Is it me or has everyone just lost the plot re rugging??

Working horses on my yard are rugged clipped and still live out 24/7 the field is fairly exposed as the grass is too long where the hedge is by now they are usually through the grass and on hay so can get under the hedges but I am still strip grazing towards it.The old girl is clipped and working os needs a rug she is in a mw the connie is ridden has no coat and is rugged in a mw with neck. I was fencing today and was tempted to let them both be naked for a while but as soon as the sun went behind a cloud it was bitterly cold The other two are like bears and are not rugged although the baby will need to be once she is brought back into work and is clipped
 
20 deg here at the weekend, mine were sweating after a careen around the field and the LY opposite had every horse in a full neck rug - NOT NECESSARY IN SUNSHINE AND HEAT ARGGHHHH
 
To be honest, I don't care what rugs people choose to put on,its none of my business.
Without knowing each individual horse, circumstance and life style how can you possibly comment!
Its minus two here tonight, I am currently wearing a fleece in bed and I'm not an cold person! My horses have been clipped three times already this year and I would rather not do a forth before Xmas. They are in a summer sheet, cooler type rug with a stable rug with a neck on. They feel just right to the touch.
In the field if its mild and dry they wear lightweights with summer sheets under, if its cold and wet they are in middle weights, both with necks. Two of them wear snuggy hoods in the field, reason?? My time is precious and I would rather be riding them than scraping mud off.
I don't ride or put my horses to bed dirty.
My 14.2hh fully clipped nf is in a middle weight with a neck, he too feels fine.
 
WelshD said:
I think the fact that I don't rug both ponies to the same level shows I have some common sense! if one needs it then he needs it, I refuse to leave him unrugged on the principle that he should be able to cope because of his breed.
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Absolutely! Our Section A now has a new thick rug on its way, whilst he's only out in a thin rain sheet at the moment to keep his back dry for the saddle, he will be being clipped when his new rug arrives and will be all snug, he is going to be showing and doing Trailblazers through the winter so leaving him woolly and getting sweaty isn't an option for me simply because of him being a native breed. Most breeds of Horses have evolved into and been bred to be domesticated animals and its all because if humans..... In the wild they would have all sorts of natural ways to stay warm which in a domesticated field and stable they can't do and they rely heavily on us to do it for them.
 
a lot of horses dont need rugging nor clipping. horses in light work , especially if living out can cope over the winter unclipped. mine are unclipped we get some sweating but they have a good roll when untacked and canter off across the field.
people rug for all sorts of reasons one is to keep the horse clean hacking with a muddy horse is fine just do what i do and clean off where the tack touches the horse eg head and saddle area and neck. dried sweat can be brushed off the next day . its what we used to do it was even in pony club manuals.
nowadays everyone seems to be afraid of peer pressure on livery yards, we have fat horses all winter and wonder why they get health problems later. horses are horses they are fine on dry cold unrugged to -15 degrees C .thats cold.
 
Undecided said:
My horse is at home under the care of a very good and very knowledgeable friend. My non horsey mother feels the need to tell them to put mediums on because it's a bit chillly and because she's cold, not the horse. Said horse is unclipped and on field rest with hay and hard feed... Winds me up but as I'm so far away I can't do much except whip them off once I'm home to stop him ripping them in half because he's clearly hot.
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Ad that encapsulates the problem to me. There are a lot of people, who consider themselves to be 'horsey', but who actually do not know enough about horses physiology to make sensible decisions about what to do to keep their horses comfortable. It would be rare that a healthy, not elderly, unclipped horse needs rugs, except possibly in the very worst weather in a field with little shelter. I certainly don't understand why people routinely put stable rugs on their unclipped horses. If horses are fed adequately on a fibre rich diet they keep themselves warm. The marketing departments of rug companies have a great deal to answer for.
 
Every one is different, and what suits one horse won't suit another. My horse is definetely colder at my new yard than my old one simply because his stable is on a corner so at night in his stable I am rugging him with a fleece and a light weight with a neck over the top. He is 17 and has gone really hairy this year. When I say really hairy I mean if I were to clip him I would probably get about a scoop ful of hair of him but this is a huge advance on previous years when I've not had to clip him at all although I ride four days a week and compete every weekend!

I am also giving him a hot feed in the evening with pony nuts and chaff to try to get more fibre in him and the hot feed will keep him warmer.

I am hoping to pick up a medium weight with neck this weekend at Your Horse Live so I don't have to layer. I think I may end up clipping him as if he does get very sweaty one night when I ride it will take ages for him to dry off but I don't really think his work load necessitates clipping so its difficult to know what to do.

People shouldn't criticise others for the way they look after their horses.
 
I really struggle with my two as before I had got them they were rugged up to the hilt my 24 year old welsh a is in a lightweight absolutely no fill because whilst he has got a bit chubby with living out whilst my baby is due he was just standing in a corner and looked completely miserable put this on and he is happier my welsh d i managed to keep him un rugged till last weekend when the weather turned he started to drop weight almost immediately so hoping that having this lightweight on may just keep that initial chill off and he will do well wintering out. Whilst on the livery yard before i turned them out i went down and they had put him in a medium weight he was sweating by 9 am but every time i took it off they put it on when i left so they got chucked out abit earlier than planned.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Ad that encapsulates the problem to me. There are a lot of people, who consider themselves to be 'horsey', but who actually do not know enough about horses physiology to make sensible decisions about what to do to keep their horses comfortable. It would be rare that a healthy, not elderly, unclipped horse needs rugs, except possibly in the very worst weather in a field with little shelter. I certainly don't understand why people routinely put stable rugs on their unclipped horses. If horses are fed adequately on a fibre rich diet they keep themselves warm. The marketing departments of rug companies have a great deal to answer for.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
this
brilliant reply couldnt agree more
 
Sorry but some people need to get a life! It's non of your business why I rug or clip my horse.
My last ponys winter coat was finer than most horse summer coat, last winter at one point he had 2 hw rugs on him and was not very warm at all. He obviously didn't get clipped.
My current lad grew a massive winter coat in mid September and was stood in his stable dripping with sweat! ( it's not a warm stable) so I've clipped him and he now has a 100g fill rug at night and naked during the day. He is on box rest due to injury. Even if he didn't grow an enormous coat and he was only in light work he would still be clipped and rugged as I don't have time in the evenings to wait for wet mud to dry before I ride (I don't mind muddy horses but mud in the saddle area or girth area causes sores). I have about an hour maybe an hour and a half in the evening with my horse, that includes mucking out etc.
 
MerrySherryRider said:
Yep, they've lost the plot. It's like a virus, on some yards everyone is afflicted while on others, the disease hasn't managed to take hold. We have a few crazies on our yard but generally, most people adopt a more common sense approach and rug thoughtfully.

It's also spread to the dog world. Remember when a dog rug was unheard of ? Nowadays bizarrely, I even see healthy looking collies wearing rugs. Perhaps the day will come when cows are rugged too :)
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my 'apparently healthy looking' collie is well rugged however she is 11 and severely arthritic - she doens't look her age at all and at the yard she doesn't act particularly stiff or sore but if she gets cold and wet then she gets very stiff and sore so she's got a rug collection to rival most horses - a rainsheet for wet but warmer weather, a fleece and a padded one for colder weather. Although I do have to make most of hers as have been unable to find ones that are long enough to cover her butt without swamping her everywhere else
 
In the "good old days" none of us kids rugged our ponies.

Mine never had a rug on him, or had a clip, throughout his life!!

In the winter I'd come home from school, drag him out the field, dandy-brush a space amongst all the mud for the saddle, bung the saddle on - and ride!! (frequently in the dark). I'd then chuck him back out again afterwards to roll and cover himself in mud (insulation) then keep moving to dry himself off.

He was never sick or sorry.

Other kids did the same. You'd never see ponies out in fields with a rug on; the only things that were, were TB's or hunters!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
In the "good old days" none of us kids rugged our ponies.

Mine never had a rug on him, or had a clip, throughout his life!!

In the winter I'd come home from school, drag him out the field, dandy-brush a space amongst all the mud for the saddle, bung the saddle on - and ride!! (frequently in the dark). I'd then chuck him back out again afterwards to roll and cover himself in mud (insulation) then keep moving to dry himself off.

He was never sick or sorry.

Other kids did the same. You'd never see ponies out in fields with a rug on; the only things that were, were TB's or hunters!
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I think we must be of the same era as my youth was spent in a similar way. My first pony was a Highland. I remember very well turning up at the yard after school one winter's afternoon to find him happily standing with an inch of snow on his back. His coat was doing its job and sullying his body from the elements. In reference to another post our ponies dropped weight n the winter and then picked up again in the spring.
 
Yawn, another rugging thread...as long as the horse is happy and healthy I'm not fussed how other people rug/don't rug. I know what works for mine and don't like to pass judgement on people/ horses I don't personally know....
 
I mind my own business. I own two horses and two rugs. There is weather which changes randomly. You may place bets as to what results from this combination of facts :)
 
My horse tries to nip me when I rug and its not just one attempt but all the time whilst putting the rug on - I've rugged him twice at the moment, both for selfish reasons - taking him to clinics the following day and not wanting him to get dirty. He's not a native but a sports horse and I should listen to him. So this winter, he won't be rugged.
 
Please don't shoot me down in flames but my three including a tb and polo pony ,have not been rugged yet! They do have access to a shelter, and plenty to eat.They have not melted yet. Although they are very muddy!
 
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