living out naked over winter?

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gemmahodgkinson

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Elly is hopefully going to the ET centre to be a recipient mare in March, and they have suggested she lives out naked over this winter to prepare her for when she goes to them and then on to whoever has a foal from her as she won't be rugged up, brought in every night etc.

Since I have had her (this is our third winter) she has been fully clipped and rugged up in winter and stayed in over night. Now she is an irish bred MW cob x so she is more than capable of living out, but I am dreading sitting cuddled up in front of the fire in december thinking of her stood naked in the field. There is plenty of shelter, she will have friends and the grazing is brilliant and the YO will go up and check her every day (YO has told me to wean myself off seeing her every day as I cried in the tack room the other day when I thought of her going, and she isn't going until March!) so it is just me being wet, but did anyone else find it hard doing their first winter of living out??
 
If she has proper shelter, then she'll be fine! I must admit, even with exmoors, I feel terribly guilty sitting with a hot choccie, thinking of them in a field, but I go up there in the storms and find the silly buggers out on the windiest bit of the hill, while their shelter (with deep shavings bed) is full of poo and a patch of pee-sodden shavings in the middle. Oh the joys of winter!!!
 
Irish bred MW cob with full winter coat and shelter. She will be fine as long as she has plenty of food and shelter.

I wintered out last year a 30 yo 3/4 TB, 1yo 1/2 TB and Welsh sec A naked and they were all fine. Their fields had nice thick high hedges (no field shelter) and they were given plenty of hay when the grass ran out.

In fact the 3/4 TB horse came out of winter in better condition than when he was stabled all winter.

HTH
 
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Irish bred MW cob with full winter coat and shelter. She will be fine as long as she has plenty of food and shelter.

I wintered out last year a 30 yo 3/4 TB, 1yo 1/2 TB and Welsh sec A naked and they were all fine. Their fields had nice thick high hedges (no field shelter) and they were given plenty of hay when the grass ran out.

In fact the 3/4 TB horse came out of winter in better condition than when he was stabled all winter.

HTH

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Agree with this. Our chaps thrive being out 365x24x7 and all look better than when we got them from homes where they were mollycoddled.

As long as there is food and shelter it's what nature intended.
 
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She's not naked! That's what hair is for, she'll be fine!

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^^ What she said ^^
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My Welsh lived out all winter a few years back, fully clipped (inc legs) with only a MW rug on and he was still fat at the end of the winter!

She won't care. Personally I'd stop grooming her so she retains the oils in her coat and leave her to it. She's got company and plenty to eat so she will be fine. Horses don't dissolve in the rain
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