Rugging up a wet horse?

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kajabe

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I'm in a bit of a pickle :(
My mare wouldn't catch last night after about 45 mins of me trying so I decided to leave her out. I was only going to bring her in to put a lw rug on as it was forecast rain.

It's heaved it down overnight and is still raining now. She does have a stable but it is in a barn and no one else is bringing their horse in tonight and she will not stable on her own!
She is now cold and wet.

I know some people say not to rug them when they're wet but some people do.

I really don't know what to do as she is old so gets shivery when wet, so would it be better for me just to wait for her to dry out (rain is forecast for all of next week too) or just take the plunge and rug her when shes wet?

Choccy biccies and hot chocolate for anyone who gets this far!! :D
 
I wouldn't rug her wet personally.

I would either leave her as she is or can you bring her in for a couple of hours now to dry off, rug her and put her back out?
 
A while ago I got caught out and got to the field and my mare was soaked and shivering...I had 10 minutes before I had to leave for work so I towelled her off best I could (felt pointless at the time :) ) and put her rug on - yes she was still wet - but it was either that or go to work and leave her shivering, it was forecast to be heavy rain all day.
When she was checked a couple of hours later she was bone dry and warm underneath.

Cant beat Rambos :D
 
I often put Rhino rugs on my horses when they're wet - they breathe and the horses dry under them. If they are cold, I put one of the thicker rugs on. I don't do it with their Amigos though - they don't seem to let the water out. So if your rug is breathable, go for it!
 
Ill give you a list of the rugs ive got as I'm not very good with this sort of thing:
Lw masta no neck
Lw requisite with neck
Mw weatherbeeta one with neck and one with out
Waffle rug
Fleece rug
Hw with neck
Various stable rugs
:) which one/combination do you think would be a good idea? Btw she is an irishX so fairly chunky :)
Thank you!
 
Most of the new rugs wick away moisture, if youre worried towel dry as much as you can, and stick a rug on her, ive did it before with no problems, if its a l/w id stick a wee fleece on under it and take fleece off later
 
Put something with some filling on, so that the water on her evaporates into the rug.
Then, once she is dry, put a different rug on, and air the first one inside out.
S :D
 
I was caught out last night too and was greeted this morning by a very wet, soggy and thoroughly cross TB, he really hates getting wet. Im in the same boat as you cos he wont stand in on his own so I took his breakfast across his paddock (individual), parked us both under a hedge so with a bit of protection, used the sweat scraper to get the worst off then popped his lw on. I have done this before and its always worked OK, its not that cold where we are, just very wet! TBH he would be OK without a rug but he does get very cross and grumpy when he gets rained on and is so much easier to deal with if hes dry and happy :) I suppose its cos he used to be a pampered racehorse and takes exception to being subjected to real life!! :)
 
indie999 said:
Leave her would not rug wet horse
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Why not?
What is this nonsense?

Putting a rug on a wet horse will warm the horse. It is the same amount of moisture to evaporate from the horse and therefore the same amount of heat loss whether you let the horse dry naked and then rug it, or put the rug on the horse wet.

Of course the better suggestion is to rug the horse with one rug, then swap to a dry one.
This minimises heat loss and keeps the animal as warm as possible.
S :D
 
I've been breathable-turnout rugging both sweat-wet and rain-wet horses for 20 years and never had a problem. Never changed rugs after they have dried out either :)
 
Personally, yes I would definitely rug her. If you have a mediumweight then put that on, otherwise then I would use the fleece with the best LW you have on top.
 
Surely horses coats were designed by nature to keep them OK when it rained. I understand to rug when a horse is clipped, very old, thin etc But a healthy adult horse with enough to eat should be able to cope with rain in June.
 
padderpaws said:
Surely horses coats were designed by nature to keep them OK when it rained. I understand to rug when a horse is clipped, very old, thin etc But a healthy adult horse with enough to eat should be able to cope with rain in June.
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Nature didn't design modern horses - we selectively bred them for certain 'beneficial' traits.
So my Tb could run fast as hell on manicured turf, with a low heartrate, and huge lungs.
Shivered her arse off in a summer shower though as she had no coat.
Natives and more 'primitive' horses may be ok, but hotbloods and wambloods may not.
S :D
 
Well, I think you are talking rot. Not all horses are TB and I say to you that most horses if fit and healthy can handle rain in June without any need for rugs. Am entitled to my opinion if you don't like it, fine but you don't need to post snotty, huffy posts.
 
Shilasdair said:
Nature didn't design modern horses - we selectively bred them for certain 'beneficial' traits.
So my Tb could run fast as hell on manicured turf, with a low heartrate, and huge lungs.
Shivered her arse off in a summer shower though as she had no coat.
Natives and more 'primitive' horses may be ok, but hotbloods and wambloods may not.
S :D
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^ wot she says ^
 
padderpaws said:
Surely horses coats were designed by nature to keep them OK when it rained. I understand to rug when a horse is clipped, very old, thin etc But a healthy adult horse with enough to eat should be able to cope with rain in June.
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Temperatures fell as low as 5 degrees here overnight accompanied by high winds and heavy rain. My horses were shivering in their lightweights this morning. The mare and foal had been brought in for the night because they could not wear rugs. I changed the rugs on my two to their middle weights.
 
padderpaws said:
Surely horses coats were designed by nature to keep them OK when it rained. I understand to rug when a horse is clipped, very old, thin etc But a healthy adult horse with enough to eat should be able to cope with rain in June.
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I don't know where you live PP but here it is currently 6 degrees, a temperature which would be normal for December, raining and blowing a gale and my horses have summer coats, not winter ones. Nature's coat design is not suitable for a return of winter in June :o

Plus what Shils says!
 
I feel that the "Don't rug a wet horse" is a hangover from the days of jute rugs/New Zealands - which were blanket lined and therefore soaked up all the water and stayed soggy until they were removed and dried out properly. Modern rugs are fine - I've never had a moments doubt about chucking a rug on a wet horse if I haven't been able to dry it first.
 
padderpaws said:
Well, I think you are talking rot. Not all horses are TB and I say to you that most horses if fit and healthy can handle rain in June without any need for rugs. Am entitled to my opinion if you don't like it, fine but you don't need to post snotty, huffy posts .
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Do you fancy me, is that the issue?
You should have said - I'll ditch cptrayes for you...

S :p x x
 
While it's amusing to watch people try to intimidate Shils, back to the matter in hand. To the OP . . . chuck either a fleece or the waffle rug on the horse to wick the moisture away and put a breathable rainsheet on top . . . when horse is dry (if practical) remove the underlayer.

Seemples.

P
 
padderpaws said:
Well, I think you are talking rot. Not all horses are TB and I say to you that most horses if fit and healthy can handle rain in June without any need for rugs. Am entitled to my opinion if you don't like it, fine but you don't need to post snotty, huffy posts.
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You have a problem PP.

Shils post was neither snotty, nor huffy. It was a good explanation to someone whose posts seemed to suggest that they were not familiar with non-native bred horses.

It isn't rot. It's completely correct. I have had several horses of various different breeding whose feet would be rattling on the floor if they were unrugged in this weather, including the two I have just put rugs on to turn out.

You are entitled to your opinion that we are wrong, but please be a little more polite about it.
 
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