Out 24/7 advice

[Girlie1998]

This is the first year I have kept a horse out. There is plenty of grass and been feeding twice daily. I currently have her medium rug on but wondering if I should change to heavy weight. Any hints or tips much appreciated. I feel bad but she is far happier out.

 

[Wagtail]

The unclipped ones out 24/7 here are in either medium light rugs or medium rugs. Is she clipped? You have to ask if you put a heavyweight on now, what will you doo when it gets really cold?

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Hard to say without knowing more about your horse and where you're based but wouldn't think it's time for a heavyweight rug just yet else what will you do when winter really hits?

My boy is out 24/7 and still isn't in a rug yet and has no hard feed but he's a LW irish cob and lives off thin air. If and when I clip him he'll be rugged in no more than a MW rug. If it gets seriously wet he'll be in a LW no fill but only to ensure I don't have to scrape off a ton of mud before I ride.

 

[soulfull]

If she is not clipped and healthy I would only be using a 40g daytime and 100g overnight. It's not really cold yet!

 

[Girlie1998]

Thanks, I was thinking that. I just feel bad as the wind and rain has been so bad. We are in scotland lol so she should be used to the weather. she is in her late teens and a tbx Warmblood so she doesn't get a great winter coat. Think I will keep her in medium until the temp drops.

 

[hihosilver]

My horse is in Scotland and has just been clipped. He was in a middleweight but was freezing. He is now in a very heavy rug 500g and is warm but not hot. Scotland is so much colder and there have been frosts. In the south east it is so so much warmer!! so it all depends if the horse is warm or cold.

 

[Jo1987]

I feel like a bad mum now, my cob has a full clip and is out 24/7 in a rain sheet! I keep trying to put his 100g on but after 10 mins he's sweating!

 

[Brightbay]

Our herd at the moment has a TBxID, a Warmblood, a Clydesdale cross, a NewForestxTB and a Section A. The Section A is naked, the Warmblood is wearing a LW, and the Clydie and my Irish boy are wearing rainsheets until tomorrow morning when the rain clears, when they will be naked again. They all live out 24/7 on a Scottish hillside with natural shelter, and none are clipped. My Irish boy doesn't own a rug heavier than 100g - he has lived out happily through the winters of 2010 and 2011 in -17 with no rug and comes into every spring just a bit on the too fat side for my liking. We rug or increase rug fill if (a) rain is heavy, persistent and/or accompanied by strong winds, (b) if a horse is cold or (c) if a horse is losing weight.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I feel like a bad mum now, my cob has a full clip and is out 24/7 in a rain sheet! I keep trying to put his 100g on but after 10 mins he's sweating!

Don't worry, I felt bad when I read others were already in a MW whilst mine is still out naked but I figure he seems warm enough and with the changeable weather (we're still getting highs of 18) I'd rather he had to move more to keep warm than was trapped in a rug getting too hot. At the end of the day I'd rather rug for a horse's individual needs than worry about what others are doing with their horses.

 

[L&M]

My fully clipped cob is out 24/7 in just a l/w with a neck cover - there is plenty of grass so have given up putting out hay as he is not interested yet. He is just getting one small chaff based hard feed a day but is a good doer.

But we are in the midlands, and it has been 15c today!

Tbh I would hold out on the h/w until the weather gets worse, or you will run out of options as it gets colder.

This is also my first year of leaving out 24/7 so am expecting a steep learning curve!!

 

[HollyWoozle]

Ours live out all year and are naked at present. Personally I think it's bonkers to have an unclipped horse out in a heavyweight already... what will they wear when it's really cold? And when the wind drops and the sun comes out it feels a lot warmer and horses can't undress themselves when too hot! Having said that I appreciate that different horses cope differently with the weather. The more time goes on, the more I'm going off the idea of rugging completely actually! We do have good shelter though and that makes a real difference of course.

ETA: our horses are WB x ISH, Appaloosa, Welsh pony and a Shettie.

 

[mandwhy]

My haffy and Welsh are out with no rugs but what you are doing sounds about right for your type of horse and conditions. I would probabky delay putting the heavy on for a while, I always think the weather is so much worse after Christmas and I often wonder why I bothered rugging bar the occasional cold wet nights.

 

[Slave2Magic]

This is the first year that my arab has been out 24/7. She has access to shelter and is in a rainsheet for now as it hasn't been cold. My ID cross is naked as he has a coat like a yak

 

[flirtygerty]

My 20yr old TB, a poor doer is still out 24/7 unrugged, he wore a rain sheet one night when we had wind and rain, with a drop in temp, he is the only one of mine that gets rugged, I have a 20yr old WB, a 4yr old cob and an 11yr old trotter x, they all prefer being out

 

[twiggy2]

I have 2 naked at work, both out of work till spring due to injury living out full time, one is on grass only the other is on grass and ad lib hay both are maintaining weight, one shetland out at night on yrd during day in bald paddock so on soaked hay 9lb in 24hrs maintaining weight, one fully clipped out in heavy weight with neck at night (he is too hot but I don't rug at night boss does so I can't control that0 mediukm with neck during day he has one haynet am and one pm and a hard feed.

my mare hunter clipped has been wearing medium weight with no neck till yesterday when she was cold now has medium weight with neck strip grazed at night in for a few hours and some hay each day- maintaining weight.

thye rae all different but a heavy weight on a horse with out a clip and with plenty of grass sounds like too much to me wait till temperature really drops-over rugging now will reduce coat growth that will keep her warmer later in the winter