Relentless rain and rugging

pistolpete

pistolpete

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 July 2009
Messages
5,917
Visit site
My 19 year old highland is never rugged we live on south coast. With the relentless rain I’m just wondering if I should cave and rug. He only has hedges for shelter can’t get out of it completely even though they can get up onto mud mats for their feet. He does seem cold sometimes. Does help his weightloss program ready for spring grass. Don’t think I have felt concerned like this for hm before. It’s just been soooo wet!
 
pistolpete said:
My 19 year old highland is never rugged we live on south coast. With the relentless rain I’m just wondering if I should cave and rug. He only has hedges for shelter can’t get out of it completely even though they can get up onto mud mats for their feet. He does seem cold sometimes. Does help his weightloss program ready for spring grass. Don’t think I have felt concerned like this for hm before. It’s just been soooo wet!
Click to expand...
Errr, he isn’t getting any younger, and it isn’t going to get much drier any time soon, and you know he feels cold….
Maybe the old boy deserves a break?
 
If you are feeling concerned I would absolutely rug - just make sure it is a good quality rug as what is even worse is if they get damp underneath. I find horses are great at withstanding the cold but rain like we have had recently is testing to even the hardiest. The last thing you would want is if he were to colic from stressing from being cold or having to treat rain scald, whereas there aren't many risks with adding a good quality rug to keep the rain off for a few weeks.
 
I have a new-this-year fully waterproof lightweight on the native fluffy ones. Keeps them dry. Not exactly warm, but they don’t need that. I would recommend.
 
I've had to rug my NF pony this year too. Despite having a coat like a grizzly bear and hay inside a shelter, he was still cold when he was getting soaked through in the relentless rain.
 
My girls are 22 and 25 and have been rugged the past couple of years. They come in for a few hours for rug off, dry standing and soaked hay and back out in the afternoon. Both are fluffy native ponies.
 
pistolpete said:
Thanks. It’s just been so relentless.
Click to expand...
Well, it is, incessant rain coupled with persistent wind chill below zero, and in your situation, no let up at all.
When you say ‘cave in’, if that means abandon some principle against rugging horses, the most important principle is always their welfare, and you’ve already identified a welfare problem that could be significantly eased. You’re just responding to need, not caving in!
For versatility: at least one, quality 50g rug plus 100g liner, and slap both on in these conditions, you don’t want a cold, old pony, and certainly don’t want a cold, old, saturated pony! Good luck
HopOnTrot said:
My girls are 22 and 25 and have been rugged the past couple of years. They come in for a few hours for rug off, dry standing and soaked hay and back out in the afternoon. Both are fluffy native ponies
Click to expand...
This sounds really sensible, and sure they’ll appreciate it, altho OP may not have access to stabling?
 
Highmileagecob said:
Old Dobbin wears a 50g Weatherbeeta, he's fluffy and unclipped. I like him to feel aired under the rug, not over warm.
Click to expand...
I'd also use a 50g in these circumstances. A few previously unrugged horses I know have appreciated them this year. The Shetlands are still very waterproof, so not something to worry me yet.
 
If I knew he could get under cover it would be so different. February is the only month he ever drips any weight so that’s where the. ‘Caving in’ comment comes from really. I just want him to be able to cope with too much grass later in the year. It’s not ideal!
 
There are several people on my yard who are very anti-rug and will tell you on daily basis how great horses coat are, look 'how thick this is', etc, etc.

Its a mistake not to look at the animal in front of you and decide whether they'd be better in a rug at any point.
 
pistolpete said:
If I knew he could get under cover it would be so different. February is the only month he ever drips any weight so that’s where the. ‘Caving in’ comment comes from really. I just want him to be able to cope with too much grass later in the year. It’s not ideal!
Click to expand...
You can take it off again, apparently not much of this rain left!
 
I would invest in a good 50g rug and get a liner that you can up it with if necessary. This year and rain has been relentless - I have always turned out all day no matter what the weather but have been just putting them out for a few hours and bringing in, they look miserable in the field even though they have hay. You’re not caving in your looking after your horse.
 
Just make sure you take it off and reset it if your not leaving it off. Have seen horses with rugs left on for ages without them being taken off or reset. Check for rubs and that they arent too hot. They can get bacterial infections on their skin from being too hot.
 
I am a "rainsheet is plenty" girly and I am right 99.9% of the time but the village idiot (refuses to use her shelter, only stands in the hedge) came in shivering this week from that nasty biting wind on top of the rain. So I've dug out the 100g.

If they're cold they're cold, can't argue with them.
 
We have a small herd of retired horses/ponies and youngsters. All of them are wearing rugs this year, even the natives who wouldn't usually. The rain and wind have been relentless and no horse deserves to be cold, especially oldies. I certainly do not believe in shivering the weight off them, an idea I am sadly see more of.
 
I would be very careful, its difficult to get them dry without under cover housing. A thick native coat can take at least 2 to 3 days to dry through.
You really need to avoid enticjng any rain scald - which is ripe to happen when a damp/wet coat gets a nice cover over it and temps come up enough in incubate bacteria - its happened in the best intentioned circumstances.

If you are going to rug, get a couple of 50g and keep swapping morning and evening at a minimum, allowing the other to dry out before going back on.
 
Sanversera said:
We have snow now. The garden
Click to expand...

First Frost said:
We have a small herd of retired horses/ponies and youngsters. All of them are wearing rugs this year, even the natives who wouldn't usually. The rain and wind have been relentless and no horse deserves to be cold, especially oldies. I certainly do not believe in shivering the weight off them, an idea I am sadly see more of.
Click to expand...


Agree completely
Must be one the worst ideas ever
 
First Frost said:
I certainly do not believe in shivering the weight off them, an idea I am sadly see more of.
Click to expand...
I think you have to take the phrase with a pinch of salt. Letting them feel the cold a bit and use some calories keeping moving and keeping warm doesn't have to mean letting them literally shiver.

My interpretation is that I dont give any fill in the rug, but I will keep her dry. She can feel the cold, but not be drenched on top of it. The other end of the spectrum is a perfectly healthy half clipped native cross in a 200g full neck when it's 5C, but on starvation rations because he's fat. Guess who is happier!
 
I’ve just put a light weight on my tough little welsh A type.
Not so much because I think he can’t cope or will get washed away but he has been constantly wet now for months or so it feels. Generally even if he comes in he is still wet when I turnout later on.
He was actually dry this evening (out over night) and more rain is forecast over night and for the next fortnight daily that I put a rain sheet on him.
It can’t be good for their skin being constantly saturated.
 
smolmaus said:
I think you have to take the phrase with a pinch of salt. Letting them feel the cold a bit and use some calories keeping moving and keeping warm doesn't have to mean letting them literally shiver.

My interpretation is that I dont give any fill in the rug, but I will keep her dry. She can feel the cold, but not be drenched on top of it. The other end of the spectrum is a perfectly healthy half clipped native cross in a 200g full neck when it's 5C, but on starvation rations because he's fat. Guess who is happier!
Click to expand...
100% agree with this!
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
I would be very careful, its difficult to get them dry without under cover housing. A thick native coat can take at least 2 to 3 days to dry through.
You really need to avoid enticjng any rain scald - which is ripe to happen when a damp/wet coat gets a nice cover over it and temps come up enough in incubate bacteria - its happened in the best intentioned circumstances.

If you are going to rug, get a couple of 50g and keep swapping morning and evening at a minimum, allowing the other to dry out before going back on.
Click to expand...
I was going to say something similiar.

Have you got a cooler (ideally two) you can stick under the turnnout rug to help wick away the wet coat until he's dry enough to just put the turn out on? Or thatch him first?

Rugging is so individual and so place dependant too, I think.

My native has happily been clipped and un-rugged or lightly rugged many a time. However, he's also been rugged much more depending upon the type of clip he has, the shelter available, wind direction and how cold he feels on that specific yard/field.

He's currently spotting an endurance clip (full clip with whole saddle & girh area left with legs & half face left on too) and in a 150g full neck with a Thermatex underneath. Last year he was unclipped and living out for a big chunk of it usually in nothing less than 150g but went up to 300g at some points.

Being metabolically challenged and in decent work, he's much happier being warmer - I also think being asked to work with soft/flexible muscles and with a soft way of going must be harder if they are colder to begin with - but this does mean he's on weighed hay soaked and rinsed within an inch of it's life and straw to make up the deficit.

Other's might be happier with less rugs and more hay. It really is horses for courses.
 
Last edited:
He’s wet today and not shivering or chilly. Plenty of hay and barley straw to chomp on plus seven acres between him and two others. If he’s ever dry enough I’ll get a rug on him for last bit of winter! I have two 50g rugs I can alternate. Also have rain sheets I could use.
 
My hairy Fell pony has a rug on at the moment. Usually he's too hot even in just a rainsheet, but even he isnt coping now. He started with a dry cough a couple of days ago but is now coughing up nasty stuff.

This is the second time this has happened at the back end of a particularly wet winter. He needed antibiotics last time, so I'll be asking the vet to come and have a look tomorrow.

I genuinely think he's been happier when he's been clipped and rugged. I only didn't clip this year because I was injured and wasn't riding.

I think this wet weather has been exceptional and no one should feel guilty popping a rug on a native if they are miserable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top