people with horses out 24/7 - weather and rugs

Firehorse

Firehorse

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do u obsess with watching the weather forecasts, to decided how to rug?

my boy has done very well during the snow, but now, he's been shivering in this wind and rain. so i watch the weather to decide if he needs his combo rug on. however, i was working yesterday and didnt know the weather was gonna be so bad and he didnt hve his combo on. i went down this morning and he was shivering his toes off. i felt so guilty, thinking he mustve been cold all night. (he had a mediumwight rug on) now he's rugged up to the ears, its stopped raining and looks like it'll be dry now. grrr. i must make a point of checking forecasts!!
 
Nope.

I do look at the forecast (but it's more accurate to actually stick my head out of the door) but it makes no difference as to what rugs the horses wear. A mare and a weanling have MW's everything else is fat and unrugged, won't hurt them to use some blubber to keep warm. They have shelters if they choose to use them then they can.

I do have the advantage that the horses are on my doorstep and I can check on them all the time, if one looks cold then of course I do something about it though.
 
Most of mine are unrugged but I do rug Benji through winter cos otherwise he'll shrink
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He has a light/mediumweight and thats it. He is unclipped so it's really just to keep him from getting wet. I whip it off whenever I can though, like today, so do have to watch out for the weather so I can get it back on before it rains as he lives out.
 
Did you feel under his rug before you changed for a heavier one? Only mine didn't look too happy today in their MW rugs, but when I put my hands inside, they were toasty and dry. Their extremities were chilly, but I can't cover those bits up. I just make sure they have plenty of forage, that helps to keep them warm, I don't think there is any more I can do. Unfortunately, a bit of shivering is nature's way of keeping them warm.
 
he was cold under his rug too and a lot of rain had gone down his neck. not very happy with the rug i bought before xmas. crud fit and has slots for the surcingles to go thru, the rain jst pours in there and soaks into his sides. it wasnt particularly cheap either. i've jst ordered a new Jhl one with a separate neck cover,which i thought wud be more useful thn his combo. he's quite thin skinned and hasnt grown much coat. he's never lived out 24/7 before. altho he hasnt lost much weight, the weight tape makes him about 10kg less than he was at xmas. he looks jst right to me now, thinking that not long the grass will be coming thru thick and fast.

ooh, they're such a worry.
 
If he feels the cold I would just leave his combo on. Mine's had his on since december. He's a TBX and quite thin skinned but he's always warm and dry under his. I'm careful not to overrug, I hate horses sweltering under a load of rugs but I think at this time of year you should be ok to leave the combo on most of the time.
 
Yep, if he was cold under the other rug, you needed to do something about it. It's very tricky at the moment, roll on spring!!
 
Its horrid when you find them shivering isn't it?
Mine only shiver when they run out of hay in the night. Once they have a few mouthfuls they stop. Generally, I think warmth comes from within although if your rug is ill fitting and he is getting wet underneath that would explain it.
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When I lived in Yorkshire, there was this brilliant telephone weather forecast that was really cheap and usually very accurate. My friends used to joke that if I didn't ring it for a few days, it would ring me to make sure I was still alive.....
Still totally forecast obsessed but now it's online. I hate it more when the horses are too hot than too cold - I think they are probably better of being the latter if you're not sure - and I get it wrong both ways occasionally, but most of the time a combination of the forecast and looking at the actual weather gets it about right.
 
Nope. They keep the same rug on except if we change once the weather has settled either colder (into winter) or warmer (coming out of winter)

I think if you keep changing their rugs they find it more difficult to manage their temperature.
 
yup - totally obsessed!!!!!!!!!!! check 4 websites every day to check what its going to do - she lives out 247 and is fully clipped so i check what weather going to do. she has a veriety of different weights and fleeces etc. so that she doesnt get cold or too warm either
 
I worry less, she tends to just live out in her lightweight, I found that she is just too warm with more and seems perfectly good with just the lightweight even in all this snow, she has an apron clip only which has grown alot and she is not feeling the cold, but thats her, she does not feel the cold tbh.
I tend to worry more in summer, as if we get sudden downpour(as we did continually a couple of summers back), and I mean a nasty downpour and she is unrugged she does get cold then and I worry a bit then.
 
Mine's out 24/7 now with the odd night in if it's really wet and horrible.

She's out in a full neck Weatherbeeta Orican, which is nice and light but very warm. I had another one that I cut the neck off, so she'll change into that when the weather's a bit more settled.

It's spring and autumn when I get obsessive - up to the yard before work to change into the lightweight or remove altogether, back at night to change back, and spending the whole day worrying if she's too hot!

My theory is, keep em cold rather than overrug if you have to make a decision before you go to work - if they get cold they can always have a runaround.
 
Don't worry about it too much at all. Until this year, the horses had just had one warm rug each for the winter time which they stay in whenever it is cold. This past year we branched out into lightweight ones for the 'in between' sort of weather.

I have never caught them shivering or too hot, I think they are pretty resilient really and can adapt. Having said that, they do have access to shelter all the time, get a lot of hay and are kept at my parents house so can be observed regularly.
 
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