Rugging at night

[4whitesocks]

OK probably gonna get shot down here for being so dim but have been totally mollycoddled in my last yard, and have only had Sid since late April so have never really had the rugging issue with him.

Up to last week he was living out 24/7 and so no rugs....now he's turned out 3 - 4 hours a day and in at night and I'm trying to figure out whether I should start rugging him at night too....
If I start now then that's me for the winter - but actually to be fair my livery includes them rugging at night and for turn-out if required but if he's never been rugged before am I starting something I shouldn't, should I just wait until he's clipped and how do I really know if he's cold (again sincere apolgies if I'm being completely dim!)

*hangs head in shame*

 

[Judie]

Depends on your horse, what's the breeding, age, what are you doing with him etc etc, need more info to offer advice properly.

No a dum question, that's what we're all here for..)

 

[miamibear]

We have thin light weight waterproof sheets on ours if it gives a cold night, then you just up the weight when it gets colder or you clip.

I agree though it does depend how hardy your horse is! One of the mares at our yard has been rugged for a good month or so and her coat it thick, she is ready for clipping. My horse however is only just starting with the winter coat, still looks sleek!

Its a judgement call but i dont think a lw turnout will do any harm!

 

[Taz975]

How much coat do you want him to grow?
I would say chuck a light rug on him if hes not a very hairy type, as they can keep warmer in the field moving about rather than standing still in a stable.
But as tog says, need some more info!

 

[Rambo]

One of mine is fully clipped out and still has no rug on at night

We did try, but he was just getting so warm that we decided it was better for him to be a little cool, than too warm. It's been really mild at night though recently....might well change next week though

 

[Kelly1982]

It all depends on the horse i think.

My 4yo has never been rugged really, apart from towards the end of last winter, and she is still really warm at night. She was even sweating the other evening when i brought her in

Whereas the TB i ride gets cold a lot easier than the rest of tha yard so she tends to be rugged up a lot earlier than the rest of them but saying that she is still unrugged at the mo and doing fine.

None of the horses on my yard a rugged up at the mo either.

 

[UKa]

my very fine built TB currently wears no rugs yet, in or out; around here it still doesn't get much below 13 degrees at night or so and the days have been really warm - I rug when temperatures drop and in the stable at night I start with a fleece rug at around 10 degrees night time, going to her MW stable rug when colder and around freezing point she wears one over the other, or I add her LW stable rug with neck cover to the selection depending - but then all horses are different ...

If you are intending to clip I suppose it is not so much to prevent coat growing?

 

[4whitesocks]

OK - he's 5 yo 16hh IDxTB (more ID than TB IMO), just back into proper work from having about a month off - will be ridden 6 days out of 7, aiming to be fit enough to hunt by Jan, grooming him last night noticed his winter coat is really starting to come through now (he's all soft & fluffy but not proper hairy yet)....some horses on the yard are rugged at the mo but only the WB's...
He's fairly hardy but to be fair his routine is changing fundamentally now with being in at night for the first time....

Will talk to the YO this weekend and some of the other liveries & see what the consensus is.....

Thanks

 

[emerald2006]

i am not ruggin up untill next week when i will clip right out. will be putting fleeces on and lightweights in field then when go to wales taking mediumweights with me as may be in tempary stables

 

[Ferdinase514]

Finni's a bit of a common TB (chunky and fluffy!) and recently he has had a summer sheet on at night. I think it is turning colder generally (although is supposed to be 25 degrees here on thurs?!) so he will start wearing a light/middle weight stable rug.

I tend to go on how cold I am...If I start feeling like I need a jumper when I go there in the evening I put a rug on.

 

[Clodagh]

Dixie is out 24/7, but she now wears a lw turnout at night. If she was in I would chuck something light on to keep her coat nice and smooth.
Sid isn't a fat boy, is he? IIt might help him keep his weight on if you molly coddle him a bit!!

 

[kerrylou123]

mines are out 24/7 still, and my extremely fine tb mare is having her light weight turn out on at night

 

[tashyisaudrey]

My mare is IDXTB and she is probably more TB IMO. She has still got her sleek silky coat but is starting to go fluffy on her belly, bum and neck. I am not rugging yet because IMO its too hot for her. I will probably put a LW turnout on her at the end of the month. Then move on up from there. Its hard at the moment because one minute it seems hot, then it cools down. Its still too muggy for her to wear a rug, I think she would just get hot. Its a nice time of year for horses at the mo, the flies are just starting to go and its gradually cooling down after being so hot. I'm going to play it by ear, but to be honest with her I think she would rather be left be at the moment. she lives out though so she moves about it might be different for stabled horses.

 

[druid]

Sparks is in a LW with hood & Max who is fully clipped is in a HW with hood. (Bear in mind I live right up the mountains!!!)

 

[Peanot]

My horse is a DWB and is out in the day and in at night in a stable under a barn type place. She has no rugs on at all at the moment, day or night, (although a couple of weeks ago, out came the LW rugs) but I usually molly coddle her something terrible but it seems much warmer this year as this time last year she had MW rugs on in and out. But I go by how I am dressed, ie, if I am in a t-shirt, and warm, then she has no rugs on. If I have to have a jacket on then so does she. I also have a thermometer outside the stable and I check with that.

 

[Hornby]

Glad about all that - I thought I was the only one being indecisive about rugs; mine seem to have something different on each day!

 

[KatB]

*looks sheepish* my lad was fluffy when I went down to see him the other morning, thats under a lwt... now out in his Wug and hes very happy and not too fluffy...

 

[MagicMelon]

My clipped ones and my woosy TB have begun being rugged at night. They had them on all today as well (it was rainy). I only take their rugs off if its going to stay dry. At night, they will always be going on now as obviously I cant run out at like 3 in the morning to chuck them on. Mine are out 24/7.

 

[Niamhy]

Well i suppose it will depend on whether or not they are going to clip sid or not and how hairy he gets!!

Murph just has his light bucas on at the moment, but i only put that on yesterday as I knew the weather for the rest of the week is going to be bad.

He will move onto the heavy bucas when the weather gets worse and hes clipped, (only a low trace as he lives out 24/7).

 

[4whitesocks]

OK so there's no definitive answer then!! I have a sheet that I might leave out for him and let them make a call on whether he needs it or not - he tends to be a fatty when he's on grass 24/7 but as he's now going back into proper work and won't be out that much the weight thing is likely to be an issue - having said that he is quite a warm horse if you know what I mean - when I got him first I kept thinking there was something wrong because he really felt the heat....

The good news is that the new yard, who are going to be schooling him during the week, think he's a superstar - they rode him on Monday and jumped him and he was great (no bucks or anything) and then he was hacked out yesterday on the Curragh which was mobbed for the Races lots of coaches & traffic and apparently he didn't spook at anything....who is this horse????!!!!

 

[Tempi]

Bloss is out in a LW turnout with hood during the day, as shes on top of a hill and it gets chilly up there (and really windy). At night shes either wearing her MW with hood (200g) or just her MW (thats been this week as its been about 9degrees here at night) - tonight and tomorrow night she'l have her 150 on with no hood as its meant to be warmer. Shes not getting too hot, and shes not drinking anymore water than normal and is always nice and snug and happy in the mornings.

 

[MrsMagoo]

I clipped Star last night as she had gone all fluffy and was sweating just hacking round the block...she now has a LW in field, well in this weatherm, then will be a MW and a MW stablerug at night. I am also getting one of those lycra hood things for in stable as she tends to attract all the dust, and the neck goes hairy..lol

But my younger TBxDW whos not in work is still unrugged day and night..trying to keep it that way for a long as i can until she is better and working again

 

[katiejaye]

Louis is out in his light weight turnout when it's drizzly at the moment. He stays in overnight, last night I for the first time he was a little chilly after cooling down after working so I put on his summer sheet. He's not been clipped yet but is just starting to get a little hairy! He'll probably stay in a rug now overnight as he does feel the cold.