Riding in the rain - advice please!

[Bucketlist]

So I posted about which rugs to buy yesterday and how to get a pony dry after being out in the rain or bathing, but can't get my head around it. This is a new pony that only has one medium weight turnout at the moment, that he wears inside and out.

My daughter is happy to ride her pony in the rain, so after replies on here, I bought a fleece to dry our pony after a ride in the rain. However, when we went up tonight, it had been raining for many hours, his rug was wet through (dry inside) and as he doesn't have a neck on it, his head/neck/legs were soaking. He was very eager to come into the stable.

I was going to take off his rug and tack him up, but didn't know whether I was doing right as part of him was already wet and although I could have put the fleece on after the ride, the turnout rug would have been cold and wet to put back on him for the night. So we abandoned it and I've left him in the stable with the turnout rug on to dry off.

I'd like to know whether I was right to just abandon it, or what I should do to enable my daughter to ride on rainy days, whilst keeping our pony happy and dry? Should I buy another identical rug to use after exercise when his other one is already wet? Or would he be ok if I dried him with the fleece and put this cold, damp one back on? I'm happy to buy more rugs as I want to make sure I'm doing things right and keeping him warm enough, but don't want to waste my money. Just can't get my head around this and don't want him to become unfit as the rain is forecast to continue.

The only alternative would be for me to bring him into the stable before doing the school run on wet days, so he has dried out (and his rug) before my daughter comes up to ride. However, if it rains all day and I can't bring him in earlier in the day, would you just abandon riding, or is there's another way of doing things?

Any advice would be very much appreciated, so many thanks in advance!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

One rug isn't really enough, a spare would be better. Although you do need to bear in mind that they dry better on the horse than off.

I am not keen on putting a bridle on a wet horse, the skin around the ears is quite tender and is likely to get rubbed by the leather work. So your idea of bringing the pony in before the school run sounds like the best way forward. Can your daughter ride in a school on wet days? I am wary of riding on the roads when the traffic needs to have lights on and visibility is poor. There is a limit to how effective hi-viz can be in those conditions.

 

[Shay]

You've posted quite a lot with some very basic questions OP. Its great that you are asking and trying to do your best for you new pony but I do wonder if you have any form of help with you? Is the pony at a yard with others or kept alone? It is good to have some back up when you first start owning a pony. Even if you had a pony as a kid things have moved on massively. I grew up with horses / ponies, stopped owning etc when I got married (no money!) and didn't get back into it for a few years until my daughter was born and even over that relatively short time thinking about how you keep and manage ponies had changed considerably.

The BHS do a basic owners certificate of competence which might help you to gain some knowledge and experience as you get through this steep learning curve that is new horse ownership!

 

[Bucketlist]

Hi Shay, Yes we have help, but sometimes when I've thought of question and won't see anyone until the following day, I hoped someone would be able to make things clearer for me so I can get on with ordering rugs etc. I have done ABRS certificates and helped at the stables before buying this pony, but some things weren't covered in enough detail or still leave unanswered questions that you don't think about until you actually buy a horse. There are also text book ways of doing things which aren't the best way, so for me, it was helpful to ask real people.

Sometimes, like with this riding in the rain thread, it only comes about when someone makes you question what you're doing and it's nice to be able to ask someone if they're right. I wasn't going to have my daughter ride in heavy rain, but a girl on the yard said she should if she wanted to keep her ponies fitness up (during bouts of constant rain), yet, the yard owner said she wouldn't ride in heavy rain either. So my questions often come about because of contradicting things other 'experienced' horsey people have told me.

We're getting into a nice routine and I'm confident enough to keep this pony happy and safe, but regarding feed/rugs/people's way of doing things, its impossible to know it all until you've owned a pony and been through it.

Thank you.

 

[sarcasm_queen]

With weather especially, it's very much a personal opinion on whether you ride. I don't like the rain, pony doesn't like the rain, so of its pouring down I normally can't be bothered. But riding in the rain is fine, pony isn't going to melt.

Get some big towels, dry him off like you would a dog, get a fleecy rug and chuck that on, and then ride. Repeat the drying off afterwards, and then dry rug on for the night. Job done.

 

[applecart14]

So I posted about which rugs to buy yesterday and how to get a pony dry after being out in the rain or bathing, but can't get my head around it. This is a new pony that only has one medium weight turnout at the moment, that he wears inside and out.

My daughter is happy to ride her pony in the rain, so after replies on here, I bought a fleece to dry our pony after a ride in the rain. However, when we went up tonight, it had been raining for many hours, his rug was wet through (dry inside) and as he doesn't have a neck on it, his head/neck/legs were soaking. He was very eager to come into the stable.

I was going to take off his rug and tack him up, but didn't know whether I was doing right as part of him was already wet and although I could have put the fleece on after the ride, the turnout rug would have been cold and wet to put back on him for the night. So we abandoned it and I've left him in the stable with the turnout rug on to dry off.

I'd like to know whether I was right to just abandon it, or what I should do to enable my daughter to ride on rainy days, whilst keeping our pony happy and dry? Should I buy another identical rug to use after exercise when his other one is already wet? Or would he be ok if I dried him with the fleece and put this cold, damp one back on? I'm happy to buy more rugs as I want to make sure I'm doing things right and keeping him warm enough, but don't want to waste my money. Just can't get my head around this and don't want him to become unfit as the rain is forecast to continue.

The only alternative would be for me to bring him into the stable before doing the school run on wet days, so he has dried out (and his rug) before my daughter comes up to ride. However, if it rains all day and I can't bring him in earlier in the day, would you just abandon riding, or is there's another way of doing things?

Any advice would be very much appreciated, so many thanks in advance!

I've always been led to believe that you can ride them when they are wet so long as you don't ride them when they are muddy and wet for obvious reasons - mud is like sandpaper on the skin, whether wet or dry.

I think its really important to ride in all weathers, wind, sleet, snow and rain. If you are at a show they will react in the same way they would at home, if they are used to riding in all weather conditions.

The only time I ever had to be stopped from riding in bad weather was when I was doing ridden hunter way back in 2005 and we had a huge thunderstorm right over the top of the field we were competing in. The stewards told us to get off the show field as there was a real danger of lightning strike!

The only problem with riding after work in the evenings (especially in the winter) is that trying to dry your horse off when its soaked through and unclipped and you want to go home. Most of this problem can be solved with the use of an exercise sheet but obviously the shoulders and neck take time to dry. I don't know why someone doesn't invent something that is completely waterproof that you can ride in!

 

[Kylara]

I'd suggest a second spare rug that you can put on if first rug is soaked all the way through, or is wet and you want to ride.
Grab some of the towelling blanket things for dogs (microfibre) and give a rub over the head (especially around the ears) to soak up as much of the wet as possible before tacking up.
Riding in the rain is fine, however it can be down to personal preference and how the pony acts. If you plan on going out to competitions then I would suggest riding no matter the weather (obviously if it is tipping down you won't get anything done as pony and rider will be too tense), but if not, then completely up to you. I work some horses whatever the weather and others don't go so well (but still have to be schooled!) and others where you wouldn't dream of taking it out in bad weather unless you want head shaking, sideways and general tension as he hates rain so much. Still has to go out sometimes, but he hates it so much that it's worth giving him the ride off if we can.
If pony has a stable for overnight I really wouldn't be too worried about riding in the rain, just be sure to get a nice breathable fleece to pop on after the ride.

If there are other people at the yard it might be worth asking them to bring him in for you if the weather starts changing so that he doesn't get wet in the first place if you don't want to ride him wet. Or bring him in at lunchtime to give him a good chance of drying off!

 

[puppystitch]

I'd also recommend a waterproof exercise sheet for whilst your daughter is riding - at least his body will be dry when she's finished and you can put his fleece / overnight rug on without him being wet underneath. They're inexpensive and I find mine is dry by the next day if I hang it up to air.

 

[Kylara]

Good shout puppystitch! You can also get fancy ones which wrap around the rider as well so nice dry legs! I tend to ride in my big wax jacket if the weather is awful, but can be hard to do on tiny ponies!

 

[puppystitch]

I tend to ride in my big wax jacket if the weather is awful, but can be hard to do on tiny ponies!

Can the pony fit under your jacket too?

 

[Bucketlist]

Thank you everyone for such helpful replies. I didn't want to post questions which probably appear very basic to many, but text books often don't give you a proper answer to things like this and we desperately want to get things right and have a happy pony - and child. Your help is very much appreciated!! Thank you. x

 

[Mince Pie]

Definitely get another rug, would also have at least one rainsheet/lightweight for when it's too warm for a medium but still raining and you need to keep them dry.
I would ride a wet horse - wash him down with a sponge to make sure any dirt is gone and then tack up and go - what's the difference if the horse sweats whilst being ridden, he will be wet in those areas too!

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Can totally understand you getting varied replies to riding in the rain...personally I'm an all-weather rider but a lot of people at our yard aren't so keen when it's wet. There's been a lot of good advice so far. In your shoes I'd get a couple more rugs for him so you have spares in case of leaks or rips/tears.