Rugging - how did the horses of my youth survive ....

Added up the rugs on my (clipped) horse last night. Came to 700 grams plus leg wraps. Or should have. However, when rugs age, even when they are still waterproof and entire, they do lose their warmth. Mine was actually in a 100 gram plus sheet (again fully clipped) till very recently. The difference? Age of rugs.

And I never want to return to the old fashioned new Zealand's. Heavy old rugs as soon as they get wet. Jutes were great for drying off though and I did use to layer up (anyone else remember how to put on a blanket under their rugs?!)

As for tail bags, sincerely wish I had known about them when I had a Gray!. I competed all winter and struggled to keep his tail remotely white. Yes it's my personal preference but hardly harms the horse!

However someone chooses to keep their horse ..it's up to them. You don't always know the reasons why a horse is rugged in a certain manner and tbf, I can't think when I last looked at a horse and thought it was over rugged. Except mine when travelling a couple of weeks ago. He only went up in a thermatex but we found out the hard way that his travelling companion is actually a large equine heater!
 
The original question was "how did the horses of my youth survive"....and the answer is that they didn't always. I'll never forget my riding instructor telling my roughly 9 year old self that my favourite ginger TB-type probably wouldn't make it through another winter. He wasn't that old, but sure enough she was right. Maybe if modern rugs had been available he would have hung around a bit longer. Personally, I quite like seeing them in their PJ's at bed time :)
 
Bigbenji said:
Back to talking about those old canvass NZ rugs ..... Remember if they were wet then it froze? Jeeze I remember crispy NZs!
Click to expand...
Oh yes, this. I remember standing them upright, frozen solid, in the kitchen to thaw and moving them on to a network of clothes horses to finish dripping once they'd got flexible enough.

Then having to keep mopping up all the filthy water as it pooled underneath them.

Really, REALLY don't miss doing that..
 
pros will not do things that result in un-happy or un-healthy horses.
Click to expand...

Let's not turn this into a pro slaughterfest, but there are plenty of pros (not all) who do plenty of things which are not for the good of the horse.


Just one illustrative quote from a high quality livery yard I wanted to keep a horse at:

Why do you want your horse turned out every day in winter? We'll only have to feed him more.
Click to expand...



Mulled wine, cheesy potatoes, foot long sausage, strawberry in white chocolate kebab and cheesy garlic bread all done, in that order. Off to see Warwick Davies pay a dwarf now. Ummm, that shouldn't be too much of a challenge for him :D
 
Rocknrollcowgirl said:
Are you working on the same 'feed more, wear less' system for yourself too cptrayes? ;)
Click to expand...

Don't know about CPT but I am. It's working very nicely thank you; I've dropped two jean sizes in as many months :)

Anyhow, never mind tail bags - are tail extensions a thing now? Because my older horse needs them: he has reduced himself to a straggly bobtail look, gah :( Poor chap hadn't the best tail to start with anyhow. I know it will grow back. I just feel sorry for him until it does, but at least there are no flies at this time of year!
 
Rocknrollcowgirl said:
Are you working on the same 'feed more, wear less' system for yourself too cptrayes? ;)
Click to expand...

Yup, works a treat, you should try it. Our heating is several degrees lower than most people's, I wear half the clothes most people do when it's icy outside. I'm not the slightest bit uncomfortable and I can eat more than other people and stay slim. It's a win win :)

Your system learns to work so that you don't feel uncomfortable, I once saw the effect in a documentary comparing trawler men and people who weren't hardened to the cold. I think the same is true of horses, someone rugs them to the eyeballs, then they genuinely begin to need rugging to the eyeballs.
 
Last edited:
Just wet myself laughing at all this, hilarious goings on!

I have Natives, hairy fat ones usually, they live out 24/7......we compete, a lot, therefore anything that saves me time at 4am on a Saturday morning is a bonus.....so winter will = rugs, tail bags, pig oiled legs, plaited tails and snuggy hoods (minus the faces, can't stand them).

However I don't and never have over-rugged, winter is the ponies natural diet time, they get months without horrible grazing muzzles, get to roam all over without being penned in etc etc. The most they have worn is 300g with a fresh full clip (legs and faces left on) in -12 temps and snow for weeks on end. One would boil in 300g so max rug he has is 200g, one is arthritic so is kept warmer than usual and much better for it, another thinks he will expire if he isn't stuffing 24/7 so is fed more rather than rugged more etc etc etc.

Horses for courses, mine are as happy as stink as far as I can tell, everyone knows their own horses/ponies and will have their own way of doing it, my routine of legs, tail washing, plaiting, oiling etc takes me an hour on a Sunday every week and I love doing it. Saves me oodles of time the rest of the week to spend quality time snuggling them and riding :-)
 
Oh the lovely NZ rugs... hated those things, always had to get someone else to put it on my pony as i couldnt lift it when it was wet. Remember when you used to put a duvet under the stable rugs and fold back the corners just so. lol mine was always poo stained by morning in a pile in the stable. Got a HW cob just now who is used to living out unrugged. But i cant stand putting tack on a wet muddy horse, or spending ages waiting on him cooling down to turn him out so hes now living in at night with a full clip. He has a 200g combo on (more to keep his neck clean and mane untangled). ive just got him a 300g rug but he wont get that on until hes clipped again and the temp goes below -5. Hes cool but warm at the moment and seems pretty happy to come in out the wind and rain.

Never heard of tail bags before.. what do they look like and how do they stay on? His tail almost touches the ground and being a Trad Cob means i cant really trim it back. At the moment i have it in three pleats and then those into one big pleat. It gets undone, brushed and re-done once a week. His forelock and mane are also pleated most days. Mainly so he can see where hes going lol
 
cptrayes said:
Oh no I'm not! (Still in panto mode :D)

You devoted several very long posts on a thread the other day to telling everyone happily competing at Intro that they didn't know how to ride their own horses.
Click to expand...

CPT twisting things again.................i didnt say they didnt know how to ride, i actually said in most cases they could probably all do prelim and do fine at it, despite their protestations that they NEEDED to do intro and thus i think intro is pointless and lowers standards as it stops people achieving the very basics before they compete.

can you not read or are you just deliberately obtuse? must be one or the other.....................
 
Leam1307 said:
Never heard of tail bags before.. what do they look like and how do they stay on? His tail almost touches the ground and being a Trad Cob means i cant really trim it back. At the moment i have it in three pleats and then those into one big pleat. It gets undone, brushed and re-done once a week. His forelock and mane are also pleated most days. Mainly so he can see where hes going lol
Click to expand...

Google tailgator- they really are fab :-) they also weigh almost nothing and are not the cruel torture device some are suggesting 😁
 
cptrayes said:
Oh no I'm not! (Still in panto mode :D)

You devoted several very long posts on a thread the other day to telling everyone happily competing at Intro that they didn't know how to ride their own horses.
Click to expand...


Hahaha...... Love these threads where theres a bit of banter going on !


As for rugs,personally I think its one of the best advances in routine horsecare in years. Yes some people might go a bit OTT but I think its fab that I can allow my horse to live out 24/7, and still have a relatively clean horse to ride.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
CPT twisting things again.................i didnt say they didnt know how to ride, i actually said in most cases they could probably all do prelim and do fine at it, despite their protestations that they NEEDED to do intro and thus i think intro is pointless and lowers standards as it stops people achieving the very basics before they compete.

can you not read or are you just deliberately obtle? must be one or the other.....................
Click to expand...

Re-read your posts Princess, you told everyone that there was no need ever to ride an Intro and you argued back several times with people who told you why their horses needed to do one in spite of never having met them or their horses.

So leaving the 'advice' you gave to me about horses you'd never seen completely out of this, you are in no position to claim, as you did, that you never assume that you know better than a horse's owner/rider/carer, because you do.
 
Back to rugs- I think modern rugs are brilliant, wonderful things. Means I can keep my clipped ponies warm and clean without weighing then down with heavy canvas rugs and allows them to go out and race around in the field in all weathers. Plus the huge range of styles and weights gives so much choice meaning everyone can find something to suit. Just as well considering I own a wimpy pony- had to put a fleece on him under his rug last night despite me thinking the temperature had raised- but he was cold so there you go.
 
The owners of a horse on a yard I used to be on were slated by their vet for "destroying their horse's immune system by over rugging her". I know the telling off was true, whether 4 or 5 rugs on an unclipped, stabled welsh/arab caused repeated health problems or was coincidence is more debateable.
 
cptrayes said:
I couldn't believe reading of people putting 800g of fill on their horses either, even if it's fully clipped. If they need that, surely they are being fed wrong?

I read a thread last week that horrified me too, about horses living their lives with tail bags on.

What are we doing to these creatures who are never allowed to whisk their tails or feel the breeze in their coat or the sun on their backs?
Click to expand...

Mines not rugged but many here in NZ are purely to prevent the sun bleaching the colour out of the coat as the sun is really strong. I know many that wear tailbags and are fine - they aren't particularly heavy - often made of parka nylon but protect white tails from pee, poo and mud.

People often over ug though then spend the day at work stressing because the day turned warmer/colder than they anticipated and their beloved may be too hot/cold.

Surprisingly there are several companies here that still make Canvas covers, one a company in Oamaru that makes them especially for TB's - they have a totally different design that allows for the high wither - the ones I had never rubbed either wither or shoulder. I find synthetics often chafe the hair leaving the equivalent of split ends.

I have photos of my first horse on Xmas day with her back covered in ice, she was toasty warm underneath the hair.
 
mistlekins said:
The owners of a horse on a yard I used to be on were slated by their vet for "destroying their horse's immune system by over rugging her". I know the telling off was true, whether 4 or 5 rugs on an unclipped, stabled welsh/arab caused repeated health problems or was coincidence is more debateable.
Click to expand...

A connection does make sense to me. If you're preventing the horse from controlling its own temperature by causing it to sweat when it's mild and flattening its natural coat so it can't use it as nature intended, there could be health implications I would think.

I'm only talking about extreme over-rugging, I do realise elderly, poor doers and clipped horse may need correct, sensible rugging. I do know one person though who rugs heavily all year round as she wants to keep her horse clean, sleek and prevent winter growth so she looks smart for shows. I can't help but think that's not good or comfortable for the horse. :(

My Mollie's living out and not rugged so far this winter. She's 20, but she's in great health, very hairy and still has a little weight to lose so I'm holding back on rugging for now. She's currently covered in sticky-bobs though, which is not a good look. As fast as I remove them, she rolls in fresh ones. Christmas decorations, maybe? ;)
 
The other thing to bear in mind is how much horses adapt and will cope with a range of temperatures. If a horse was in the wild they would cope with the different temps from day to night and days that are warmer or colder than seasonally expected. We haven't got such a narrow window that we will cause major problems by slightly over or under rugging.

Mine have also adapted to the fact that I tend to err on the under rugging side of things by growing a thicker winter coat than they had when they came out of racing, in fact these days bay tb v1 looks like he's been crossed with a yak.

Another thing that happened to him was he was suffering from allergies and went to the RVC for testing. To reduce any possible allergens they promptly left him unrugged and put him on mats with no bed. Those who know the RVC will know the stables are big and cold with a wind that whips down the middle from one door to the other. This was winter, he was chaser clipped and we then had snow fall while he was there.

He was used to being rugged so while he is quite a hot horse even I was surprised how little he seemed to be affected by the sudden change. But he is a good doer so in his case I wasn't worried about weight loss.
 
cptrayes said:
Re-read your posts Princess, you told everyone that there was no need ever to ride an Intro and you argued back several times with people who told you why their horses needed to do one in spite of never having met them or their horses.

So leaving the 'advice' you gave to me about horses you'd never seen completely out of this, you are in no position to claim, as you did, that you never assume that you know better than a horse's owner/rider/carer, because you do.
Click to expand...

Why is your Username 'blank', and on your homepage it says 'Out to pasture', what does that mean? :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top