Rug weights today/ last night - horse type and rug type

[ApolloStorm]

13yo TB unclipped but fairly thin coat but a good weight, living out in an ancient 200g ( probably more likely 100/150 now), coming in tonight and will be in a 150g stable overnight. its not dipped below zero here yet so I'm not worried, its the persistent rain which is making him cold. When it dips ill put him in a 250 with a neck, but unless it gets truly bad or I decide to clip I doubt he'll be seeing his heavyweight this year!

 

[lottiepony]

15.1hh 8yo cob, 14.3hh 10yo connie & 10.1hh 10yo shetland, all in their winter woolies, good weight and haven't worn a rug yet. I also hope they will do the whole winter with no rugs. Only perhaps if I need to keep one clean prior to an outing lol. They have some natural shelter and I hay as I see fit but at the moment still plenty of grass to keep them busy eating and keeping themselves warm.

17hh 4yo PBA gone away to nearby stud to winter out and he will remain unrugged. He will have access to big barn shelter. Compared to the above hairies his coat looked like nothing but before him going on friday he hadn't had a rug on once either and was coping fine.

 

[Horsekaren]

Ah i do feel better now glad everyone else is on a similar page. I got right up in his armpit and couldnt feel anything, not cold not hot just felt like touching my own arm so i guess he could have had slightly warmer on and not melted. just wanted to be sure he wasnt chilly as despite being a chunky boy he doenst need to lose any weight. Ive seen him cold once and it blew his brain, shivering, wet through, trying to kick me everytime i tried to catch him, screaming and bombing around in a tizz (summer rain that took a nasty turn when i was at work so couldnt get to him)

 

[MDB]

Lows of 5C here. All 3 of mine (3 yr old, 12 and 16) are unclipped and unrugged. I will only rug in the most extreme weather, eg driving rain or sleet with high winds and low temperatures. It can be -10C here and dry and they are perfectly fine unrugged.

 

[Meredith]

I live in a cold pocket on a hill and the frost hasn’t lifted all day. I have no idea of the temperature but buckets frozen over and roads icy.

15.2 approx. part cob fully clipped but needing doing again as sweaty when worked is wearing a Snuggy hood and neck, an under sheet to keep the outdoor rug a bit cleaner inside and an elderly middle weight (200 gm ?? ) Rhino Wug. She is comfortably warm to touch but with a no-fill she gets cold. I will put a heavy rug on when she has her next clip if the temperature does not improve considerably. I have rugs and quilts enough to mix and match for everything I have ever needed.

 

[TreeDog]

Mine is unclipped, was in a 100g stable last night. Outdoors usually a rainsheet if it's raining, but has a bucas stay-dry (no fill with fleece lining) for when very wet/cold/windy. He's on assisted livery so the yard turns out - the other night I put his bucas on overnight partly to save the yard from rug changes and as I thought he would need it the next day, wet and cold forecast, but the yard changed him to turn out in his rainsheet anyway *shrug* I'm guessing he'll have gone out in the rainsheet again today. I trust the yard to be sensible, I try not worry about him getting a little too cold or warm, after all weather fluctuates and is not always predicatable! He does start sweating quickly if he's too warm though so I always rather him be cooler than warmer.

 

[Red-1]

400 already? What about when the weather gets colder?

Well the 200 was not warm enough, it was sleet this morning and ice on the windows, so wet and cold. TBH, I was brought up where outdoor rugs only came in one strength, wool with canvas. So, when it gets colder she will have the addition of the neck cover and otherwise be just fine.

The year it went down to -16 (Brrrrr) I did put an additional rug on for the one and only time. Other than that we just have the not so cold rug and the cold rug... which is one more variance than when I was a kid!

 

[9tails]

They have a great big internal furnace that, as long as the hay is shoveled in, will keep them warmer than us. I increase hay rather than drastically rugging up when it turns a bit chilly. It's only 0 or at most -1 in Essex.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

B had a blanket clip today and is out tonight in a 100gm Rhino with no neck because it isn't due to rain. He was toasty when I put him out and he has a nice big pile of hay. DP has had his normal bib and girth done and is in a rain sheet to keep him clean more than anything else. Rugs will come off tomorrow morning when they come in for breakfast and a snooze.

 

[flying_high]

They have a great big internal furnace that, as long as the hay is shoveled in, will keep them warmer than us. I increase hay rather than drastically rugging up when it turns a bit chilly. It's only 0 or at most -1 in Essex.

My horses have as much hay as they can eat any time stabled. But that doesn't stop them being cold at times, and needing more rugs. Maybe I don't have very greedy horses.

 

[Meredith]

I live in a cold pocket on a hill and the frost hasn’t lifted all day. I have no idea of the temperature but buckets frozen over and roads icy.

15.2 approx. part cob fully clipped but needing doing again as sweaty when worked is wearing a Snuggy hood and neck, an under sheet to keep the outdoor rug a bit cleaner inside and an elderly middle weight (200 gm ?? ) Rhino Wug. She is comfortably warm to touch but with a no-fill she gets cold. I will put a heavy rug on when she has her next clip if the temperature does not improve considerably. I have rugs and quilts enough to mix and match for everything I have ever needed.

They have a great big internal furnace that, as long as the hay is shoveled in, will keep them warmer than us. I increase hay rather than drastically rugging up when it turns a bit chilly. It's only 0 or at most -1 in Essex.

My horses have as much hay as they can eat any time stabled. But that doesn't stop them being cold at times, and needing more rugs. Maybe I don't have very greedy horses.

It is one of those “ horses for courses” decisions I think
I was born in Essex and kept my horse there for over 15 years. In that time he had a green canvas New Zealand and a jute rug. He was never cold.
Now I live in Shropshire and it is a completely different climate. We have no sunshine because of the hill for 3 months of the year hence today’s frost not lifting and therefore I use many more combinations of rugs and quilts.
I always feed plenty of hay too.

 

[Araby]

Arab, unclipped really fluffy, until recently naked in day and sheet at night unless rain forecast, then 50g (doesn't do rain). 50% Arab x (mainly TB crosses), no winter coat to speak of yet, recently 50g day and 100g with neck night. Now both in 100g day and night, Arab without a neck, Arab x with neck as he seems to feel colder. Arab doesn't really care about temperatures and I'm probably being over cautious, but he is a miserable sod if I get it wrong and it rains with sideways winds!
Edit: Both out 365 24/7 with ad lib hay and a shelter

 

[Pearlsasinger]

The weather here was not as forecast today. About 11.00 am the fog came down and never lifted, it drizzled continuously we also had 2 0r 3 very heavy showers and I considered bringing the unrugged horses in early. However when we did bring them in, just after 5, I was delighted to find that their own natural coats had done their job and both, although keen to come in were absolutely fine. If I had known how wet it was going to be I would have rugged them before they went out but I am glad I didn't, as it won't hurt either of them to lose a bit of weight

As there was no wind, there was nowhere where the horses could shelter from the weather but they did have plenty to eat.

 

[Surbie]

-3 outside where my horse was and -1 in the barn where he's stabled. He's got a new chaser clip through his very thick coat and was in a 50g turnout last night. At 10pm his ears and armpits were warm, and he had 8kg hay put in to fuel the furnace. This morning there was about 4kg left. None of the poos were loose.

I think it varies so much from horse to horse and yours will be different to others. I'd rather have mine slightly on the cooler side than too warm, and he always has lots of hay.

 

[Pinkvboots]

The last few days since the temperature has dropped the fully clipped Arab is in a half neck 200g at night, unclipped Arab is in a 100g at night they are both out most of the time only coming in if ridden, they get plenty of hay and seem happy and warm they 're both a good weight.

 

[hellfire]

4 good doers one mini Shetland that's a woos in the cold and damp has his lightweight on or he shivers. Other standard shetland, fell X Welsh and Welsh D all naked with no clip unless it's cold and wet then they have lightweights on. It's 3deg here. If we get a lot of rain now then they'll go on. They do have a big shelter but often choose not to go in even though there's hay in there. My fields also have a lot of natural shelter which helps them no matter what way the winds blowing.

 

[spugs]

Fully clipped Tb in a 250g with neck and unclipped tb in a 100g with no neck. Ancient welsh unclipped pony is in a 50g. It’s going back up a couple of degrees in morning so they’ll be back in a 100g and no fill/naked possibly. They’re out 24/7 good shelter and ad lib hay

 

[C1airey]

-6 this morning and fog so thick you plait it. My 17yo Welsh with a blanket clip had a MW on overnight but I could tell as soon as I saw his head over the door that he was cold so swapped for HW. He was a perfect temp when I brought him in this evening. We were actually forecast -1 last night, so it was a shock to everyone’s system: the fog made everything feel significantly colder.

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

I've got a 14.3 middleweight cob; 4 years old. She is out 24/7 on hilly pasture but has a shelter and natural shelter of trees and walls. She has an Irish clip and is out with a weatherbeeta no fill sheet with a neck. She is plenty warm enough now

 

[Haphazardhacker]

Criollo, 18 years old unclipped, good doer. Stabled at night, naked 24/7 unless rain due to be set in all day.

 

[Haphazardhacker]

If you are ever unsure the best thing to do it to go for a lighter weight rug or even no rug but make sure ad-lib forage is available. Horses have many ways of warming up but not so many ways to cool down. Also remember they feel cold at a lot lower a temperature then we do, so just because you feel cold doesn’t mean they do.

 

[DabDab]

Unclipped native - unrugged
Unclipped, but no winter coat to speak of, doesn't hold weight well and feels the cold sports horse - 200g
Unclipped and fluffy like a bear draughty type wb with pssm - 150g

The latter two always have more hay than they can eat, and the native shares their hay in the day and then whatever she can forage in her wooded patch at night (mainly bits of hedge and the odd blade of grass).

 

[albeg]

17yo, fully clipped, out 24/7, rugged in a 250g half neck. Was in a 200g but it leaks in rain like we had earlier in the week so I had to change it. Will assess when I'm down with him and may swap back.

 

[Casey76]

It’s no good asking what other people do; you have to learn your own horse.

You are rugging, not to make the horse warm, but to stop it from being cold. Therefore, when you feel your horse (behind the elbow and between hind legs if unrugged, or behind wither and on the kidney if rugged, they should be cool to touch but not warm.

As each horse is an individual, some horses prefer to be warmer, especially if they are old or sick.

Look for changes in attitude as a guide also. Horses may become grumpy and snappish if they are too cold.

Another thing to look for is hay consumption. a cold horse will eat much more hay in an effort to warm up.

 

[windand rain]

What I find odd is putting a lower weight rug on at night in a stable where they cannnot move about to keep warm and the temperature is lower anyway than during the day when turned out in what is usually warmer weather and they can move to keep warm but perhaps my thinking is a bit odd. Anyway in answer to your question if your horse is warm enough is eating and moving about not standing in a corner tucked up you are probably doing fine as less is more with rugging. I have two old ponies that wear 100 grm rugs as they are starting to stand around more and feel the cold and I don't want them losing weight as it is hard to get back on oldies. Both are a little arthritic too so keeping warm keeps them more comfortable out 24/7. The two younger ones are out 24/7 naked

 

[Leo Walker]

14.2/3hh cob, fully clipped 8 weeks ago so grown back now. She has lots of super soft fuzzy hair, very fine coated for a cob. Shes still fatter than I would like and out 24/7 in a big field that's fairly exposed but with sheltered areas if they seek them out. She has a no fill. Shes a good temperature even at 6am and -3.

 

[Antw23uk]

Rain sheets came off at 0700 this morning ... its mild enough, no rain forecast ... I will regret this because they will be mud monsters by the time i get home!

 

[skint1]

Fully clipped (Except legs and saddle patch) Cob of Indeterminate Celtic Origin 16.2ish about 720kg horse- in at night out by day- light work 3/4 days a week 18yo- has Cushings and various arthritic joints (luckily all under good control)
Yard is on the Ridgeway and quite exposed, usually 2-3c colder there than in the town. It has been some combination of snowy, rainy, windy this whole week
Night time- a half neck Falpro stable rug- possibly 300g Daytime- mostly a 200g combo or a 100g standard turnout

 

[Neversaydie]

Unclipped native, nothing unless bad wind and rain forecast. Then just a 100g to keep the bulk dry, good grazing and good weight. In at night now getting balancer and hay