I will not rug my horse, I will not rug my horse, I will not rug my horse :-)

Couldn't agree with TGM more.

Of my 5 who live out full time the old arthritic pony wears a rug when it is cold and/or wet - the weight of which is determined by the temperature but when it is dry and sunny he is unrugged. The other four are now 5 years old and have access to large field shetlers and plenty of grazing and good hedges so they are currently unrugged. They could do with dropping a bit of weight before the spring grass arrives so unless it is very wet with a cold wind I probably won't rug them. My other horses are unrugged during the day but are rugged at night in their stables.

It seems that we are now entering that time of year when we will be swapping different weight rugs around until winter is definitely here.
 
Like KatB I "weather rug" .....basically meaning, it depends on the weather, Madam has been out for the past 6 weeks or so and I have just literally stuck a medium weight turnout on her yesterday, from yesterday evening it has lashed with rain and wind, it has also turned very cold, She was due to come in sometime this week, so was brought in today to be brushed and tidied a little .

Tonight she has a lightweight stable rug on, mind you tonight is giving -1 or so but if its brightened up tomorrow she will go out naked :) .
 
Depends on the horse, some are in light weights, some are naked, m warmblood is hunter clipped and living out 24/7 with full neck m/w rug and an under rug over night. There is no point rugging if not needed however i'd rather rug than stable whilst the ground is holding up
 
I've given in and rugged Lacey.
She was clipped on Sunday so has a lw rug in the day (no fill) and a 100g rug at night.
If it gets colder this week she'll be totally spoilt and have a fleece under the turnout for now :eek:
 
Keep the bugger warm, and rug, so says the lady with the divvy twonk tb hot house orchid who loses weight

"I am freezing and I think you must hate me mummy - where's my Premier Equine, pity me, pity me, pity me?"
 
My boy (19yo) is fully clipped and went out in his heavyweight for the first time last night (has been in a mw since he was clipped and a lw before that whenever it was wet due to being prone to rain scald).

I had to scrape thick ice off my car this morning so think I made the right choice for him!
 
Completely agree TGM, people forget horses should drop a bit of weight over the winter naturally, and it drives me crackers to see horses in VERY light work, unclipped, fat, and still on hard feed and being rugged!! :o

I know someone who has a VERY fat horse, who has lost a bit of weight recently (yay!) but as a result the owner has upped the horses feed and brought it in at night with a rug on!!?? Grrr...
 
I think it depends on where you live, i'm on the south coast and although it is frosty at night, it isn't that cold, all mine are out without rugs on including the TB, they are all happy and warm.....got loads of grass in a huge field so they keep themselves busy, they aren't rushing down in the morning they take a steady plod down to get their carrots. :D
 
Sammii819 said:
I think it depends on where you live, i'm on the south coast and although it is frosty at night, it isn't that cold, all mine are out without rugs on including the TB, they are all happy and warm.....got loads of grass in a huge field so they keep themselves busy, they aren't rushing down in the morning they take a steady plod down to get their carrots. :D
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Surely frosty means its close to freezing?! That's pretty cold in my book :p :D
 
foxy1 said:
I too can't understand the desire to leave horses unrugged......? Please feel free to explain the health benefits of not rugging till date X?
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This surely isn't a serious question!!!

Because its natural - how horses are meant to be. They are not humans! They are waterproof and grow coats that keep them warm Etc etc.
 
Honey08 said:
This surely isn't a serious question!!!

Because its natural - how horses are meant to be. They are not humans! They are waterproof and grow coats that keep them warm Etc etc.
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It depends on the horse though! A Thoroughbred is a manmade breed of horse and they have definitely never lived out on snowy mountains at any time... :rolleyes:
 
My 21year tb x mare has had a lightweight on since middle of sept at least at night and if its cold during the day then she keeps it on! Must admit I did put the lovely cosy heavy weight on last because they gave it dropping to 0 degrees and left it on this morning only because I want to ride later and she will be a mucky little horse if I take it off!

Definately had my first taste of winter last night when I was out in the middle of the field in the wind and rain changing rugs!! Roll on the spring :)
 
All mine were fine this morning and grazing happily in the morning sun. So rugs are staying off until the cold winds and rain starts. (Which was what I had originally planned then had a wibble once the temperatures started to drop LOL).

If any one of them needs a rug sooner then they will have one sooner. Simple as that. I'm neither pro or anti rugging, I just believe in treating each horse as an individual and giving them what they need.

My only real rugging bugbear is people who stick a MW or HW rug on when they have declared winter and leave it on until one day they declare it's late spring or summer and whip it off again. No upping or downing of rugs to acclimatise the horse either way.
 
I'm a firm believer in rugging horses according to their needs. If a horse is elderly, ill or drops too much weight then stick a rug on. Many overweight natives are overrugged in my opinion, although I have known the odd one that has benefitted from rugging, although that has been a rare occurrence in my experience.

At the riding school where I taught all the ponies were trace clipped and turned out during the day unrugged - they all coped brilliantly. I've also had tb broodmares that wintered out unrugged with no problems at all, they grew brilliant coats and were the picture of health.

Healthwise I believe it can be more beneficial for horses that need their metabolism boosting to remain unrugged and it also stops the risk of colic through overheating and keeps the skin healthy by not trapping sweat and allowing a good airflow. No matter how good a rug is it can't replace a horses natural coat and its ability to self regulate temperature.

Sensible rugging I've no problems with, but I hate the overrugging that seems so common nowadays.
 
You're absolutely right that it depends on the horse - and old one or fine coated TB will need more rugging than another horse, however many TBs are quite capable of being rugless. These horses have been around for years - even before rugs were around... People usually create these soft horses by over rugging. I used to do DIY livery, and felt so sorry for some people's horses that had rugs on in warm weather. Sometimes they were dripping in sweat underneat, but the owner wanted them on because they were too lazy to groom them.

My point is that its silly to ask why you wouldn't rug a horse when you could - it shows a lack of horsemanship. And seriously, what do people who have huge rugs on now do in mid January when it thick snow and minus fifteen degrees? Its only just autumn, and there has only been a slight frost this week, nothing compared to whats to come. The poor horses must look like hot water tanks with thick lagging! (I do agree with taking rugs off if you can on hotter days though).
 
Oh god I've started yet another HHO debate and I didn't mean too! For the record my horse needs to loose weight and that is why he is not being rugged. You all have to do what is best for your horses and I'm sure you all do xx
 
Supertrooper said:
Oh god I've started yet another HHO debate and I didn't mean too! For the record my horse needs to loose weight and that is why he is not being rugged. You all have to do what is best for your horses and I'm sure you all do xx
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LOL :p:D
I'm actuly glad i've seen this post. I was starting to think I was the only person in the world who haddn't rugged yet. My boys are out unrugged. Horrid is out 24/7 and slimfast is still in at night but only due to his weightloss program. Hopedfully soon he will be out 24/7 to. I have been told i'm crule by afew people but then I point out that both the boys are forest bred and I live in the bloomin new forest. Merryns mum is still running and she won't have a rug on :p :). I understand if your horse is old, ill or a fine breed then it will need rugging already. But there are so many foresters round here that are un clipped, Are never ridden, are all fat and are wearing rugs already. :(
 
Honey08 said:
This surely isn't a serious question!!!

Because its natural - how horses are meant to be. They are not humans! They are waterproof and grow coats that keep them warm Etc etc.
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Horses aren't 'meant' to be ridden or kept in fields or stables.........
Fortunately mine are neither obese or skinny and are always well rugged
 
My boys a cob who comes in at night, still unrugged but I did feel mean this morning when I put him out he definately felt cold, saying that he could do with losing a couple of pounds.
The car was iced over this morningg so can't decide whether or not to put his rug on tonight. See what the weather says I guess.
 
SJ_Superstars said:
It depends on the horse though! A Thoroughbred is a manmade breed of horse and they have definitely never lived out on snowy mountains at any time... :rolleyes:
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No they havent, but I live on a breeding stud and our tbs are out 24/7, 365, naked. This is in foal mares, weanlings, yearlings.
They grow a nice winter coat to protect themselves, and as they are left natural the oils build up and protect against cold and rainscald. A groomed tb will of course lack these oils, but I would still let mine build up a bit of a coat, after all Im sure a horse would rather be comfy in its own skin and fur than strapped into several restrictive layers.
Not one of ours are underweight or suffering the cold.
Its all down to personal choice and individual management. I have a native x, not overweight and as he is worked/groomed daily, he is out 24/7 till mid November in a LW no neck, simply to protect his skin from rainscald. If you need to leave them unrugged, dont over groom :)
 
LauraWheeler said:
I have been told i'm crule by afew people but then I point out that both the boys are forest bred
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And I think this is key to why so many people rug their animals unneccessarily - because of all the pointed comments and 'hints' that they are cruel for not rugging. Livery yards can be particularly bad as often there seems to be a 'good owner' competition running, with owners vying to score points off each other, by claiming to rug better, feed better, etc., than the other owners! Unfortunately, this often ends up with animals not having their individual needs met, as owners are under pressure to do what everyone else does. (I've also noticed a bit of this type of behaviour on forums, too!:p)
 
Totally agree with KatB. If your horse is cold then rug it! If its minus degrees in October rather than december and your horse is cold then put a rug on, not wait until the usual month of December. The horse doesn't know what time of the year it is, just that its cold!
If the horse is not cold then fine, leave him unrugged.
As for horses being natural, yes, they are but us as humans have bred into them different traits which mean that some do feel the cold more than others ( even if it it still October).
It is also worth noting that horses that are well rugged require less feed/hay than non rugged horses to maintain condition.
 
Supertrooper said:
Oh god I've started yet another HHO debate and I didn't mean too! For the record my horse needs to loose weight and that is why he is not being rugged. You all have to do what is best for your horses and I'm sure you all do xx
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I think this has been a really good thread Supertrooper. It's good to debate/talk about/discuss things like this. We all come at things from different angles and none of us know all the answers to everything.
 
Mu unclipped TB - she has no fluffy winter coat is in at night with a light stable rug on, an is currently out in a meduim weight, she hates the cold and is always waiting to come in.
 
When it's cold and still my Shetland is naked.
However, when it's windy and wet he wears an Amigo light (has no lining), and in the middle of winter he's in a thick Rambo.
He is however 24, and has been stabled at night for the last 10 years (to keep the calories down) which has softened him up a bit..... he hates the rain now.
 
I listened to people one year saying I was cruel for not rugging my old New Forest mare, so I did, for the first time ever and she came out of winter fat as anything, got lami and spent a year recovering, that was 2 years ago now, so last year she was naked all winter, grew a bear like coat and will be again this year, she came out of winter a nice weight and has been happily working all year, lami free. I think sometimes you have to trust yourself and your own knowledge of your horse, I gave in to what other people said for fear they thought I was cruel but I don't care now because I consider her having to suffer lami again far crueler than going winter without a rug! Do what you all think is best! :-)
 
I've got 2 horses; a slightly chubby anglo arab who's decided to turn into a woolly mammoth who's out naked & perfectly happy, she'll be staying naked until she starts to look cold. Even last night when it was freezing cold & raining she was fine, I parted her hair & felt her skin which was warm & dry, she's not having hard feed either.
I've recently bought a tb who's a bit under weight so I've put a light weight rug on her as I want her to use any food that she eats to turn to fat & not be used to keep her warm, she's already filled out a bit so I'm happy with the choice I've made, she's getting a small feed at night.
But they are turned out in a large field with plenty of grass & thick hedges, it would be different if they were in a more bleak field.
 
Supertrooper said:
Laurawheeler :) you made me laugh with your horses names although I guess they're nicknames? Mine is called Fatboy or Fatbum!!
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LOL :D yes they are nicknames. Herbie is called horrid because he had serious issues when I got him. (He was dangourous) He is so much better now :) although he did try to buck me off this morning when I was schooling. :mad: :rolleyes:
And Merryn is called slimfast as he was so fat when he came he was put streight onto a diet. (He had lami in June and was borderline two weeks ago when I took him on) But now he looks like a normal pony instead of a blob with legs. :D
 
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