my pony is shivering

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horseymummy

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My pony is shivering. I went down to check on her this morning and she is stood out in the rain shivering. Ordinarily She would have a lightweigth turnout on but she is currently on a weight loss program and wasnt losing weight. She went footy in the spring and the vet said this was a early warning signal for Lami. My vet said part of the problem is that I molly coddle her by putting rugs on when she doesnt need them or bringing her in when its cold or wet. He said that she would use some of her fat to keep warm if allowed to. I have now cut all feed and she is in a bare paddock with ad lib soaked hay, she is lunged or briskly walked for 25mins a day. I feel so cruel that she is out shivering - she does have access to her stable but she is chosing not to use it!!!
Do you think she will be ok?
 
horseymummy said:
My pony is shivering. I went down to check on her this morning and she is stood out in the rain shivering. Ordinarily She would have a lightweigth turnout on but she is currently on a weight loss program and wasnt losing weight. She went footy in the spring and the vet said this was a early warning signal for Lami. My vet said part of the problem is that I molly coddle her by putting rugs on when she doesnt need them or bringing her in when its cold or wet. He said that she would use some of her fat to keep warm if allowed to. I have now cut all feed and she is in a bare paddock with ad lib soaked hay, she is lunged or briskly walked for 25mins a day. I feel so cruel that she is out shivering - she does have access to her stable but she is chosing not to use it!!!
Do you think she will be ok?
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I think it depends on her age and general health, but a shivering horse is a cold horse in my book, she does have access to a stable, so is choosing to stay out in it :D dry off and put a l/w on of youre worried
 
She will be absolutely fine, horses shiver to keep warm. If she wasn't happy she would go inside.
Your vet is right!
I'm sure you don't want her to have another bout of laminitis.
 
Nah think your mare will be fine- she's got a stable/shelter to go in anyways.... :) horses and ponies in the wild aren't rugged at all...
 
I bought my cob and NF in for a few hours today to dry off and have resorted to chucking their LWs on as the rain is constant and as they're on restricted grazing and their hedges don't seem to offer a great deal of shelter .
 
Pearlsasinger said:
She will be absolutely fine, horses shiver to keep warm. If she wasn't happy she would go inside.
Your vet is right!
I'm sure you don't want her to have another bout of laminitis.
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^^This. In fact horses have a 'special' muscular mechanism/layer which has evolved to do 2 things 1)twitch at flies and 2)shivver to keep warm. Most horses these days rarely get to exercise these muscles because of rugs and fly sheets.

I think your vet sounds bloomin marvellous,lucky you!
 
AbbeyandApache1 said:
Nah think your mare will be fine- she's got a stable/shelter to go in anyways.... :) horses and ponies in the wild aren't rugged at all...
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they aren't but they aren't clipped out or groomed either, which can remove the natural oils which help them to keep their skin dry. I personally can't see my horses shiver and would rather bring them in to give them a break - I know we haven't had much rain for a prolonged period, but like us, it must be hard for them to keep acclimatising against the excessive heat and then much cooler wet weather.
 
Pony will be absolutely fine - in fact the shivering will make him lose a few extra pounds. Please don't rug at this time of year.
 
My 26yr old fully clipped 'Cushings' Shetland has just come in (been wearing his Amigo no fill rug) shivering his socks off.
He is stabled at night all year round (helps manage his weight, and he hates being separated from his warmblood field buddy) but now has the addition of a fleece rug to warm him up.
And for the anti rug die hard arm chair experts, i respectfully ask that you keep comments polite and none judgemental - he's my pony and I will keep him how I like, so please refrain from starting world war 3.
He is not kept as nature designed, but this is to manage old age, routine alongside a horse, and Cushings (hence the full clip). When he was younger he lived out 24/7 au naturel.
He does look the picture of health and really rather cute. OP, you know your horse, you know your weather forecast, so no-one but you is really in a position to judge whether tomrug or not... Ie if was going to be torrential and windy, then I'd rug, but if it's dying off and is going to ease off then no brainer.
My pony has caught a chill I the last and been quite depressed so we tend to err on the side of caution at his age.
 
TBH I would put a lightweight on to ensure pony is dry. Unless there is really loads of natural oil in the coat. Stress can bring on laminitis and I wouldn't be happy with my pony shivering for hours. Also you should ensure it is proper shivering and not muscle tremor due to illness.
Obviously your pony and do what you feel is right, only you know your pony.
 
I am anti-rug for fit healthy ponies. But the older ponies and those with weight or illness problems need some help. We have a strange pony on our yard, her coat has no waterproofing whatsoever, it is an odd texture and the poor little mite shivers all the time, even in a shower.. she needs a rug. But my two? No way, they can shiver off a few pounds each and be better for it!!
 
Horses can actually get hypothermia so I don't like to see one shivering. My 13yo TB was shivering this morning in a MW. They all got to come in for a few hours today. Mine are also on restricted grazing but in great weight for once.

I don't use anything heavier than a med, even in winter, unless clipped. Unfortunately when a horse is down to they're little summer coats enjoying warm weather, this type of weather hits them a bit hard. Sort of like I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy in my bikini right now but last week, no problem!

As a rule I try to never over rug. Actually I don't over rug and I don't use fly sheets. But common sense says in dramatic weather changes if they need comfort so be it. Last I checked I didn't have a herd of wild horses. Wild horses seem to suffer laminitis too or did we forget that. No one to pen them off when the flushes of grass come. Some starve at hard times, some get eaten, most don't live as long as they could. I really hate the wild horse card being trotted out when it suits. Next time one of mine gets sick or hurt maybe I should save my money and say, "well in the wild horses don't have vets". No thanks, if they're cold they can get rugged.

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Horses can actually get hypothermia so I don't like to see one shivering. My 13yo TB was shivering this morning in a MW. They all got to come in for a few hours today. Mine are also on restricted grazing but in great weight for once.

I don't use anything heavier than a med, even in winter, unless clipped. Unfortunately when a horse is down to they're little summer coats enjoying warm weather, this type of weather hits them a bit hard. Sort of like I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy in my bikini right now but last week, no problem!

As a rule I try to never over rug. Actually I don't over rug and I don't use fly sheets. But common sense says in dramatic weather changes if they need comfort so be it. Last I checked I didn't have a herd of wild horses. Wild horses seem to suffer laminitis too or did we forget that. No one to pen them off when the flushes of grass come. Some starve at hard times, some get eaten, most don't live as long as they could. I really hate the wild horse card being trotted out when it suits. Next time one of mine gets sick or hurt maybe I should save my money and say, "well in the wild horses don't have vets". No thanks, if they're cold they can get rugged.

Terri
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Absolutely agree 100%!
 
I would never leave a horse shivering, warmth is just as important as other basic needs such as food and water! It is vital horses do need get too cold or hot for their bodys to function properly and if they are shivering then its a warning sign that their core temperature is at risk of dropping too low. However horses as animals have evolved to have a high tolerance of the cold and with the normal temperature of around 37.5°C the horse can usually tolerate a fluctuation of up to 3°C either way (although not ideal) but of course that varies for individuals and at this point it is getting quite serious !

My pony was also shivering this morning after being left out unrugged, her and her friend were both stood in the middle of the field shivering despite having a woodland section and a shelter- she cantered over to me to be brought in (as she always does when its raining) and jogged all the way to her stable! So she did want to be inside but is as thick as a brick and can't logic that she'd be warmer in the field shelter... but the poor thing was left out all night shivering :p !! I have raynaud's myself so I am quite sympathetic of the cold :o
 
Every June I have to rug up a shivering pony at least once in the month!

It caught me out today as they are out 24/7 naked at last and this morning loan pony's owner came to visit to find her boy wet and chilly - typical! Brought them all in to dry with thermatexs and a Haynet and turfed them out later in lightweights. Earlier this week they were sweating in the field!

Don't you just love the British weather!
 
We went to the racing last night and it was absolutely freezing - people were walking round wrapped in blankets. So on the way home, I decided to check on my two. The 3 year old hates rugs so I rarely ever rug her, but the TB seemed warm under her no fill turnout. Got there at 6.30am to find her huddled by the hedge shivering. So she's spent the day in her stable filling up on haylage and warming up and tonight has gone out in a 100g fill rug to keep her a bit warmer.....June? More like October up here!
 
Just brought in one shivering tb and one soggy Spaniard. They both dragged us to the stables & i put their fleeces on. Mind you, we were wearing fleeces and winter coats too! House is cold too! Daft thing is they lived out all winter, well rugged. Oh well, nothing beats the great British weather!:rolleyes:
 
horseymummy said:
My pony is shivering. I went down to check on her this morning and she is stood out in the rain shivering. Ordinarily She would have a lightweigth turnout on but she is currently on a weight loss program and wasnt losing weight. She went footy in the spring and the vet said this was a early warning signal for Lami. My vet said part of the problem is that I molly coddle her by putting rugs on when she doesnt need them or bringing her in when its cold or wet. He said that she would use some of her fat to keep warm if allowed to. I have now cut all feed and she is in a bare paddock with ad lib soaked hay, she is lunged or briskly walked for 25mins a day. I feel so cruel that she is out shivering - she does have access to her stable but she is chosing not to use it!!!
Do you think she will be ok?
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If she is shivering it will help with her weight loss.
 
There is no doubt leaving an animal or human shivering will help with weight loss but the humane way to do it is by exercise and proper diet. I agree you should not over rug but letting a horse stay shivering to lose weight is wrong
 
Ah I'm reading this and so confused! I made my mind up not to rug my girl. The rain here hasn't been too bad not constant and I saw its meant to jus be cloudy overnight so left her rug less and now I'm questioning my decision! Lol! hope she will b ok!
 
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