My friend is looking at buying a hairy cob x she plans to stable at night, will she need to rug at night or during the day at all or will he have sufficient "coverage" ?
You wouldn't normally need to rug an unclipped stabled hairy native BUT there are always exceptions to any rule: Of my two Welshies one lives out happily in all temperatures unclipped but usually unrugged as well, the other needs rugging not just when it's very cold but at any sudden drop in temperature, whether he's clipped or not. The second one is unusual for his breed, but you do get them!
It does depend on the individual but I find they get cold when stabled if the temperature drops to freezing or below, I will then rug. My natives were rugged during the worst of last winter, they have to have slightly restricted hay so in the middle of the night may have run out and it cannot be nice to be stood in a stable with no rug.
They did go out naked though, they can move around to keep warm.
My lad (Welsh) did really well unclipped and unrugged last winter. I left him with no rug on in the stable and he was fine...certainly did not loose any weight even during minus 17 temps and snow over his knees!
It depends on the horse but if they are being turned out naked during the day it seems counter productive to strip them of a night time rug in the morning...better to let them regulate their temp themselves during the day and night.
I think it depends on the individual horse. mine had a belly and bib clip last winter and managed most of it rugless, in fact i ended up having to put him on diet rations! He only wore a light stable rug when it dropped well below freezing.
My MW cob is in at night now out during the, he was clipped at the beginning of September but remains unrugged in the stable as he is soooooo hairy again, he was rugged over night while he was out in either a med rug or rain sheet depending on the weather.
If he was unclipped he would not be rugged at all.
Just to remember though horses can sometimes be a bit cooler in the stable if they are good doers and have limited hay and run out during the night. I am lucky as our stables are really warm and hold the heat well so I dont worry tooo much. I hate the thought that he has run out of hay during the night but not much you can do with the fatties unfortunatley when you already soak and weigh hay and use small holed nets!
My ID is naked at night stabled, however if it drops really cold he'll wear a LW stable rug. He's arthritic so I don't want him getting too cold and affecting his joints. He is a hot horse though, despite him not getting that hairy! When stabled, they can't move around much to keep warm. However, the past few nights my tb's been stabled naked too!
I have a Sec D who is a chilly mortal, has a very fine coat and likes to be rugged.
The Shettie has a lovely thick coat - but if she gets very wet then I pop a cooler on her to dry off quickly - she's usually dried off by the time it gets to late-night stables.
They are both very keen to come in.
Each horse is an individual, and will prefer slightly different management.
My old sec D barely grew a winter coat and was in a MW if the weather was even slightly less than ambient, big wuss! Mid november to Feb he would be in a HW out in the day and HW with a fleece under at night. Bless him, he ate a fibre diet, ad lib hay etc but am guessing his internal central heating didn't work as well as some horses.
Markie is fully clipped and resembled a yak by September. He's only in a lightweight as the weather is ridiculously mild but showery. If the showers stayed away he would be naked during the day and would still be warm as toast. Yesterday afternoon, no showers, sun shining and he was sweating under his mane.........it's now plaited!
After that rambling..........my answer to OP would be, it totally depends on the 'orse!
Am in similar position to you. Have natives but bring them in at night to keep stabled horse company. I didn't rug the Dartmoor last year and she was stabled at night. I won't be rugging the Welshie this year either.
when it got really cold at the beginning of the year with all the snow / ice I did keep a close eye on them and would have put a lw rug on at night if they were getting cold. Also kept a closer eye on them when it was wet / cold and would have considered a no fill turnout rug if they were feeling cold.
my 2 little natives are naked all the time, last winter they only wore a rug when it was minus 8 and still snowing. they are stabled every night but on a good clean bed so they 'snuggle' down and are always nice and toasty.