No fill turnouts for warmth?

H

Hayjay

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 January 2005
Messages
330
Visit site
I'm reading conflicting views on no fill turnouts. Mine are unrugged atm in field with plenty of grass and hedge shelter. As the nights get colder or if heavy rain they will be moved into fields with proper shelters and haynets. When I start to rug then the no fill would have been the first option but am frequently reading that they defeat the option for warmth as they flatten the coat? Would love to hear people's opinions :-)
 
I agree lightweights make them cold; they flatten down the hair so they can't warm themselves up, but they don't trap a layer of warmth etiher, so they're worse than nothing in cold weather. Try putting your hand under a lightweight and it will hardly ever feel warm (especially if the horse is cold).

I tried with my furry welshie one year - put a lightweight on thinking that was the best option in cold weather - nothing makes him shiver, but that did!

I use them for rain showers only, but other than that I just go straight to a 100gm, much simpler. If I didn't have a 100gm I'd just go straight to a medium weight - lightweights are next to useless really, especially as they don't even keep them warm in prolonged rain!
 
They are useful for keeping your horse dry only ....they provide no warmth except if it were pouring rain and blowing a gale.
 
I do use them overnight, but only if it's due to rain and temperatures are above 10 degrees. On chilly dry nights I use 100g.
 
I am currently using them at night - we have thick fog here until lunchtime most days - and both horses are warm under them. They are very different horses - one elderly ID who had dropped a bit of condition over summer but has moved on to better grazing, and one chunky younger cob who only wears it to keep him reasonably clean.

My thoughts are that their coats are quite short and both rugs are quite roomy so they are lofting under the rug. They are certainly warmer with than without at the moment. However, the key element is the better grazing. I'm a big believer in heating from the inside and it may be the fact that they move on to the better grazing at night that is keeping them warm.
 
Last edited:
My big wimpy tb is warm in a no-fill, but like moleskinsmum's horses, he has a thin coat and huge, pointy withers that suspend the rug in a tentlike fashion, which traps the air. Probably wouldn't work so well on the round, hairy beast but he won't be wearing one, even when he is clipped.
 
My 30 yr old mare currently wears hers over night as she is generally a warm horse but has been feeling the cold recently when its rained!

If it rains she will wear a medium weight but if its dry she has her no fill on, I take it off at 7.30 every morning and she feels very toasty under it!! I was considering putting her medium on but she feels warm enough at the moment, so she can stay in that until it gets colder!

I agree that they are pretty useless when its heavy rain but mine seems to working well at the moment! (she has a very thick coat due to her breed and probably because of her cushings, though its not as thick as it once was)
 
I'd say it depends entirely on the individual. You couldn't flatten my hairy pony's coat if you tried, and a light rain sheet certainly won't, withers or no. He's spent the last year (with a blanket clip) out 24/7 either naked or with just a no fill sheet and hasn't been cold. On most horses, a light rain sheet won't flatten the coat entirely and still allow it to trap air for insulation. It'll definitely be warmer than being out in wind/rain without a rug, in which case the ability of the coat to insulate will definitely be compromised. I'd start with a no-fill rug and see how it goes. If your horse is too cold, you'll soon know and can add a liner/upgrade to a filled rug.
 
They have their place, great for keeping them clean and dry when it's not really cold but not ideal for full winter use, they won't offer warmth and they will leak, the fact that they are thin means heavy or prolonged rain will go through. I have a lightweight on my TB overnight ATM, it is the sort with a sweat rug lining so does trap a bit of air and it is just enough ATM. Would I bother putting one on my hairy natives over the winter? No, they either go without or have a 100g on if they're being ridden regularly and need to be kept a bit cleaner.
 
I used to think they were fine until I rode out on exposed moorland in wind and rain in a no fill rain jacket and I was frozen. From then on in those conditions I wore a light Puffa jacket underneath. I still use a no fill turnout in wet weather but when cold and winds are added to the mix I used a 100g turnout.
 
I only tend to use them in the Autumn when they haven't yet got their Winter coats, so there is no coat to flatten.
On my rugged ones, they would have a standard neck rainsheet for cool nights and windy days, and their full-neck rainsheets for showery days. This prevents the leaky shoulder issue on the standard necks.
Wet Autumn nights or persistent rain, they have 100g- brilliant rugs.
 
MissMistletoe said:
I only tend to use them in the Autumn when they haven't yet got their Winter coats, so there is no coat to flatten.
On my rugged ones, they would have a standard neck rainsheet for cool nights and windy days, and their full-neck rainsheets for showery days. This prevents the leaky shoulder issue on the standard necks.
Wet Autumn nights or persistent rain, they have 100g- brilliant rugs.
Click to expand...

My LW 1200 Dernier, no fill amigo turnouts do add some warmth to my older horse, who has no winter coat yet, in the daytime (excepting the current Surrey sunny heat spell where no one needs a rug). They keep the rain and the wind off. If I wore a coat of the same thickness as the rug, I would be warmer than if I wore a sleeveless teeshirt. Over night he's wearing a 100gm stable rug.

Though a no fill T/O wouldnt do a lot if temperatures really dropped. But at the moment in the daytime, it is too warm for 100gm rug. But my older horse is a bit chilly with nothing. I can feel clearly he is warmer in the no fill rug. Occasionally bit too warm in the middle of the day, but good first / last thing, which does show it makes him warmer!
 
Natives grow a two layer coat with a waterproof outer layer and an insulating undercoat. In this case putting a rug on will interfere with how the coat is designed to work and defeat the object.

However my tbs don't get this sort of coat even in the depths of winter and at the moment have something that looks like most horses' summer coats. If it rains it goes straight through to the skin and they will get really cold so i find no fills useful for this. They go out at night and the last few weeks we have had rain overnight sometimes when not forecast.
 
All of mine are in no fills .
I completely disagree that they make all horses colder .
There's may be a argument that thick coated horses may be warmer in dry weather without.
But my horses are washed regularily all but one are fine coated types and they are warmer at night with no fills on which stops them being wet if it rains and gives them protection from the wind .
Do what suits your horse and your situation .
 
I also disagree that they make a horse colder. My horses rarely have more than a no fill on during the winter months and are always warm. I've also never had a no fill that has leaked, even in persistent heavy rain.
 
Bertolie said:
I also disagree that they make a horse colder. My horses rarely have more than a no fill on during the winter months and are always warm. I've also never had a no fill that has leaked, even in persistent heavy rain.
Click to expand...
Same here. I've got a number of Rambo no fills, and have had Rhino no fills before this going back many years, and have never had a horse made colder by wearing one. They don't leak, either.
 
My mares move onto MW and HW rugs in the winter as one is clipped and one is a TB with little coat.

The childs pony however grows a thick fluffy coat, and gets hot in anything heavier than a no fill (previously had an amigo, has a PE rug this year)...

I think they're great for him :)

Fiona
 
I think they're good for keeping them dry and, for some, keeping them dry is the key to keeping them warm.

One of mine has an incredibly dense coat. It doesn't appear thick as it lies very flat, but it is. If he gets wet through, his coat holds the water so much he can be shivering on even a fairly warm day. He can cope with cold temperatures, but he can't cope with being wet even in relatively warm conditions.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone. I agree each horse is very different. My mare is very different this year to last - she came to me very poor and really felt the cold. Now she is well covered and still out 24/7. She feels warm when I check her at 9pm and also at 7am :-)
 
We have it quite windy up here so I'd say yes it definely keeps the bitter cold wind off them and the rain for that matter but yes it also does flatten hair. I suppose it's all down to people's preference, I'd rather not wait hours for my boy to dry- it's not like UK weather is predictable :)
 
Absolutely, the old TB has a thickish coat due to cushings, if he gets wet, he stays wet then he gets cold. I'm using a 50g Amigo rug on him when it's wet, it keeps him dry and warm, anything thicker and he'd be too hot. I'll clip him at some point as it's really difficult to keep him at an optimum temp when he's got his full winter coat. It's much better to rug him according to the weather.
annagain said:
I think they're good for keeping them dry and, for some, keeping them dry is the key to keeping them warm.

One of mine has an incredibly dense coat. It doesn't appear thick as it lies very flat, but it is. If he gets wet through, his coat holds the water so much he can be shivering on even a fairly warm day. He can cope with cold temperatures, but he can't cope with being wet even in relatively warm conditions.
Click to expand...
 
Hayjay said:
I'm reading conflicting views on no fill turnouts. Mine are unrugged atm in field with plenty of grass and hedge shelter. As the nights get colder or if heavy rain they will be moved into fields with proper shelters and haynets. When I start to rug then the no fill would have been the first option but am frequently reading that they defeat the option for warmth as they flatten the coat? Would love to hear people's opinions :-)
Click to expand...
I have thrown away my no fills as find that they aren't waterproof and I think that they flatten hair so stop it fluffing to trap air and warmth. My retired mare has no rug as grows so much hair that she resembles a woolly mammoth. My ridden mare has chaser clip so has 50g 1200d swish rug which is fully waterproof, on at night and naked in day.
 
I've also never had a no-fill leak on me, and it definitely adds warmth for my horse.

They do trap some air, and they significantly reduce heat loss from wind and rain. I suppose a very tightly fitting one on a still, dry, very cold day might make a horse colder than wearing no rug at all - but I have yet to see it happen.

Mine is a Shires, for reference!
 
This plus I think if there is a wind it does keep the worst chill off them
moleskinsmum said:
I am currently using them at night - we have thick fog here until lunchtime most days - and both horses are warm under them. They are very different horses - one elderly ID who had dropped a bit of condition over summer but has moved on to better grazing, and one chunky younger cob who only wears it to keep him reasonably clean.

My thoughts are that their coats are quite short and both rugs are quite roomy so they are lofting under the rug. They are certainly warmer with than without at the moment. However, the key element is the better grazing. I'm a big believer in heating from the inside and it may be the fact that they move on to the better grazing at night that is keeping them warm.
Click to expand...
 
No-fills are great for preventing rain scald on a horse living out 24 x 7. My retiree has one on; is never cold, the rug doesn't leak and now he doesn't get rain scald either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top