i am a cruel mummy?

[maddielove]

My dad and some other people i know have been saying my horse is under-rugged and should not be muzzled...I was wondering if you guys would think so too?
She's slightly overweight...just a wee bit cresty now[but i guess she always has been] and its very soft...not very big either.
She has a full clip and has been out in 110g fill rug and has been losing a wee bit of weight bu i am not bothered by this-pleased if anything!
She's moving into a new field tomorrow where she will be on adlib hay so i thought about taking the muzzle off but it's also meant to be colder tonight and tomorrow so i thought about upping her rug weight to 220g...or would i be just as cruel to make her possibly put on weight?
dont want to have her cold...but then dont want her to be fat either...confused!!

 

[Smash]

Do you have a picture of her?
Does she seem cold? Does she feel warm when you put a hand under her rug in the morning?

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

if you feel the base of the back of ears is she cold ?

 

[maddielove]

She seemed warm ish today, but it was quite sunny and she was in the sun...yesterday she was cooler...
this was taken yesterday..not very good...sorry!

 

[Donkeymad]

Eating hay will actually help her to keep warm. Sorry, doesn't really answer your questions.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

If you are taking her muzzle off, I would leave her rug the same (digesting hay keeps horses warm).

 

[silversox]

Oddly enough, this is just what I recommend to people who have a job to get weight off their ponies - and it works. It is not cruel - allowing them to get over-weight with heart and foot problems is cruel.

 

[magic104]

If she is cold she will use her fat reserves to keep warm. We are heading into winter now, the grass is very low in nuitriants so I would not be too worried. Make sure she has more hi fibre like hay then concentraits as it takes more energy to eat hay/hi fibre foods. If the hay was dotted around more then this would encourage her to move around more which in turn uses energy.