Naked horses: Am I being soft?

Am I being soft?

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Silverspring

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To set the scene, woman at yard is leaving horse naked this evening, I think she is a bit crazy! Here are the facts:

1) Horses are in starvation paddock though he is not overweight (just can get fat if allowed too much grass)
2) Paddock has no shelter what so ever, it's in the middle of a field, no hedge, no wall, no trees, no shelter.
3) Field is on the side of a hill.
4) There was ice on the top of the water buckets this morning.
5) He is a Welsh Cob (or a Section D to me ;))
6) He was last clipped at the end of February.
7) He was bathed on Saturday and is regularly bathed at least every other week.

So am I being soft or would a light weight rug do him no harm? There is someone to take them off in the morning so it would just be for the night.
 
If he can get fat easily then I see no harm, however if he's been clipped.. What sort of clip? Personally, if the weather is like it has been here for the last couple of days, I would just stick a rain sheet on him. Here it has been very rainy, with hail and a mass of mud.. xx
 
I think the horse should have a rug on. People are to quick to put the rugs away once sun comes out but the temperature is still dropping through the night. I had to scrape my car this morning it was that cold. Until I see the temperatures coming up at night my horse is keeping rug on at night and she is stabled to.
 
There would be no harm in replacing the clipped hair with a rain sheet for the night, especially if it's just been bathed.

I do get annoyed by obese natives living in rugs all year tho.
 
yes you are being soft!

he is a good weight and was clipped over 2 months ago.

it wouldn't do him any harm to have a rainsheet on but equally it won't do him any harm to be naked.
 
I would personally have a rainsheet on him, but certainly wouldn't be aghast at him being naked.
 
one of mine lives out at the mo and although there is some natural shelter she likes to stand in the rain so a raincoat is a must for me - i doesnt do them any harm to wear one and it must be nicer for them.
 
Well I wasn't aghast ;) just felt she was being a touch harsh as the temperature dropped below zero last night. She claims he has his fully summer coat in but I think he still has clip line, he was fully clipped out and his legs are slightly darker than the rest of his body.

Her argument for not putting a rainsheet on (which I can understand slightly) is that they do tend to soak through and he's better without rather than wearing a soaking rug. He can be a fatty but is probably condition scoring a 3/4 right now, slightly over but for his breed probably about right.
 
Horses managed once upon a time without rugs etc so yeah I think you're being soft, he was clipped two months ago and its not going to hurt him to be without a rug. at my yard all the horses are naked and have been for a week or so.
 
I wouldnt have a massive issue with it, but saying that although my Warmblood has been naked 24/7 the last couple of weeks, i did bring her in last night cause of the rain and have left her out tonight with a lightweight on....and a ton of haylege. She is at the right weight at the moment but wouldnt want her any leaner.....most at my yard are naked except another sec D clipped in feb (in a lightweight tonight) and a slightly under weight oldenburg that Yo is trying to put wome weight on who has come in and been rugged.I've been out at a show all day today and the wind is really cold, add in a rain shower and i worried my poor girly would be a bit chilly!!
 
No. I live in the North East and my horses are still rugged up day and night.
My mare who is due to foal at the end of june is still wearing 2 at night and depending on the weather varies from a full neck mw mt turnout or a fly rug with a medium amigo to on top during the day.
Being a pure bred arab she really feels the cold and I have had enough problems with her holding weight this winter without letting her freeze. She will be rugged up all summer if necessary and foal will be able to drink perfectly well. My OH works nights and at 1am this morning it was snowing and was -1oc! My pony is down to a lightweight though but he does still have a good winter coat on him.
I wouldnt let any horse freeze in order to loose a bit of weight.
 
He is certainly better off without a wet through rug. Quite often rain-sheets are self-defeating because they stop the ability to stand the hair on end to keep warm. I must admit that I would be happier with this scenario if there was some shelter for the horse but many prefer not to stand in shelter. Unless he is in poor condition (which doesn't seem to be the case) he will be fine.
 
I'd feel a bit sorry for him, if he was fully clipped in feb. I rug my old mare all year round, as when i got her two years ago, she was destroyed with rain scald, because of the "lovely" rainy summer we had. I clipped her fully this winter and have only just changed her into her summer sheet. Those summer sheets are cheap as chips, I's stick one on him, even if it's only for a few weeks!!!
 
blueneonrainbow said:
Horses managed once upon a time without rugs etc so yeah I think you're being soft, he was clipped two months ago and its not going to hurt him to be without a rug. at my yard all the horses are naked and have been for a week or so.
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Yes but when they managed once upon a time they could find shelter if needed and hadn't been clipped. This horse is being controlled by people, he cannot find shelter, he is stuck in the field we put him in without any natural or man made shelter. He also doesn't have a natural coat or any grease since he has been clipped and bathed. I'm all for horse's living wild if they have shelter and greasy coats but we take responsibilty for them the moment we start temperaing with the natural way of life.
 
I would be more worried about rain than cold - if it's going to rain with having been bathed so much, the bathing takes out their natural waterproofing oils. Our NF is naked 24/7, and has now shed most of his winter coat. We do have a field shelter but he's just as likely to stand in the rain, which runs off him nicely, he's not often bathed. When it's cold he just fluffs up his coat, and when it's frosty the frost just sticks to his mane he's that well insulated he had an inch and a half of snow on top when I went out one morning.
 
I must admit I have struggled with this one. My two connies are now naked but neither of them are clipped and although they are out and about they can come in to two very sheltered barns with straw and haylage. They both seem happier without rugs and when I waiver and go to put rugs on at night they both object so I take a lead from them as when they feel cold they always come in for rugs on. Neither feels cold and both are good weights and seem happy. Having said that I do worry a bit when the temperature drops a bit.
 
flaxen said:
No. I live in the North East and my horses are still rugged up day and night.
My mare who is due to foal at the end of june is still wearing 2 at night and depending on the weather varies from a full neck mw mt turnout or a fly rug with a medium amigo to on top during the day.
Being a pure bred arab she really feels the cold and I have had enough problems with her holding weight this winter without letting her freeze. She will be rugged up all summer if necessary and foal will be able to drink perfectly well. My OH works nights and at 1am this morning it was snowing and was -1oc! My pony is down to a lightweight though but he does still have a good winter coat on him.
I wouldnt let any horse freeze in order to loose a bit of weight.
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Yikes. She won't be wearing a rug when foaling will she? I heard of an arab foal that got strangled by surcingles.
 
I think you are being a bit soft. Mine have both been unrugged all winter and been out 24/7. My mare was rugged at night when it snowed and but my colt was unrugged apart from a couple of nights when there was driving snow and gale forced winds and the temp fell to minus 20 :eek:

They are natives and have weathered the winter quite well.

Horses don't feel the cold the same as we do and I think we overrug.
 
Well if the horse is a condition score 3/4 then it needs to loose a bit of weight going into the spring. My Welsh has been rugless for a while now and yesterday I did worry because we had periods of lashing rain and a bitter wind so I went to check him and he was stood in the middle of the field dozing...even though he has a field shelter to use. He was warm all over, base of ears etc and not in the least bothered...even though I would class him as a wimp when it comes to weather.
It depends on the horse but we all make mistakes and get it wrong at times so I guess if the lady finds her horse cold the next day, she will get the rain sheet out.
 
In normal circumstances I'd say there would be absolutely no reason to rug this horse. HOWEVER, with no waterproofing oils, no shelter and on the side of a hill (and I know how cold those winds are) I would be rugging him - and I am certainly not one for overrugging... the more natural the better in my opinion.
 
Well it was really bitter here in Suffolk with overnight temps dipping to 3 degrees with a strong wind and rain so I rugged both mine out 24/7 in rainsheets. If this was December I probably would have had them in MW at least. Admittedly the rainsheets came off in the morning.

So no I dont think you are being soft for being concerned but he was fine no doubt. I try and let my connie x who is a little overweight go without rugs a bit more so that she uses her reserve fat to keep her warm a bit more but my skinny TB definitely needs a rug as he was cold and does drop weight when cold.
 
ihatework said:
I would personally have a rainsheet on him, but certainly wouldn't be aghast at him being naked.
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I agree - the nights are so much shorter now it is no big deal for a native to be unrugged. It is her horse, so I guess she knows him best.
 
Ha - you've pretty much described exactly what I did to my horse yesterday!

HW cob, not overweight but gains weight easily, clipped end of January, in a smaller paddock to control his weight, no shelter.

He had a rainsheet on yesterday but was roasting underneath it and since I know he's a hot horse I made the decision to remove the rug and leave him out naked all day and overnight - I'm 100% sure he's fine.

I know my horse well enough to make decisions about rugging etc - I assume this horses owner also knows their horse better than you.

I think you are being too soft -it is easier for a horse to keep warm thank cool down - wont have done it any harm IMO.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
i dont think you're soft....mine have been in MW combos last 2 days, in the day!
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Mine to! But they aren't natives I suppose!
I would have a decent lw on him if it was me. If her rugs get soaked through then she needs new ones...what would be the point of any of us rugging if all of the rugs just got the horse wetter :confused: lol
With no shelter and in a small paddock its all very well leaving him 'natural' but he has no choice about whether or not to take shelter...or go find more food, so it's not fair IMO.
 
Just realised that you are talking about someone elses horse...

If you were talking about your own horse then I would say you were being a soft but caring owner. As the horse isn't yours I would simply say you are being a busy body *now runs and hides*
 
Babybear said:
HW cob, not overweight but gains weight easily, clipped end of January, in a smaller paddock to control his weight, no shelter.
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You are missing bathed 2 days ago so no grease in coat which surely, given the recent downpours, is quite a significant factor? I'm sure she does know her horse better than me and I'm sure he won't die from the cold, I just think it's a tad harsh.

I pointed this out to her and I discussed all the facts I thought went towards putting a light rug on him, she wasn't convinced which is fair enough. Just made me wonder if I was being far too soft or if she was maybe being a bit too tough, the poll seems to be split 50/50 so noone was right :)

For what it's worth my native got a chill from standing out without a rug in the middle of summer with only a little shelter and no much to eat. Vet had it down to him being wet, then dry and warm, then wet and cold, then dry and warm on and off for a good few days. He stopped eating and we found him colicing...from then on I've been a bit precious about keeping them dry at the very least. He had a full summer coat and was pretty greasy but vet said he was seeing it all summer, horse's getting a chill due to heavy downpours then sun splitting the sky 2 seconds later. :s
 
Vizslak said:
I would have a decent lw on him if it was me. If her rugs get soaked through then she needs new ones... lol
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Disagree here I'm afraid. Alot of lw's tend to be ok in showers but anything heavier and they are no good.

I'm with Inky_and_sunny here............and screw running and hiding, it's simply an opinion ;)
 
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