse's HW rug to make them nice and toasty to find... lukewarm...?! What good is a lukewarm horse when you have freezing hands?!

Ooh, I should also mention that he's on box rest and still getting hard feed :p:D
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Selfish bugger, get some more rugs on him!!:D
 
Crikey there are a lot of sanctimonious people on this thread! Where has this holier than thou attitude come from? and for the earlier poster who said clipping now was "for vanity" - DO get over yourself! I rush to get mine worked around work and he was throwing a nice heavy coat - so its all off - my choice, my preference. As for rugging - I am switching between 3 rug weights atm from a fleece through to a 200g as the weather never seems to know whats its doing. Old girl has front bandages on as she has walloped herself and rugged down accordingly. If you choose to leave your horses out and naked, thats your call and your have worked your regime accordingly. Neither of mine will stay out long (and will destroy fences to prove a point), both are in now, 1 is clipped cos hes working, the other will hopefully stay in her nice thin coat and save me doing it! neither is she working atm as she is not sound.. but seriously, stop getting overrugging (as in the original post) mixed up with rugging full stop!
 
There are worse things you can do to horses than put rugs on them, buy them pink stuff or feed them supplements. None of you are 'cruel', james grey and the likes are cruel.
 
nutkin said:
Yep, he's addicted to steroids, too...

Hmm, coffee, eh? It could work as a replacement for propell...
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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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