Rugging and yard peer pressure!

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So, Ive just got myself a nice 9 year old Irish Draught who I had planned to leave un-rugged until the temperature gets to below zero/its horrendous.

She lives out 24/7 at present and has plenty of grazing, though I do have a stable for very bad weather. She is a decent weight with decent fat coverage. Her paddock has a bit of shelter (its hilly and has some trees to stand under). I don't plan on clipping her or grooming excessively (to keep the natural oils in her coat).

Everyone at my yard has started rugging and one or two people look a bit shocked when I tell them Ill not rug until its below zero. Am I being terribly cruel by not rugging my horse?

My priority is my horses welfare, rather than what others are doing but I am worried that I'm being a bit harsh.

 

[claireandnadia]

Sounds like you are making the right decision. If you visit daily, you can rug or not rug accordingly. If they've got plenty to eat, they will keep themselves warm anyway. I don't over rug but I do add a no fill rug on the days where it is heavy rain.

 

[milliepops]

On some yards, you'll find that people have opinions on EVERYTHING you do with your horse. so get used to ignoring them, if you are happy with the decision you've made and your horse is doing well.

Mine are unclipped and unrugged at the moment, still in work but I'm on holiday next week and it's just easier for my friend to manage them if they don't need faffing about with rugs. They are looking well and feeling well and I know they are fine. Everyone else is rugging theirs. Whatever.

I'm intending to keep my retired horses unrugged all winter if I can, they are busy growing thick coats and have lots of shelter. If it gets too rough on them then they have good wardrobes available but if they don't need them, why add extra work.

 

[SEL]

Nah - judge it by your horse. If you leave her out and she starts looking miserable then she might want a rug. If not, then you're fine.

I had the opposite problem at one of my old yards. My mare has an underlying issue which means she needs to be on the warmer side so rugs go on early. One of the other liveries used to ask me (in that tone of voice) if I was 'sure I wanted to be rugging her?' No matter how many times I explained that S should not be used as a rugging benchmark by anyone with a normal healthy horse, she still gave me grief!

 

[turkana]

Take no notice - I'm on a yard with ruggers, I've had comments but I ignore them.
Be confident in your decision (which I know isn't easy) & hopefully they will wind their necks in.

 

[teddypops]

It hasn’t got anything to do with anyone else, so ignore the comments. However, your horse is new to you, she might need rugging before it gets to 0. You have to judge this on the individual horse and see how things go.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Tbh, it's not great to use fixed ideas on a new horse on rugging or anything else. Why refuse to rug til it gets to below 0c? Why not see how she does? She may or may not be ok without a rug depending on the weather. Deal with the horse in front of you, not to some pre conceived ideal of how you wish to manage her.

 

[be positive]

It hasn’t got anything to do with anyone else, so ignore the comments. However, your horse is new to you, she might need rugging before it gets to 0. You have to judge this on the individual horse and see how things go.

This, I would play it by ear and take no notice of what others think but think your response of not rugging until it gets to 0% is probably unrealistic and may be why the liveries are questioning you, my reply would be " I will rug when she needs one" which is a far better response and should be more readily accepted, nothing here is rugged yet although I have put one on a few times in the wet weather but I expect to have them all wearing rugs before they get to the stage where they are dropping weight or looking miserable.

 

[Shutterbug]

Do your thing and ignore everyone else. If anyone offers unsolicited advise, listen and then do what you want.

 

[meleeka]

Tbh, it's not great to use fixed ideas on a new horse on rugging or anything else. Why refuse to rug til it gets to below 0c? Why not see how she does? She may or may not be ok without a rug depending on the weather. Deal with the horse in front of you, not to some pre conceived ideal of how you wish to manage her.

This. Just reply with “I’m seeing how she goes and will rug her when she needs it”. She may be fine all winter without or you may find she does need one at some point.

The other day it was chilly here. My car said 14 degrees but the wind chill made it feel much colder. My oldie had a 50g on but If it were 10 degrees and sunny she’d be fine. My cob has one when it’s forecast to rain for more than a couple of hours, other than that he’s fine In temperatures well below freezing without one.

 

[MyBoyChe]

If its any consolation, I can feel the disapproving looks from 50 paces. My highland has been fully clipped since August, clip Number 3 planned for this week. He is still out 24/7 and naked, apart from 1 night last week when it was predicted to go below freezing, he got a lw sheet that night. He hasnt lost weight, he isnt tucked up, he's as happy as Larry. he has trees and a huge hedge for shelter and is doing just fine. Hes having no feed as yet either. I have a wonderful selection of rugs for him, I do love a rug bargain, but until it gets much wetter and colder he will not be wearing them. Personally I have to fight my desire to rug him, I do love to see a horse all tucked up and snug and when I owned my TB it was fine, he felt the cold and needed a bit more help, this one does not so I have to stand firm and ignore the looks

 

[Hormonal Filly]

You know your horse, do as you wish, stuff what others think. Mind i agree on the above, go with the horse.. if its 5 degrees and horse is cold, rug it. Don't say 'oh its not below 0 so not rugging it' as it sounds from your post. You don't know the horse yet, previous owner could of not rugged it, or rugged it to its eyeballs.. time will tell what its use to..
I don't like the thought of mine getting cold specially as they have nice muscle tone and look good so rather clip and rug (and they sweat terribly)

It seems theres always a mix at yards, judging by my previous yard you've got the normal folk who seem to understand there horse and what rug they require.. then theres the under ruggers who clip their lovely horses completely out (and i'm talking about finer breeds!) and put them out naked in below 3 degree temperatures during the day and wonder why they can't hold weight, the over ruggers who don't clip and chuck a heavy weight on their cob (as it feels cold to them) and wonder why they're sweating? Lol! You can't please everyone!

 

[Hollychops]

My oldie (38 yrs) is rugged but only cos she loses condition quickly. The other one (26 yrs) isnt as she has more than enough podge to keep her warm for a while. I would do what you feel is best for your horse and not what others think you should do. Each horse is different. I had a mare that would scratch if she got too hot and rub herself bald! You will soon know if she needs a rug or not.

 

[LaurenBay]

You have to rug to each individual Horses needs. If you do not know your Horse as they are new to you they may need rugging earlier then when it gets to 0. On the other hand they may not need it at all.

Mine is fully retired but has arthritis so I try to keep her warm. She is still naked at the moment but has had a rug on twice in the last 3 weeks as we had 2 days with torrential rain and winds. She is growing a nice thick coat but if I feel she needs a rug when and if the weather turns then she will have one on. I sometimes get scoffed at as people say I shouldn't rug a retired Horse who grows a natural coat like my mare does.

 

[Merrymoles]

I usually answer anyone who questions my rugging choices that I will rug the minute he starts to drop weight - which won't be unless and until it gets really cold. I do usually stick a rain sheet on if it's going to chuck it down for a few hours but really that's just to make me feel better when I'm lying in bed and the rain is bouncing off the roof.

I will probably rug during the worse of the winter just to keep him clean and dry enough to ride but don't have any set temperatures that I wait for.

Would you accept these other people telling you what to feed your horse?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I remember this issue on a yard!! I had a TB but he wasn’t a cold wimpy type and had rugs that were appropriate for him. The amount of times I was told he needed more, needed a duvet under his rug etc etc.
I love being on my own place in that way. Mine are naked and will stay naked until it’s yuck!
I have one in a 100g over night who’s been ill and dropped off.
Stick to your guns! Your horse

 

[Sophire]

Just absolutely get on with what you want to do. People always have an opinion on rugging, and you just have to get on with it sometimes.

 

[ester]

I'd agree with others that say actually you don't know this horse as you just got it so will have to see how it goes rather than pick a random temperature to rug at. I'd be surprised if someone came out with that as their plan for their new horse too.

 

[Annagain]

This is what I like about my yard. We all treat our horses as individuals and don't care what others do/ think. There are 12 horses on our yard. 4 are rugged so far (1 clipped, and 3 unclipped total wusses). Another 4 will be rugged accordingly once weather gets wet (my two greys for cleanliness more than anything) or they get clipped and the other 4 will be naked all winter. Only 1 of those 4 is ridden occasionally and the other 3 are fat, happy, muddy and retired. Last year there was also a retired TB. He was rugged up to the eyeballs because he needed to be. Nobody ever says a word to anyone else about the way they look after their horses.

 

[jumbyjack]

My Shetland is wearing a full neck 100g rug, it does raise some eyebrows. Problem is she has a faulty thermostat, her inch and a half long coat makes her far too hot, she's miserable and sweaty so she is fully clipped. I can then regulate her weird temperature variations with her vast selection of rugs. Big horse would happily live out naked, she wears a no fill if it's peeing down and is fine with that. Any attempt to over rug her leads to wrecked rugs!

 

[HashRouge]

I agree with this -

I'd agree with others that say actually you don't know this horse as you just got it so will have to see how it goes rather than pick a random temperature to rug at. I'd be surprised if someone came out with that as their plan for their new horse too.

My Arab is currently wearing a lightweight when it's wet, but is otherwise unrugged. She's 25, so we'll see how she goes. She is generally okay in the cold so long as it's not wet/ windy, but I'll judge it by her weight and demeanour. You can always tell when she's cold as she will shiver and seem very unhappy.
My Welsh on the other hand tends to winter out unrugged, but it was so wet for such prolonged periods last winter that even he worse a lightweight on occasion! I could tell he was unhappy as he was easy to catch...always a sign that something is wrong!

 

[splashgirl45]

the temp may say 10 degrees but if it is pouring with rain and windy it will feel lots colder to the horse, some will be fine but others will be unhappy. until you have been through a winter with a horse you dont know. my loan horse always grows a thick coat even though she is 1/2 tb but gets very hot when ridden so i would clip and rug...i think its worse to let a horse get really sweaty and then turn out in winter even if the temp is above freezing....each horse is an individual

 

[attheponies]

Did you see the post from Jules Rules on here about temperature regulation in horses that was also on FB? Worth sharing around your yard!

 

[skint1]

Ah, you must learn to do the polite smile/nod and "oh yes, I will consider that, thank you"
We have ruggers and non-ruggers living mostly in harmony on our yard, I think we all understand that each horse is an individual
I have an IDx, I don't rug him unless it's going to rain for hours and hours or if it gets to under 5c until he gets clipped, that seems to suit him- but others rug more or less depending on their horse.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I’ve used everything from a fly rug to a medium weight this week on my 23yr old. He’s very sensitive to anything bitey and when the sun is out the flies appear but he was in a MW t/o Saturday night because it blew a gale and chucked it down with rain and was pretty cold. My 9yr old has nothing or a llightweight rain sheet as he’s younger and tougher.

As others say rug for the horse not what others tell you or some preconceived idea of what’s appropriate.

 

[honetpot]

Its so blooming warm all of mine out 24/7 with no shelter apart from the odd bush are putting on weight. Two are going back in the diet patch tomorrow, I had given them a bit more as the we had longer colder nights. Doh!
If a horse is cold the worst thing that will happen at this time of year is it will lose a bit of weight, horses use most of their energy to keep warm, that's why its so hard to slim them in summer. If you can not trust your eyes, and feeling the crest get a weigh tape and 'weigh' once a week at roughly the same time before doing any work.
My daughters pony came back with laminitis off loan twice because the yard busy bodies thought they knew more than I did. Its a pity they did not have to pay the vet bills

 

[tamsinkb]

I'm another who rugs according to need...my retiree is rarely rugged, but is more likely to be rugged in wet weather than cold, due to his individual needs. My fat tb isn't rugged at all at the moment, and even the thin stresshead tb isn't rugged during the day unless it's raining. None are clipped, have shelter in the field during the day and in at night.... they have never looked better!

 

[Pinkvboots]

No it's not cruel at all your horse won't freeze regardless of what the other liveries think.

I clipped one of mine on Friday his whole body off and he is naked during the day it was 17 degrees yesterday, yet I still see hairy cobs and small native ponies out in full neck turnouts all day

 

[Antw23uk]

So, Ive just got myself a nice 9 year old Irish Draught who I had planned to leave un-rugged until the temperature gets to below zero/its horrendous.

She lives out 24/7 at present and has plenty of grazing, though I do have a stable for very bad weather. She is a decent weight with decent fat coverage. Her paddock has a bit of shelter (its hilly and has some trees to stand under). I don't plan on clipping her or grooming excessively (to keep the natural oils in her coat).

Everyone at my yard has started rugging and one or two people look a bit shocked when I tell them Ill not rug until its below zero. Am I being terribly cruel by not rugging my horse?

My priority is my horses welfare, rather than what others are doing but I am worried that I'm being a bit harsh.

The issue was you told people about your decision ... big mistake! Why not just keep your ideas and opinions to yourself just like everyone is now telling you that other yard users should do!

 

[Casey76]

I agree with the others; it’s better not to stick a number on it, but rather go by how the horse feels.