RE Rugs on 24/7 field kept horses

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lucy1984

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Is it best to just leave a rug on a horse all the time thorugh the cold months or to change it each morning with a light weight one and then put the warmer rug on at nights only?

If the warmer one is left on all day will they feel the cold weather more at night?

Before I got advised to just leave them on I used to take the rugs off during the day and put them back on at night only but Ive been told doing this 'is more harm than good' ??

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I just leave the same weight rug on 24/7 - obviously changing it if wet and checking it/taking it off daily. If its particuarly cold at night I pop a fleece underneath.
 
It all depends on the weather really. Mine wear the same rugs all through the winter, day and night, I don't chop and change weights unless a horse is cold and then I just double up. I take them off on windless, sunny days regardless of the temperature.

Gives them a chance to have a good roll. It wouldn't have been above -15C when this was taken.

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I adapt to the horse / weather conditions eg. it was freezing and raining last night so h/w with necks but replaced them with m/w no necks during the day as sunny and warmer. I always check how the horse feels - I would perhaps rather they were sslightly cooler with plenty of hay than too hot (I notice they roll a lot if too hot!) so err on that side if I am worried about changing weather conditions. I spend far too much on weather forecast sites than is necessary I am sure!
 
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I adapt to the horse / weather conditions eg. it was freezing and raining last night so h/w with necks but replaced them with m/w no necks during the day as sunny and warmer. I always check how the horse feels - I would perhaps rather they were sslightly cooler with plenty of hay than too hot (I notice they roll a lot if too hot!) so err on that side if I am worried about changing weather conditions. I spend far too much on weather forecast sites than is necessary I am sure!

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As above. I tend to be guided by how the horses feel and watch the local weather forecast religously every day. My two technically live out with free access to their stables but tend to choose to spend half their lives inside
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If there is no wind and it is dry and sunny, they tend to be naked and have LW/MW on. If it's particularly cold (below 2-3C) they will get HWs at night. They are both TBx
 
Mines in at night but don't change rugs, stays in the same TO regardless, unless major change in temp (or feels too hot/cold under rug) then I'll change it but don't change daily as a matter of course and wouldn't do so if out 24/7
 
I tend to keep the same ones on unless the temp has changed a lot even in the stable. It must be unpleasant for the horse to have their nice warm rugs replaced by cold ones on a really cold morning!
 
I keeep same on unless like last night it drops colder then I put a 70g combo on last thing and took off this morning- so it was only on when the temp was lower.

This is why Ive ordered a Bucas smartex (horsie can wear from something like -15 to 12 degrees
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) - like the idea of not having panic attacks if I miss the weather!
 
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It must be unpleasant for the horse to have their nice warm rugs replaced by cold ones on a really cold morning!

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Not unless they are clipped
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How cold does your head feel if you place cold nylon against your hair?- not very!
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And their rugs wouldn't be getting changed if it were that cold.
 
i layer mine. so they might wear 2 at night and then i just leave the under one on during the day. often the top one is a full neck so take that off int he morning so they can have a bit of time without being cocooned in a combo rug all the time.

one of mine is fully clipped so i try never to take all his rugs off and replace with a cold one - he layers
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the other is not clipped but is getting old now and i will sometimes leave him naked on a nice day or change a MW for a LW during the day. he used to live out all yr round unrugged but he is an old man now.
 
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I just leave the same weight rug on 24/7 - obviously changing it if wet and checking it/taking it off daily. If its particuarly cold at night I pop a fleece underneath.

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Ditto this
 
Depends on the weather. Ours have MW's on on Monday night but then were swopped to their rainsheets yesterday morning as it was so warm in the sun. Then back to their MW's last night as it was cold as soon as the sun had gone down.
 
I usually layer so I can just whip the fleece/under-rug off in the morning if it is dropping in temperature at night.

This morning Monty had his HW changed to a MW though since it is considerably warmer than yesterday.

From when the cold weather hits (ie IMO not yet!) they will have their HWs on all the time.
 
Same rugs 24/7 for mine - might have them taken off in the day if its nice. Doesn't have to be sunny, just not wet and windy. Never had any problems, and I think modern rugs are a lot more forgiving than the rugs of old
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When/if I do rug, they wear the same rug day and night, I just remove to check the animal then replace it every morning.
 
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