Rugging politics :P

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Equine_Dream

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Quick question re-rugging your horses. Swapping rugs with weather changes to be precise. There seems to be two schools of thought on my yard. One - you should alter your horse's rugs depending on the weather. Two - you shouldn't change a rug once a horse has become acclimatised to it.
Basically my mare has a chaser clip as she is a section d and grows a very thick winter coat. Once autumn comes she sweats around her girth, chest and shoulders just going on a gentle hack at a walk.
I try to keep to the bare minimum where rugs are concerned. Up until recently the weather has been ok. She spent the nights in a thick(ish) fleece in her stable, and was turned out in a lightweight. This week has been bloody freezing to say the least, so on went her medium weight stable rug, and she was then turned out in a medium weight rug with a neck.
It looks to be turning milder towards the end of this week, so am worried she would be too warm turned out in her medium weight. Bare in mind she still has a nice thick winter coat on her backside. So I would be inclined to switch back to her lightweight turnout.
Last winter I altered her rugs to suit the weather and she seemed fine. Even kept her clip right through from Oct - March, but never came in sweating.
Thoughts?
 
I think most people would view the idea of not swapping rugs once they are on as decidedly old fashioned ;) I still know a few people like it though!

Personally I think you have to rug according to the individual horse and the weather conditions. If that means swapping and changing, then so be it :) That's kind of why there's a wide range of rug weights available, surely :)

I wouldn't want to have to wear the same coat if it was 8 degrees or minus 8 degrees, put it that way.
 
Eh up, another rugging thread :).

Do folk really expect a horse to stay in one weight of rug regardless of weather conditions? Bonkers.

I layer up and down from 100g outer only (say 80% + of the time), to same outer rug with up to a 300g liner plus a 150g hood in extreme conditions.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Do folk really expect a horse to stay in one weight of rug regardless of weather conditions? Bonkers.
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My old YO used to say 'once the rugs are on, you can't take them off', so they wore the same turnouts until spring, when they were chucked out, usually naked!
 
Thanks all. Ye there are a few on my yard who are "old school" who don't agree with changing a rug weight once its on. Always seemed a bit bonkers to me as I change my coat depending on the weather, so why wouldn't I do it for me horse :D
 
Well mine aren't rugged when its cold but sunny and dry and not windy, in fact they are out nekkid today. Both have full coats though.
So Im definitely persona non grata
 
Obviously I check mine twice daily, but haven't needed to change them for a few weeks (except one from a no fill to a fill). Two of mine DO seem to regulate their temperatures very very well.
 
I alter my horses rugs on a regular basis - I think you have to, one day its freezing, the next it's gone mild. The aim is to keep your horse comfortable and if that means changing a rug then so be it. Now I think about it, when we had our first hard frost, I put a thicker rug on my horse - quite a few people commented saying it was too early for a heavy weight rug and what would I do when it got really cold? I told them the heavy rug would be off again when the milder weather kicked in mid-week, then back on for any cold snaps. I guess they are the people who put a heavy rug on then leave it on for winter!!
 
I change according to the weather, but currently I admit to getting it wrong as it's been -6 in the morning when I have gone up, but +8 during the day.

However, he lives pretty much 24/7 in a no fill turnout and I put other rugs on top so it's a mix between not disturbing and changing :) If is dry and sunny, even if cold, the rug will come off while I am poo picking/doing yard chores, or am at home so I can pop up in 5 mins if the weather changes.
 
Im an old school YO, but I change rugs according to weather & temp conditions.


eg: Last night was -8, mini TF not wearing any rugs as has own shaggy yak insulation.
NF was in a 100g full neck.
However, NF had rug whipped off around 9 this morning & is nekkid till I go back in another hour or so :)
 
I change rugs according to weather and my own level of laziness.

Tonight I need to do a flying visit to throw hay in their general direction - so the one that gets tetchy in the cold has had her MW on all day and will have it on until tomorrow morning.

The other one has a polar bear coat and only wears rugs when I want to coo about how cute he looks in them.
 
I spend my life fiddling with rugs! Clipped one is in a MW during the day, and I lob another mw with a neck on him at night. Shetland (clipped) is in a LW at night and naked during the day. Unclipped larger ladies are in MW at night and naked during the day, and the two slimmer unclipped event horses are in MW's. Box rester is in a LW, but was chilly this morning, so will be in something else tonight.
I hate rugs...
 
Ooooh I think I swap and change but I also dont know now. Mine is currently out in a 100g turnout which has the neck off in the day if its dry and on at night ... but to be honest he was wearing that before we started getting -minus temperatures. I didnt up the rug weight when its went to minus this week ... I did think about it if that helps but it was too cold to go back out and I didnt think he would appreciate me taking his rug off and putting a cold filler rug underneath it so left him! He was happy enough :)
 
I also change with the weather. this year it's getting complicated :/

My youngster is clipped and currently has a 100g on and is "not cold" under it (which is what I usually aim for)

My mare is due to be clipped again, but is in a 100g and needs to be "warm" (due to PSSM), which means I can't clip until I find her other rug and liners - and I can't for the life of me remember where I've put them!

TBH, I rarely go above 100g, as I have very warmblooded beasts (so it appears), when we have had weather down to -20C, they've been happy in 200g. But generally when it's that cold it is also very dry.

I'm all for tailoring your rugging to each individual horse, though how any horse would need the new 450-500g rugs which are becoming more common is beyond me!

Both of them are quite happy in the -6C weather we've been having over the past few days :)
 
I can usually be seen stood in the field checking the weather forecast for the next few hours on my phone before deciding whether to change rugs!

Very roughly - if the temp dips below 10 degrees then my mare will have a LW rug on, if it dips below 5 degrees I change to MW and if it goes below Zero she gets the HW rug. Of course this is when it's dry. When it's wet my system is null and void and I just have to wing it and hope I get it right!

I'm very thankful that my other pony is fat and hairy and doesn't need a rug! :)
 
I go to go stepping stones options and they are in 350 grms at the moment

light weight 100 grm
med light 200 grm
med 350 grm
med 350 with 200 grm under rug total 550 grm
heavy weight 450 grm
heavy + under rug 650 grm

I only ever put 2 rugs unless full clipped when she will have a thin under staying on full time. I do not believe in weighing down my horse with layer upon layer totaling 5 rugs/ I bought a fal goliath for the last and the warmest option so with two rugs my horse has 650 grms which is ample

Oh yes except when Goliath used they stay in their turnouts day and night
 
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If your horse is cold put a rug on it... If it's still cold put another one (or thicker one) on... Simples... My mare tells me if she's cold so it's easy (she digs a hole in her bed and buries herself as much as she can I wish I had a video for YouTube it's quite amazing to watch!
 
I change with the weather too and by horse. For example it's going -5 ish tonight and my unclipped retired hairy is in a thicker stable rug than my trace clipped ISH xID. she is just a warm type! I also hate the term 'toasty' to me if they are toasty they are too hot!
 
It's a bit like us getting togged up with scarf gloves and thermals etc but then we get a warm spell and have to keep them all on then taking everything off on April 1st even though it's freezing cold blowing a gale and raining.
 
southerncomfort said:
I can usually be seen stood in the field checking the weather forecast for the next few hours on my phone before deciding whether to change rugs!

Very roughly - if the temp dips below 10 degrees then my mare will have a LW rug on, if it dips below 5 degrees I change to MW and if it goes below Zero she gets the HW rug. Of course this is when it's dry. When it's wet my system is null and void and I just have to wing it and hope I get it right!

I'm very thankful that my other pony is fat and hairy and doesn't need a rug! :)
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Blimey that sounds like insane over rugging to me but I guess you know your horse!
 
I only rug two out of eleven. All are out 24/7/365. They go on in the first serious cold snap in December, well after any risk of 'nice' weather has passed, and come off in spring, going back on on an ad hoc basis if there's a bad turn of weather during late March/early April.

This might not be perfect, but it allows me to manage the oldies in the same way as the rest of the herd (no hard feed, or bringing in for checks). I wouldn't be able to keep them otherwise, and it seems to work for them, since the whole lot get through the winter mainly on grass!
 
I change rugs according to the weather in as much as I'll put a heavier liner in if there's a prolonged cold snap forecast and change it back when it warms up a week or so later (I check and rearrange every day obvs) but I don't put a warmer rug on at night and change it back in the morning. They wouldn't grow an extra bit of coat at night and lose it in the morning so they're designed to deal with short term changes in temperature.
 
Another one who wouldn't expect the horse to stay in one rug regardless of conditions - by that standard everyone would only be using rain sheets :o I use a PE rug and change the liners as it gets colder
 
I have a highland with a chaser clip who is unrugged unless it rains and then she wears a LW rainsheet. I've got an elderly ID who is also naked but if she stays in overnight (when it's very wet/muddy) she wears a fleece as she gets stiff if she's stood in and it's cold.
My warmblood wears a Rambo duo liner. If she's in at night, again because of rain/mud she wears a stable rug.
I put additional rugs on when stabled as they can't move around/eat grass as needed to keep warm. Mostly they live out and have as little on as possible or nothing and have plenty of shelter, grass and hay so they can regulate their own temp and move to keep warm. When they were on livery with 4 hrs turnout a day they wore more rugs as they couldn't regulate their temp as well when they didn't have access to movement and food.
 
Rugs change according to weather and clip, changes pretty much from day to day - night to night, I have about 6 rugs per horse in circulation this month!
 
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