Reassure me about not rugging!

Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

Still wittering on
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Felix and Amber are out 24/7 with some natural shelter and both are unrugged. It's cold! And often wet. I have heard horror stories about foals getting caught up in rugs and also read plenty of articles saying unrugged is fine for unclipped horses and for foals. Felix is very fluffy but Amber has not really grown much coat yet. Wondering if feeding Felix is taking too much energy. She has a bit of dropped weight too. She is on good grass with 2 feeds a day. Stressing now and wondering if they need to come in at night... Or if I should consider weaning Felix fairly early so at least Amber can be rugged. My YO assures me they are totally fine. But I lie in bed listenting to the rain and can't stop fretting.
 
Please stop worrying! It is normal for a mare to drop off a bit when feeding and she will be growing a coat as we speak.
Absolutely DO NOT wean early for this reason! The mare will recover her condition fully in the Spring and the foal's future health is primarily determined by what happens to him now.
Add in some more forage if you're worried (though good grass should be ample, I'd offer haylage too)
 
Our little herd, no mares or foals, have good grass but they are tucking into their morning hay now that the weather has turned. Could you put out hay? Ad lib?
 
TheMule said:
Please stop worrying! It is normal for a mare to drop off a bit when feeding and she will be growing a coat as we speak.
Absolutely DO NOT wean early for this reason! The mare will recover her condition fully in the Spring and the foal's future health is primarily determined by what happens to him now.
Add in some more forage if you're worried (though good gras should be ample, I'd offer haylage too)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reality check!
 
I think they will be fine I would feed hay or haylage if she is dropping off this is what we did at the stud I worked on in this situation, the foals will often start eating it as well once they see mum eating it.
 
The standard bred stud local to us on top of the Southern Pennines leaves their mares and foals out unrugged all winter, even in the snow. The only concession they make is to move them from the most exposed fields to those with some trees for natural shelter.
I'm sure Amber will be fine
 
i really wouldnt worry about rugging. Mine are out at night and in during the day. I have noticed over the past week that they are all much hungrier though. So as other have suggested maybe add a bit of haylage out in the field.
Rustle has lost all his fluffy foal coat now and hes doing fine in this weather. Aria has quite a fine coat too, and again shes just fine.
 
I always think the mares start to drop weight at this time of year if they are still feeding the foal, I know mine have.
Can you up the feed value of her two daily feeds? There is still plenty of time for her to grow a winter coat , if she needs it she will grow it!
 
Neither of my horses are rugged at this moment. Fin is out overnight and Hermosa is out 24/7. Fin will not be rugged because Highland pony weight management is easier when I let nature do some of the work, and Hermosa might be rugged later because she is Spanish and a bit pathetic when the weather really turns cold and wet. But last year, she had to suck it through half the winter unrugged because she had the foal at foot. Caso loved jumping on top of her and throwing his legs everywhere, and he definitely would have got himself stuck. They were in a herd, and his herdmates were rugged, but they were stricter about not letting him leap on them (though he got stuck in someone's filet strap once... luckily both Caso and the mare in question were calm enough to wait for human assistance). His mom let him get away with everything. She dropped weight, but quickly picked up once we weaned him in January, at seven months.
 
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