rug? no rug? can't decide

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Kittykins

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Rode, fed, spent about 5 minutes staring at the sky thinking "it's fairly warm... but it looks like it's going to rain... and the wind is getting up... but it's warm...", whilst she stood in the stable looking at me as if to say "am I going out or what?"

She went out without the rug on. I shall probably spend half the night thinking "wonder if i should have put that rug on".

Horses, eh? Who'd own 'em?
 
Hi!
Do you know, it depends what sort of horse you have. I have a fine coated TB who is naked tonight! When it rained a lot, he was stabled as he was cold. He is generally in during the day and out at night. At the end of the day, wearing a light weight rug over night is not going to terrible for him if you get the weather wrong.
You will become a regular BBC weather and metcheck observer. All part of being conscientious horse owner! You will be fine!! xx
 
Ah ha! Thank you, Kirstyl, I suspected as much. :)

It was only a light weight thing I was thinking of as it got a little chilly last night with all the rain we had, but I think she'll be fine without.
 
Good lord, my pet hate.
Not aimed at OP but horses have waterproof coats!!.

Just because you are cold DOES NOT mean your neddy is!

One of mine is a fine coated TB and he coped just fine in the recent downpours.

Horses can regulate their own heat. You will do more damage to a horse if they are to hot and cant cool themselves down.

Again - NOT aimed at OP
 
guido16 said:
Good lord, my pet hate.
Not aimed at OP but horses have waterproof coats!!.

Just because you are cold DOES NOT mean your neddy is!

One of mine is a fine coated TB and he coped just fine in the recent downpours.

Horses can regulate their own heat. You will do more damage to a horse if they are to hot and cant cool themselves down.

Again - NOT aimed at OP
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Agree with all that, one of my pet hates too!
 
Def no rugs here too! That said it does depend on the horse and will take you a while to get to know what your new horse needs. One of ours is a super softie and gets shivery when wet even if it is fairly warm. The other really runs warm and will be rugless until it is below about 12 unless it really tips it down and there is a wind too as otherwise I would just be cooking her! Just takes a while to get to know what she needs. Generally though I would say she would need rugging less than you think. Just because you are cold it certainly doesn't mean she is too. She will have a smashing central heating system and a very good waterproof coat!
Congrats on your new horse too, v exciting!
 
Depp_by_Chocolate said:
Agree with all that, one of my pet hates too!
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Me too. Not aimed at OP but why, oh why, are there some who think that they must have rugs. They are animals, they have hair, they have grease in their coats. They are designed to live out. If they get a bit chilly they have a bomb round to warm up. But in this weather......I mean it is 15 degrees at night!!!

I have to say I do not watch they weather forecasts/temperature forecasts and do not have endless debates as to whether to put on a light/medium/heavy rug. Whether to neck on or no neck. In winter they are rugged and adjusted as necessary I use my common sense.

But then some may think I am cruel and unfeeling.............not really just less tolerant as I get older I suppose. But again I guess if you have just got horse and you don 't know then best to ask :)
 
Thanks. :)

If it had been warm but a raining lightly I wouldn't have thought so much about it, or warm with a breeze I wouldn't have thought so much about it - it was more the combination of wet and a bit windy that made me wonder, because obviously when you're wet and then the wind blows, it feels much cooler than it is.

As I say, she went out without one and seems to be alright. It's further complicated by the fact that, as she's on part livery, I don't see her in the mornings so I'm not sure if she's coming in a little chilly or not, but have to rely on the staff to give their opinion.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll figure it out as we go along. I'm sort of taking my cues from what others on the yard with similar beasties are doing.
 
My general rule is that if the temperatures are in double figures then they don't need a rug unless there is a complete monsoon and a howling gale.

I'll admit that D was in a lw TO for quite alot of last summer as it rained so much but this year Lil's probably only had hers on a handful of times.
 
Thank goodness for people with some sense!!

If you rug up now how many layers will the poor animal have to cope with in February! As someone said, horses have waterproof coats with hairs that stand up to trap air and keep them warm. The only rug I'd use in summer is a fly rug if they were suffering. Give the poor creatures a few months where they can be a horse and enjoy feeling the air on their coats, and have a good roll. My mare events and manages perfectly well without rugs.. Usually if a horse doesn't do well without rugs its because someone has "made" them soft by over rugging. People humanise their horses too much nowadays, or are too lazy to groom them properly - hence rugging. Someone was going on about how worried they were that their welshie was too fat - yet it was rugged up! Let it use some calories keeping itself warm....

Sorry - this wasn't a rant at OP (enjoy your new horse!) but as you can tell its my pet hate too!!
 
I'm another member of the "over rugging hate club" but well done to the OP for wanting to learn. It is true that horses cope much better with very cold weather if it is dry, it is the cold and rain that they don't get on so well with. The emphasis is on COLD and wet which in my view is about 5oC.

Horses don't melt in the rain but given that one of my unrugged youngsters is now 17.2 and still growing I rather wish they would!
 
Me too. Not aimed at OP but why, oh why, are there some who think that they must have rugs. They are animals, they have hair, they have grease in their coats. They are designed to live out. If they get a bit chilly they have a bomb round to warm up. But in this weather......I mean it is 15 degrees at night!!!

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see,now my pet hate is people who rug by time of year not current temp! july it may be, but there have been some chilly days and rotten wet nights recently and im sure your horses would rather have a lw sheet on to keep the damp/breeze off than have to stand and shiver.
and to deal with the above point by point:

*my horses DONT have greasy coats because they are competition horses and are thus kept immaculate and bathed often.

* i dont want my horses bombing round any more than neccesary as most injures happen in the field. i dont agree with keeping them stabled to avoid that,so they do go out, but why oh why would i want them charging round to warm up, presumably in the rain, when ground is slippy?! makes no sense at all........

*designed to live out-yes, originally.......but designed to be washed and brushed, ridden to a sweat and then left rugless living out-no.

and to clarify, im talking about just a light sheet here.mine have been in LW's today (out) and are in thick cotton sheets tonight(in), so hardly over rugged.
 
looks like you are getting some good advice. Would like to add that a horses skin can still be dry even when his coat is wet. I know riding horses that never ever wear a rug and in the same stable there is an arab that needs a rug very often (and gets it), they are all stabled at night. Good luck with getting to know your new horse!
 
But when it is down to 8 or 9C at night (and possibly torrential rain) I think a rain sheet is quite acceptable. Some horses just do feel the cold more than others. I hate to see horses over rugged, particularly the showing brigade who rug up heavily all the year round but we need to use common sense here. Obviously we would all like our horses to be as natural as possible but there will the odd occasion when a rug is necessary for certain individuals. We sadly don't have field shelters (or much shelter at all in our fields)
 
Oh dear........I think I have upset Prince33Sp4rkle. I was only talking generally.

If you wash your horse so often that you remove all it's natural protection I think that does more harm than good, irrespective of whether it is a competition horse or not. I pity it if it never gets the chance to have a scoot round and totally disagree that it would always need a rug if it is brushed, worked, sweated and washed. However we are all different and I have no doubt that your horses are extremely well looked after.

I am just a bit old fashioned I guess and treat my horses as animals and try to leave them as nature intended for as long as possible. We are all different.
 
Ditchjumper2 - I`m a bit like you.
I evented one of my horses every weekend and hunted her (and yes, she was immaculate at events). Still managed to allow her out without a rug and certainly didnt wash her every week. A wash down - yes, full bath- no.

She lived out and was/is a very happy horse

Granted she is a good doer but I have had her since a baby so she hasnt been pampered. She lives out and is rugged in the worst weather.

Over rugging does more harm IMO
 
my horse is in 24/7 with a cotton sheet on call me cruel but I don't want him wasting energy maintaining body temp or running around to keep bloody warm. Yes there animals, but the whole stupid debate about leave them natural you can't say that when you whack them in a trailor ride them and feed them?!
 
agree 200% oscarsmum.......there is also the issue that i spend a lot of time getting my horses diet just right for his needs and dont want to waste money with him shivering it off every day!
i also spend my schooling working towards keeping him soft over the back and relaxed,and having to stand hunched against the rain and wind for hours does not help that at all.

dont get me wrong, i know not ALL horses need rugging and when the flies are not too bad in spring and autumn mine DO go out totally naked, im talking about those random chilly wet summer days when people seem determinded the horse should be ok "because its july" when on the same temp/conditions day in say march or october they would have no issue rugging.there is a definate lack of common sense sometimes.
 
Oscarsmum said:
my horse is in 24/7 with a cotton sheet on call me cruel but I don't want him wasting energy maintaining body temp or running around to keep bloody warm. Yes there animals, but the whole stupid debate about leave them natural you can't say that when you whack them in a trailor ride them and feed them?!
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Why are you keeping your horse in for 24 hours a day?
 
Oscarsmum said:
my horse is in 24/7 with a cotton sheet on call me cruel but I don't want him wasting energy maintaining body temp or running around to keep bloody warm. Yes there animals, but the whole stupid debate about leave them natural you can't say that when you whack them in a trailor ride them and feed them?!
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Are you joking? There's a world of difference between putting a rug on when not strictly needed and keeping them stabled 24/7.
 
Wasting energy maintaining body heat?

What??????

How warm does it need to be? good god, its a horse, not a tropical fish!!!!

And this aint the place for me to start the debate on 24/7 stabling

The "stupid" as you call it debate about keeping them natural referes to giving them time off!

Just like you get from your work.

Why dont you try living in your bathroom 24/7 for a few months. Let me know how you get on
 
Kittykins said:
Are you joking? There's a world of difference between putting a rug on when not strictly needed and keeping them stabled 24/7.
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Because he performs better, he gets limited turnout for approx an hour everyday, put on the walker and ridden. He loves it. Its not just about heat its about keeping cool, i don't want him trying to cool down the whole day and wasting the food I put in him.
 
All my rugs have gone in for cleaning and reproofing so I don't have any to use just now - so mine are without rugs, case of having to be really!

I have got some old spares just in case we have a monsoon or something but generally they are without rugs now til sept time!
 
Oscarsmum said:
Because he performs better, he gets limited turnout for approx an hour everyday, put on the walker and ridden. He loves it. Its not just about heat its about keeping cool, i don't want him trying to cool down the whole day and wasting the food I put in him.
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So he isnt in 24/7

Out of interest, if he has never been allowed to be at grass longer, how do you know he "performs better"
 
im not great with rugs and all tht as i dont have my own horse but i wud say it depends on the horse and the rug. maybe a light rug or something if its a bit chilly? or no rug at all.? maybe ask someone who had horses and would knoww:) everyone here tht posted on the fourm is prob right tho :P good luck with ur new horse:D x
 
guido16 said:
So he isnt in 24/7

Out of interest, if he has never been allowed to be at grass longer, how do you know he "performs better"
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He has hes been out 24/7, and didn't 'sleep' he would come in tired and lerthargic, he's also been out in the day in at night and visa versa. He would still be lerthargic and not want to be out!
 
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