Pondering about rugging vs not rugging.

benson21

benson21

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Just thinking out loud really. Why is it, it is deemed ok to leave a horse out in the cold, rain, wind with no protection. I know horses survive in the wild throughout all types of weather, but our horses are not wild.
I dont think its cruel to leave them out in rain, but it seems un-neccessary.
people wouldnt leave their dog out in the rain, so why is it ok to do it to equines?
Just a discussion point for a boring tuesday morning, so please, no rights and wrongs, just a chat!!
 
normally i dont rug in the rain but today and yday its constant so i will be putting rugs on just a lightweight im pondering if i should use leg straps or just fillet string though as they are youngsters and whenever rugged with filleet rugs seem to slide around :S
 
Yeah I do agree with you. I have rugged up my youngster but wouldn't have rugged up my sturdy fat native type if there was plenty to eat and places to shelter.

Scientifically speaking, horses do actually struggle to lose heat (hence big network of veins and capillaries in legs, face and ears close to skin surface to cool the blood) but they can definitely get cold if they are not digesting. Digestion is where the heat is generated.

Wild horses find shelter behind rocks and they hate rain! They cope well with if they can roam and keep warm but what chance of roaming do horses kept in small paddocks have? - we have a duty of care to look after them and compensate for what we have essentially 'taken away'.

Our horses do roam a large area and most will not be rugged. I choose to rug mine though because she has come out of summer much leaner than she should have been. My opinions on the matter have changed, but so has my choice of horse... :)
 
Our horses might be domesticated but they still have the protection mechanisms that nature provided them with in the first place...the TB brood mares and youngstock next door to us are never rugged, grow massive woolly coats and survive all weathers (including the awful rain in the last couple of days ) very well. They have sufficient natural shelter and hay.
I guess rugging came about for the majority of ridden horses due to being clipped and for convenience e.g. to keep dry for riding.
 
Mine are both natives so should be hardy but they are only 1yo's so its a bit different they dont have good shelter and not massive amount of grass they are soft too the fell pony does not have any form of a winter coat yet and they both were very sad yesterday standing at the gate begging to come in whilst i was doing the jobs so today is the same weather so i will rug today but not tomorrow or the rest of the week as it should be a mix of sun and rain
 
well horses are really well equipped to deal with the rain and cold, I would say a lot of horses are over-rugged which can lead to problems in certain circumstances.

Having said that I'm not of the 'all horses must be unrugged' camp - if the horse is wet, cold and miserable then I rug. If they are warm without the rug then I don't. Quite simple really.

As for dogs - well all my dogs are outside in insulated kennels and runs, the two shorthairs would rather think they were going to melt if they got wet whereas my collie dog chooses to sleep outside in all weathers including snow but she does go inside if it's windy + raining
 
benson21 said:
Just thinking out loud really. Why is it, it is deemed ok to leave a horse out in the cold, rain, wind with no protection. I know horses survive in the wild throughout all types of weather, but our horses are not wild.
I dont think its cruel to leave them out in rain, but it seems un-neccessary.
people wouldnt leave their dog out in the rain, so why is it ok to do it to equines?
Just a discussion point for a boring tuesday morning, so please, no rights and wrongs, just a chat!!
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They don't have 'no protection' though, they have a very efficient coat that does a far better job than we can with rugs at regulating their temperature.
I'm all for rugging a cold/elderly/ill horse, but often when left to their own devices a horse will grow a coat that is warm and waterproof, it is when we interfere with over washing/grooming coats and clipping that we need to substitute what we've taken away.

My dad is in his seventies now and comes from a long line of horsemen, he's never liked clipping or rugging and says that horses having to look after themselves a bit more keeps them 'right'. Certainly this article seems to think along the same lines:- http://academialiberti.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/thermoregulation-in-horses-in-cold-time.html

Quote - "Kept in stables or/and blanketed, horses lack stimuli (temperature fluctuations) triggering the activity of thermoregulatory mechanisms. They don't need to exercise hair erector muscles, nor to dilate or constrict arteries, nor to activate the sweat glands, nor to prepare or deplete healthy fat reserves. All muscles atrophy without exercising for a period of time. If an animal in this state is suddenly exposed to the cold, they will not be able to activate necessary thermoregulatory mechanisms. As a result the internal body temperature could drop too low, that would lead to disruptions in metabolic processes. This can affect, for example, the production and migration rate of white blood cells and antibodies, with partial disabling of them. The result is a stressed animal with a disease or infection hosting internal environment. The germ is nothing, the terrain is all (Louis Pasteur). Consequentially germs or viruses in the body get a perfect opportunity to over breed."
 
I don't rug. Got tb's and tb x's, warmbloods, welshies etc who are all very hardy and don't need it. They have a lovely sheltered field, in a valley with lots of natural shelter inc a woods. Oldies got rugged a handful of days last year. Rather than going on what everyone elses are doing mine get a check. If they are warm and getting on with their business they are fine.

I won't rug for cold particularly as none of ours notice it. I'll rug if it's been torrential rain for a few days and they get wet through... even then though they sweat up a storm in a LW so doesn't stay on longer than to dry out.

They get left with rugs off long as possible and have brilliant winter coats, the worst thing in my opinion is rugging too early and not getting a decent coat on under the rug, or under rugging and actually taking away their heat by using a LW on a horse with a nice winter coat.

Last year ours were out happily while natives were shivering away in their rugs due to being rugged all year.

Pan
 
Every horse is different & has individual needs. My tubby haffy & cob are hardy enough & are coping fine without rugs, but my heinz57 does get cold & shiver so he has a rug on. I do have to check my haffy to see how warm he is tho as he can be a wimp despite being hairy & hardy :rolleyes:
 
My horse was left out naked in the rain - the horror!

He is a 'hot' horse in that he will sweat in a lightweight rug if it is mild - it was not cold yesterday when it was raining. He is already growing a thick winter coat. I checked him and he was toasty and the rain had just run off him.

I give it a lot of consideration when I decide whether to rug or not. But I am sure others see my horse out naked in the rain and see it as a travesty. They can mind their own business!
 
If I bring mine onto the (covered) yard when it's raining they'll leave again at the first opportunity. They really don't seem to like being in when it's raining.
 
My loan horse (tb) is a very hot horse too, he radiates heat at all times! Last night I thought hmm I wish I could rug him (he has a big wound from a kick which will get rubbed if I do) but I checked him and he was just toasty, so there really is no need! He seems to be accident prone so I think rugging him might invite more incidents :-/

I live in cambs though and my phone said it was 12 degrees last night so not really crucial here, though I'm sure he wouldn't have overheated if I had rugged him. Whatever helps you sleep at night!
 
I have an old pony (30) who will be rugged purely because he is very old and feels the wet/cold more.
However my mare this year will be kept DRY with a sheet if its raining hard, because she has had rain scald before when I left her. However she will not be being rugged til shes 'toasty' as iv learnt the hard way last winter, being at a livery yard where they were in overnight toasty warm in pjs that she actually put weight on, and I have struggled all year to get it off.
So this year she will be kept dry , but not toasty warm, she simply doesnt need it.
 
One of mine is unrugged, even though our weather is vile. I deem it ok because under the waterproof outer of her coat, she's dry & warm. Grazing happily in the exposed centre of the field, & unlike my other can enjoy the full freedom of rolling & itching without a rug in the way. She'll be rugged when she will benefit from it & actually needs it, not because everyone else who doesn't own or know her thinks she should be.
 
PandorasJar said:
Rugging doesn't mean they don't get rain scald. In my experience more horses who have been rugged and overheated or rugged when damp have had rain scald than ones without.

Pan
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I appreciate that :)
In my case the one time she has ever developed it was when she was out in constant heavy rain, and being the doughnut she is, doesnt stand in the shelter, stands in the middle of the field in the rain :D

I wouldnt put a rug on her if she was damp, or rug her so much she would be sweaty (really do people do this?)
 
In the main, horses are rugged for their owners' convenience, because it is easier to groom/keep clean a rugged horse, or because novice horse owners don't understand a horse's physiology. A young, healthy native which is not clipped certainly doesn't need a rug and in most cases would overheat with one.
Our 30 yr old has a rug on to day (and yesterday) because although previously a good doer and a very hot horse, she now drops weight easily. The other 2 are both overweight and are unrugged, when last seen they were standing in the middle of the field, eating. they did all come in last night to save the land, so were dry when they went out this morning.
The Standard-bred stud up the road has mares and foals and youngsters out all year and they seem to do very well, with plenty of supplementary forage.
 
Many horses hate rugs. I have two who both hate having rugs on (and used to livery with an old mare who was a WITCH with a rug on (nasty, bad tempered and aggressive, but sweet, kind and gentle when naked). They find them itchy, restrictive and annoying. They also get too hot easily. I cannot live at the field to take the rugs off the second the temp pick up a bit.

Like someone said before, horses have evolved to keep warm easily but find it very hard to keep cool. Some have had it bred out of them (woosey warmbloods usually) but mine are MUCH happier in cold temps, keeping themselves warm, than the heat (which includes rugged), trying to cool down.

One of mine wasn't rugged last night. He is tubby, has a decent coat started already, was allowed out into long grass to stuff his face and had soem very sheltered areas of the field. He was warm and happy this morning, although very wet.
 
katie_southwest said:
I appreciate that :)
In my case the one time she has ever developed it was when she was out in constant heavy rain, and being the doughnut she is, doesnt stand in the shelter, stands in the middle of the field in the rain :D

I wouldnt put a rug on her if she was damp, or rug her so much she would be sweaty (really do people do this?)
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You can lead them to a shelter but...:rolleyes:

Last yard we ran we would be requested by most liveries to up rugs over winter without having looked at the horse and although sweating up in LW's. Put foot down and rugged for horse not owners unless medical/real reasons.
Pet hate of mine is people who don't check the horse and rug accordingly - but instead rug to a HW when all that needs doing is cutting out the wind/getting them out of the miserable continuous rain, simply because everyone else is, or it's X day of the year.
The number of horses I've seen come in drenched with sweat as opposed to the ones who come in shivering is an eye opener!
 
I can shove them IN the shelter....they just come back out :D :D

Yes I must admit since feeling my own ponies to see if theyre warm or not, rather than doing what everyone else is doing, Im amazed at how warm they are. Its easy to see how people think its raining/cold and whack 5 rugs on, just because Im cold doesnt mean the horses are.
 
katie_southwest said:
I can shove them IN the shelter....they just come back out :D :D

Yes I must admit since feeling my own ponies to see if theyre warm or not, rather than doing what everyone else is doing, Im amazed at how warm they are. Its easy to see how people think its raining/cold and whack 5 rugs on, just because Im cold doesnt mean the horses are.
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:D Mine can normally be found in the middle of the field grazing head into the wind&rain with the occasional glare at the clouds. Shelter is only ever sought when she realises that the other (smarter) horses have buggered off half an hour ago.
 
I've got a couple of natives that live out, they are not rugged, they have a big but quiet bare field so they are always on the move eating, if it gets very cold or snows I'll put out hay so they can warm up from the inside, they have a big cosy field shelter which they never use! They are all looking soaked right now, but if you put your hands in they are dry at skin level! I think its very easy to humanise then and rug up/bring in but I think most horses deal with our weather just fit as long as they aren't old/ill/in hard work etc!
 
Because horses DO have protection. Although ours are domesticated their body temperature mechanisms haven't changed.

Obviously it depends on the horse and I would definetly rug very young/old/ill horses or those with no shelter. I do clip and rug for my own requirements. Horses do have a very good waterproof coat and are very good regulators of body temperature, although every horse is different.

When I worked at a racing yard all of the youngsters and brood mares were out in all weathers without a rug. They have shelters, grass and 24/7 access to good quality haylage and an area of hard standing to get out of the mud. The oldies were out rugged but were checked every day and had same shelter etc as youngsters. TBH I think too many people OVER-RUG their horses and that is where a lot of problems arise. Un-rugged horses can grow a nice waterproof winter coat (so long as they aren't washed or groomed to frequently) and are kept warm by moving about and digesting forage. Horses that are over-rugged get too hot and can't take the rugs off themselves.

Also I think a lot of problems are caused by horses that are rugged but are not tended to as frequently, rugs slip/get tangled up etc.

Now I do not have as much time as when I was at uni to ride during winter, I am very tempted to just let mine get fluffy :)
 
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A lot depends on how you keep them. The last livery yard I was at they had to be in overnight during winter. That meant rugging in the stable as they could not move to keep warm. Their field had no shelter and they would get cold if not rugged when rain set in. Now they live out 24/7 with access to decent shelter. The oldie gets rugged but the others will only get rugged if they need it when it gets properly cold. They grow brilliant coats and are warm at skin level. It makes a massive difference being able to keep them out 24/7 with decent shelter. Mine are all native x tb.
 
I thought i was doing the right thing rugging mine yesterday (constant rain) so i popped light weights on and when i went down today my little fat welsh was shaking i felt awfull so today shes back out with no rug!
 
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