Rug MINEFIELD!!! Help needed

Tifferss

Tifferss

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Hi

I've been reading up on which rug to get for my horse - he winters out and has a very thick coat (haflinger x shire) i want to trace clip him so i can school him in the winter. My main concern is keeping his belly warm enough and not having a rug that pulls on his withers - im confused about which turn out to buy -
do i need heavyweight because hes used to his own very thick coat or because he has a thick coat do i need a lightwieght one -
how do i know if hes too cold ?
do i need a full neck ill be cliping a thin line up his throat? do i need a half neck thing to stop pressure on his withers?

Please help
 
Id probably op for a medium weight, I would also go for a half neck (i find theses rub less on the wither) and I would recommend Weatherbeeta as they are nice deep rugs. If hes nippy, you can always put a fleece underneath.

Lou x
 
You are not taking his back off, so absolutely NOT a HW. What is he out in now or is he unrugged? If he is unrugged then the most you should put on him is a MW and a light one at that.
 
Prob not much help but I have the same dilemma!

I have a hairy cob with a trace clip. At the moment he's out in a medium weight, no neck. Most of the time he's got his head in the grass so that kind of covers his neck if that makes sense? I only got him in sept and i've never needed to use his heavy weight - i think he'd be roasting in it. When it was really cold (-10, etc) i had him in his med with neck.

I toyed with buying a lightweight rug 100g, since he has a good coat, but was told that the rug flattens their coat and it doesnt insulate as it would without the rug so i stuck with the medium. If the weathers not bad, I still pop him out in a rainsheet.

Although everyday i still stress about what to put on him... it is a minefield indeed!!
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I think it depends on what the weather is! I have a NF pony living out who is also very wooly (i think he is part mammouth) and he has a chaser clip.

This year has been exceptionally cold with snow and going well into the -'s at night and not above freezing during the day. So he has been wearing his HW rambo wug. However when it was milder in early November 16C he had his LW rhino Wug. Then when it was cold but not - he was wearing his MW.

If you are worried about his tummy being cold you will find that most rugs do not cover the whole tummy. I think Mark Todd's are quite deep but they don't fit my pony.
 
Excellent advice people!

So how can i tell quickly if hes too cold? i dont want him dropping condition

What neck do you think? half or full?
 
to tell if he is cold feel his elbow or his ears, if they feel warm he is ok. I have a med weight full neck weatherbeta on 15 hand TB mare, she is out 4 days a week on a welsh hill field she is fine.
 
Scooby was fully clipped (except head and legs... is that a hunter clip? I'm rubbish with clips
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) in October, but it's all grown out now and he looks like a wooly mammoth, and he has been out 24/7 throughout the snow and freezing weather in a lightweight with no neck. I tried putting a heavier one on him because I thought he'd get cold, but he started scratching (whenever he's too warm, he gets itchy) so I switched back. He's perfectly comfortable - he never feels cold when I check on him, and isn't rubbing himself raw now! It won't be long before I'll be having to put him out naked... dreading that though, he'll get soooo muddy.
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I'd say the lighter the better - and if you're worried he's getting too cold (if the base of his ears feel cold) put a fleece underneath or switch to a heavier one.
 
When I say LW I mean a rain sheet so a no fill rug on a clipped pony when 16c in November. I know some people might think it was not enough - he has a high chaser clip (his neck was completely furless) though cooler at night it was still mild most of the day even if it was rainy.

What sort of neck you will need will depend on how much fur you have taken off and how thick and long his mane is. I tend to have half necks for mine because he has all of his neck hair off and half his face but has a thick mane. I do also have so no neck ones for when it is mild.

I think a lot will depend on where you live and what how your horse keeps it weight on and how much shelter you have - in some areas it was going down to -17 this year which is cold with the wind and snow as well. One of my friends had two HWs on her unclipped exmoor as she lost a lot of weight and was on an exposed hill. Our fields are more sheltered but when there was heavy snow and it was v cold most of the non clipped natives were in MW's and mine being clipped was in a HW.

I think it is hard to generalise as it will depend on the individual as well as the weather - I tend to check base of ears and armpit to detect cold.
 
Forgot to say not all HW rugs are the same weight for example the premier equine one is 450g which would be miles to hot for my pony and their mediums are 300g whilst mine are 200g.

My LW has no filling but you can get ones that are still called LW with 100g or 150g fillings!
 
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ok - thanks people - i have gleemed from this that i need a MW Half neck that is deep...... hurrah!

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If you want a rug that fulfills the above criteria I would go for a Rambo Wug XL. You can't beat a Rambo, especially for horses living out as they are warm, breathable, tough and waterproof. The XL is cut deeper to keep the belly warm. I've got one of these in the MW and highly recommend it.
 
Weezy.... you'll be disgusted with me then.
My unclipped Shetland is in a heavyweight Rambo when its freezing and wet / snowy.
He also has a medium weight, and a no fill rug for warmer wet days.
In his defence, he's 24yrs old, stabled at night all year round (kept in the same routine as the horses) and has been known to wear a stable rug when it's been -5 and windy as his stable door is a metal gate. It would be cruel to turn him our rugless in bad weather as he's softer due to being stabled at night for the last 15 yrs.
He has been turned out without in the past, but he get cold, huddles under the wall and wants to come in if he sees you - even at the start of Autumn before he starts to be rugged (he's the complete opposite if he's rugged i.e doesn't want to come in)

All horses are different, some are hotter than others and I find it's trial and error with the individual.
My mums Holstein wears a medium weight stable rug 24/7 underneath either his heavyweight stable rug, or heavyweight turnout rug with full neck in winter.
Both look really well, have beautiful coats, and are a credit to my mums care - and no, he's not a show horse. They are at home and are checked last thing so we're able to chop and change attire to suit - again using the ears, armpit and hand under the rug as a guide. My parents property is also on an exposed hillside.

Everyone has their own ways of keeping horses..... and I might not like seeing a cold (and what I deem) an under ruggedhorse, but I wouldn't critisise or question it.
 
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When I say LW I mean a rain sheet so a no fill rug on a clipped pony when 16c in November. I know some people might think it was not enough - he has a high chaser clip (his neck was completely furless) though cooler at night it was still mild most of the day even if it was rainy.


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No way did I think it wasn't enough, I thought having any kind of rug on an unclipped horse was ridiculous at that temp but now I know he was clipped
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