Rug advice - how many layers?

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

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Hello there, I was just wondering what rugs you have on your horses in this cold weather? My family and I recently bought a 16.2hh 7yr old sports horse and I have her in a 'mediumweight' turnout with neck. Although medium weight, this has a 300g filling which I consider to be fairly warm. However, it has been super cold recently, down to -4 sometimes, so I have occasionally put her fleece rug underneath as an extra layer. My mum was considering getting her an under rug but as she has managed fine in this weather, do you think it is fine to continue just using the fleece rug for a little extra warmth when necessary?

A very horsey friend told me to put another turnout out over the top but frankly, I think that's a bit ridiculous. What do you think?
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(Silly weather meaning I can't ride!!)
 
If she seems warm enough I wouldn't worry at all. Much more important IMO to make sure they have enough hay when it is really nippy.

For comparison:

Monty - 29yo tb lives out, unclipped - 300g full neck turnout with 100g under rug.
Zoom - 13yo tb lives out, hunter clipped - 250g full neck turnout with 100g quilt underneath.

They are both happy and warm.
 
hey there is your horse clipped?
i think so long as the base of their ears, and their elbows feel warm then generally they are warm enough (this is how i'v always judged it anyway. my boy just has his weatherbeeta orican on 24/7 its 360g with a neck cover that is 180g and he is very toasty however he seems to have sussed the neck rug means he cant feel the electric and has uprooted several fence poles and escaped to the better field so last few days has had neck rug off and is still toasty. last yr i t never had the orican and he just made do with a 300g rug liner and no fill turnout with neck. i examine him closely to make sure he's not dropping weight etc and he always has ad lib hay to help keep him warm. he looks fab atm. think your rugging situation sounds fine for your horsey probably just go by how she looks and if she seems happy or not. x
 
Thanks for both your replies. Belle isn't clipped and I definitely think she's warm enough... I just get a bit worried about it when I see horsie friends with their horses wrapped up in two turnouts and various layers!
 
If she feels warm enough (not hot) and has enough hay/haylege then I wouldn't worry.

My IDxTB is out during the day in a heavy MW half neck rug with a LW full neck underneath if it's raining (I don't think he needs the full neck if it's just cold). At night he has just been having a 115g stable rug with a MW (maybe 200g or so?) over the top. It was forecast to get down to -8C here last night so he had a heavier MW with full neck on with his MW TO over the top. He was a bit too warm when I left the yard at 5pm but as it was due to drop another 6C over night, I figured he wouldn't still be that warm by midnight! He gets adlib hay and haylage so has plenty to eat.
 
Farra is blanket clipped though very hairy again and is fine in a 300 t/o and stable rug down to -3, then I put a fleece on.

Evil mum that I am, I full clipped apart from legs and face, Chancer at the weekend and he is in a 300 t/o and at night in a 300 stable rug but as he has just been full clipped, I am also putting a 100 g stable rug on as well when it is below -1. If it goes below -4, then I will use a 200 rug at night.

I try to avoid more than 2 layers on my horses, and ideally stick one rug on, which is why I have 4 rugs for t/o and stable from no fill to 300 - hence my huge rug stack!

I like to aim for a cool to warm rather than warm to hot horse. As long as the base of the ears is warm and they are not shivering and dropping weight then I am happy to use the lightest rug possible.

If your mare is warm enough as is, then I would not be putting extra rugs on unless the weight drops off. I personally prefer to give more fibre (mine are on ad lib hay) so they can eat themselves warm in the very cold weather, but they are not dumplings so I can do this.
 
My dutch warmblood mare is unclipped but hardly grows any coat. She has a heavy weight ( 350g) fal silver interactive turnout on with a full neck in the field and in the stable I put a lightweight stable under an Amigo medium stable with detachable neck and she seems comfortable and warm in her body but her ears are always cold!
 
Hi,

I have found in the past is that the problem with putting any kind of stable blanket on underneath a turnout is that they can often get soggy and that must be really uncomfortable. If I have a cold horse then I just double up on the turnouts, even just a LW adds an extra bit of insulation if that is what is needed. It doesn't seem to bother the horses.

Out of curiosity, why do you think doubling up on turnouts sound ridiculous? Admittedly, 2 HW's might be a little excessive.
 
She has plenty of hay and has access to stables all the time (she lives out but we have stables open and used as a field shelter). I also like to have them wearing as little as possible - as far as I'm concerned, they weren't originally designed to wear rugs so I don't like them to be swamped in horsey clothing! I just want to make sure that she (and our other two retired ones) are warm enough and that I'm not committing some awful crime by depriving them of extra layers!

Thanks for all your advice, I feel much better about it now.
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[ QUOTE ]
Hi,

I have found in the past is that the problem with putting any kind of stable blanket on underneath a turnout is that they often get soggy and that must be really uncomfortable. If I have a cold horse then I just double up on the turnouts, even just a LW adds an extra bit of insulation if that is what is needed. It doesn't seem to bother the horses.

Out of curiosity, why do you think doubling up on turnouts sound ridiculous? Admittedly, 2 HW's might be a little excessive.

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Hello - I do agree about the fleece/stable blanket so when I have used it, I have taken it off in the warmer parts of the day and made sure to dry it out if it was at all damp.

I think that 2 turnouts is probably perfectly reasonable sometimes, and I'm by no means a horsie expert, I just think that two big turnouts would be quite uncomfortable and would definitely have been too hot in my situation. If the turnouts were the same size, I also feel like maybe it would be hard to fit them nicely over the top of each other? I saw a photo of my friend's horse recently with these two heavy looking turnouts one over the other and I just thought the poor horse must be really hot and restricted.

I can agree with you though that perhaps that is better than having a layer underneath which might get damp and if your horses are not bothered and it does the job... then why not.
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I can't really judge as I haven't tried it!
 
Mine is a cob-X with a blanket clip and has not yet needed to "upgrade" from her 100g Rambo Duo with 100g liner inside! She is the warmest horse I've ever met! The rest of the yard are wearing about twice the amount of rugs.

I agree with TheresaF and prefer a cool-warm horse than an overheated one. I wouldn't like more than two layers personally as would feel it could get bulky and restrictive, so would have a good range of nylon under rugs (cotton ones will stick to other rugs, whereas the nylon will slide and not rub as badly) to choose from under the HW T/O if needed.
 
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