Sol
Well-Known Member
Sorry, bit long & waffly - I don't get enough sleep 
I currently have two heavy weight rugs which haven't been used, and probably wont be - 2nd year on the trot! Dan is usually hunter clipped in winter but I've had no use for the big, heavy rugs.
Next winter though, I'm debating about letting him live out (which would mean moving him off the livery yard, and probably in with my pony & youngster) and not clipping him. Mostly because until now, I hadn't ridden him since November this year so he's had the best part of 8 weeks doing nothing, and it seems mad to have clipped him in a sense.
BUT, he's naturally a very scabby sensitive horse, he gets rubs in winter quite easily and can get warm, and very scabby. If he has a neck rug then he looses a lot of mane & it must make his neck sensitive, and his rugs will rub his shoulders & quarters if I'm not careful. Now, this year I've been super careful - the heaviest rug he's had on is a med weight (and JUST a med weight, no under rugs or anything), and I swap between his turnout & stable rug, and only put a neck on his turnout if it's raining badly. I did try leaving him in his turnout 24/7 - obviously taking it off & giving him a good groom once a day, and it doesn't slip at all - as he was being turned out by the yard staff who don't do rug changes, but he began to get scabby within a few days, went back to popping his stable rug on at night (which is the same weight!) and he was fine again. He's a bit odd! He has fairly good quality rugs too, Weatherbeetas & Amigos. At the moment though, he's got no scabby bits & no rubs, for the first year! He just eats more haylage than ever
So, now I'm not sure what to try next year.
- Turn him out naked, let him get fluffy, just live with the fact I'm not going to ride even if I get time (wont have an arena, he's not really one for hacking) until I can move him back onto a yard. Also, likely lose my space on a nice yard (but save money on fuel as I currently have no choice but to go to yard twice, simply because of rug change issue!)
- Turn out but clip/rug. Look at buying rugs with liners that I can change daily & wash regularly, to try and help keep him at right temp & rugs clean to prevent scabbyness!
- Keep at yard, don't clip, let him get fluffy & don't rug at all, still with option to ride lightly if I get time (but he's never not been rugged through winter, although lives out naked in summer!)
- Keep at yard, clip, rug the same as this year
- Keep at yard, clip, try rug with liners (changed liner every day/every few days) and therefore hopefully save on fuel & hassle, can still ride when I want & hopefully have less bloody rugs to store!
Feels like far too many things to consider/weigh up to me. Mostly, I just want Dan to be comfortable though. At the minute he only has two med-weights - a stable & a turnout, which limits me a bit on keeping them clean, but I can't afford to regularly send them for washing anyway, and our washing machine is only small. I could take them to my Dads but a) I think he'd be a bit miffed, and b) it's a 2hr round trip, and ideally I'd dry them there too really as he has much more space than us (tiny flat, not best for drying our clothes let alone 5'9 rugs!) so would mean two trips, unless I could get him to visit us
Would liners be any less bulky though? Never had a rug with liners so have no idea, don't know how they tend to work as far as attaching to the rug either. I prefer not to have lots of buckles & things as they cause more rubs, which is why I haven't used cotton sheets under the rugs this year, they just seem to make things worse. Don't want to end up with no extra layers though either in case temps do drop dramatically.
So confused!
I currently have two heavy weight rugs which haven't been used, and probably wont be - 2nd year on the trot! Dan is usually hunter clipped in winter but I've had no use for the big, heavy rugs.
Next winter though, I'm debating about letting him live out (which would mean moving him off the livery yard, and probably in with my pony & youngster) and not clipping him. Mostly because until now, I hadn't ridden him since November this year so he's had the best part of 8 weeks doing nothing, and it seems mad to have clipped him in a sense.
BUT, he's naturally a very scabby sensitive horse, he gets rubs in winter quite easily and can get warm, and very scabby. If he has a neck rug then he looses a lot of mane & it must make his neck sensitive, and his rugs will rub his shoulders & quarters if I'm not careful. Now, this year I've been super careful - the heaviest rug he's had on is a med weight (and JUST a med weight, no under rugs or anything), and I swap between his turnout & stable rug, and only put a neck on his turnout if it's raining badly. I did try leaving him in his turnout 24/7 - obviously taking it off & giving him a good groom once a day, and it doesn't slip at all - as he was being turned out by the yard staff who don't do rug changes, but he began to get scabby within a few days, went back to popping his stable rug on at night (which is the same weight!) and he was fine again. He's a bit odd! He has fairly good quality rugs too, Weatherbeetas & Amigos. At the moment though, he's got no scabby bits & no rubs, for the first year! He just eats more haylage than ever
So, now I'm not sure what to try next year.
- Turn him out naked, let him get fluffy, just live with the fact I'm not going to ride even if I get time (wont have an arena, he's not really one for hacking) until I can move him back onto a yard. Also, likely lose my space on a nice yard (but save money on fuel as I currently have no choice but to go to yard twice, simply because of rug change issue!)
- Turn out but clip/rug. Look at buying rugs with liners that I can change daily & wash regularly, to try and help keep him at right temp & rugs clean to prevent scabbyness!
- Keep at yard, don't clip, let him get fluffy & don't rug at all, still with option to ride lightly if I get time (but he's never not been rugged through winter, although lives out naked in summer!)
- Keep at yard, clip, rug the same as this year
- Keep at yard, clip, try rug with liners (changed liner every day/every few days) and therefore hopefully save on fuel & hassle, can still ride when I want & hopefully have less bloody rugs to store!
Feels like far too many things to consider/weigh up to me. Mostly, I just want Dan to be comfortable though. At the minute he only has two med-weights - a stable & a turnout, which limits me a bit on keeping them clean, but I can't afford to regularly send them for washing anyway, and our washing machine is only small. I could take them to my Dads but a) I think he'd be a bit miffed, and b) it's a 2hr round trip, and ideally I'd dry them there too really as he has much more space than us (tiny flat, not best for drying our clothes let alone 5'9 rugs!) so would mean two trips, unless I could get him to visit us
Would liners be any less bulky though? Never had a rug with liners so have no idea, don't know how they tend to work as far as attaching to the rug either. I prefer not to have lots of buckles & things as they cause more rubs, which is why I haven't used cotton sheets under the rugs this year, they just seem to make things worse. Don't want to end up with no extra layers though either in case temps do drop dramatically.
So confused!