Rugging- When does it become silly!?

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poiuytrewq

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When i was a kid my pony wore a canvas rug with a blanket lining- very often it was still wet from the previous day (he was out regardless of weather)
Now my horses have lovely light quilted warm rugs. and i layer them, Maybe in winter a full neck under rug then a stable rug or heavy turn out on top.
When i moved to my last livery yard i was kind of forced into (well made to feel very very guilty!) putting a duvet between the under and top rug. My horse looked like a michinlin man and although never felt too hot he never felt too cold before either!

Now the weather here is about 10' and my horses are in light/med turn outs, as in about 100g they have thin neck covers but this is just to avoid mud but i already have friends with the duvets out and whos horses are wearing 300g combos underneath their h/w turnout!?

When asked what they will be using when its actually cold OR their horse gets clipped one replied MORE layers the other shrugged and said the horse would get used to the extra rugs before being clipped?!

Is there a general rule do you think? and at what point does all this weight become problematic for the horse?
I think its madness but im starting to feel a bit mean again seeing everyone elses horses tucked up!
 
One of mine is clipped with a duvet between rugs, but she gets cold and grows back quick, clipped twice already! When its v cold rugs will be changed to heavier ones with duvet between.

My other isnt clipped and has a stable rug, dont want to clip him yet but dont want him mega furry yet either! Pony is very furry with a rain sheet on :)

I dont know about over rugging, I just rug to suit them and me :)
 
poiuytrewq said:
i already have friends with the duvets out and whos horses are wearing 300g combos underneath their h/w turnout!?

When asked what they will be using when its actually cold OR their horse gets clipped one replied MORE layers the other shrugged and said the horse would get used to the extra rugs before being clipped?!
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Good grief, where do their horses come from? The tropics?

IMHO, I just think people like to rug for the sake of rugging. Rugs are addictive. There should be therapy for owners that go OTT on the rugging... NH horses don't get rugged up like that. Not even those in training.

I am missing a trick here... I'm off to start a rug company and call it "Please deposit all your unwanted money here please!" :D
 
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Generally I go with the lighter you can rug and have a comfortable horse the better, but my guys are in midweights at the moment, unclipped cobs.
I tend to go by how they feel and if they feel cold they get more rug if they feel ok then they get left
 
Don't think there is a general rule but I do think and know some people over rug. Especially with natives. Someone I know had a thick fleece rug and heavyweight either stable or turnout not sure which, on a little welsh pony in its stable unclipped at the end of august on a hot day, felt the pony it was sweating and obviously too hot. Again another person I know had a hood, fleece, heavyweight, full neck medium and another stable rug on their welsh at the beginning of this year when it was getting warmer and pony was boiling.

At the moment my connie has on a 100g full neck turnout, is fully clipped living out and is lovely and warm. He is a warm pony though and before he was clipped didn't have anything on as got far too hot in just a sheet. My highland on the other hand was fully clipped with a 450g stable rug on one winter and was just warm enough so did have a fleece on as well sometimes. This was during a bad winter when it got down to -18 on the yard we were on.

I just rug to what they need and don't put on anything more than they need even if others are putting loads on. Start off with less and if they aren't warm enough add from there. Where as a lot of people I know (as with examples above) just put on masses of rugs to begin with.
 
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Over rugged horses are a huge problem these days. I have one neighbour whose horses have been in very thick rugs for several weeks now. Another who probably won't rug at all despite being out 24/7 all winter. The latter could probably do with something to at least keep the wet off later in the year, but
failing that it's clear that they will still be more comfortable than the horses wrapped up day and night in temps that have been in the high teens quite often recently.
I rug lightly however bad the weather is. If I had to choose between very thick filling or no rugs at all I would choose no rugs at all (assuming horse is not clipped)
 
The physio that treats my horses obviously sees and handles a lot of different horses each day, mainly working on areas that are covered by rugs, she says that more and more horses have very poor skin, nasty fungal infections and just feel horrid when she works on them, she puts this down to over rugging, rugging unclipped horses when the weather is mild and fully clipping horses that dont actually do any real work ie never sweating and opening up their pores.
The horse gets clipped out for convenience, layers of rugs to keep it warm and for at least 6 months never really gets any air on it, they get an exercise sheet on when ridden just in case they get cold. Fine in mid winter but at the moment most horses need very little in the way of rugging, it is not cold, if they are not clipped even a fit horse should not need much more than a lightweight.

As for getting used to their rugs before being clipped that is a strange one, is the rug not meant to replace the warmth lost by removing the coat, if they are already wearing heavy rugs they will need more but why put them on before they are required:confused:
 
I have often thought that so many people over-rug and came to the conclusion that it is indeed an addiction!!. Many of the horses don't need anything other than a lightweight, for current day-turn out anyway. I was always told that if any needed more warmth it would be those that are stabled and unable to move about, so the theory of heavy-weight turnouts with full neck covers now is, IMHO ridiculous. It is also often the wind and rain together that makes them miserable and shivery, plain old cold, more often than not horses manage just fine with one layer! (and personally, I can not stand neck covers, - hardly -20 snow blizzards yet!)
Anyway, I rug according to how I'm feeling. If I need a jumper and a coat, they go into mediums. If it is just a jumper they stay in their light weights. (this is refering to the horses at work, as mine are still naked and fluffy!) I haven't had to rug any with a duvet for some time.
 
I must be a bad owner then.:) My arab mare has a rain sheet on as she only feels the cold if she is wet and my 18 month old lad is naked and will be all winter. He has his own hair.
 
It is definitely an addiction, some people are so afraid of their horses getting even slightly chilly that they have to layer up the rugs as soon as September starts.

One girl on my yard has been double layering her horse at night since September, everyone keeps asking her what she is going to do when it actually turns cold but she still thinks she's right - until she saw a couple of days ago he got a bad heat rash! He is clipped, but stays in at night in a covered barn style stable block which remains relatively warm with the gates at either end closed at night. My IDXTB is still in his fleece some nights depending on temperature, although I must admit when it dropped below 5 degrees the other night I did resort to his heavier stable rug - probably me being a wimp there! During the day he is either out in the field naked (still not clipped) or if its wet then he will have his light turn out on, no need for heavy turn outs at the moment when its still pretty warm during the day!
 
I feel so much better after reading this! I'm a self confessed rug addict. And I'm getting laughed at for him being in a no fill rainsheet in the day (to keep him clean really) when he's out, but as he's on box rest at the moment he's in a fleece on colder nights! He will be in a heavyweight with fleece and underrug when he's clipped out and it's snowing! I don't want him getting too hot, he'll just sweat and get cold again!
 
It becomes silly when the horse doesn't need them. Too many people don't rug for the individual. I can kind of see why novices are pressured into it though. My daughters pony & a friends 2 horses on a nearby farm are pretty much the only horses within sight of a local bridleway that are still out 24/7 unrugged. Both her & I have the reputation for telling people to butt out, but I've still had the odd muttered comment. Given I know my stuff I'm happy to say **** off the odd occasion I get a 'is she not cold? Mine is in a hw, has she ripped hers?' type comment. But I can see why a novice with everyone telling them the same thing might be swayed.
 
There is a massive problem with over-rugging, imo, encouraged by clever marketing by rug manufacturers.
Very few unclipped horses need to wear a rug either indoors or outdoors whatever the weather. Obviously vulnerable horses do need more protection from the weather. I have 3 horses out today with no rugs at all, including the 30 yr old - we have had at least one quite heavy shower and they are all fine. there is shelter available but none of them bothered to stand in it.

I think that the real problem is that far too many horse-owners don't understand the physiology of a horse. Horses keep warm by eating - the digestive process itself warms them up. Their coats are insulating, so feeling the top of the coat is no indication of how the horse feels - the best place to feel is in the horse's 'arm-pit' under the coat. In the snow, the warmest horses will be those with snow lying on their backs and many horses without rugs but with good natural coats will be amongst the warmest.

The other problem, of course, is that far too many people take far too much notice of 'advice' from numpties who know even less than them.
 
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I think I'm over rugging my warmblood because she's got a 60g Fal on! That's the only lighter rug I have that is waterproof.

I would never layer rugs, they look incredibly uncomfortable with all that bulk on them. I can't imagine I'd ever need anything more than 400g unless we have another ice age.
 
I think over rugging can be blamed for a lot of the overweight horses that are around today. 25+ years ago, my horses were fully clipped and then turned out in a Masta 170g and only had a neck cover on when it was snowing! They wore 300g quilts with underrugs in their stables at nights and they never felt cold.

They lost weight in the winter which is what horses are meant to do, so started off in the spring quite lean (although not thin). I then didn't have to worry about them getting fat in the summer.

At our yard, the majority of the horses are rugged to the eyeballs so lose no weight at all and each summer they put on more weight which means every year they are getting fatter and fatter and quite a few are now obese!
 
I agree that over rugging is a huge problem, especially when so many horses are overweight. I don't really like to see unclipped natives in rugs, their natural 'rug' works so much better than anything a human can come up with. Many natives cope well unrugged, even with a small clip.

Wet and a cold wind can be the worst if the horse doesn't have adequate shelter, and I probably would rug in those circumstances or for an elderly/ill pony or one that feels the cold for whatever reason.

Where I worked years ago all the tb's not in work wintered out unrugged, the ponies in work were given high trace clips and turned out all day, in at night unrugged and not one caught a chill or became ill. If they did feel chilly when out they soon warmed up when brought in and given hay on a night.
 
I don't normally post on anything with "Rug" in the title;

But I have to......................I hate rugs, my horses hate rugs, a healthy, at a good weight unclipped horse does not need a rug on day or night whether they are 2 or 32 years old.........and breathe :D
 
I will probably be reported for cruelty - but my Welsh D was un-clipped and un-rugged even through the bad winter when we were down to minus 12 degrees - even in his stable at night he had no rug on. And to make it worse, I turned him out every day to wade through the snow up to his knees and dig for grass!!!
If I laid a hand on the top of his winter hair it was cold....BUT...underneath the hair at skin level he was nice and warm.
 
pottamus said:
I will probably be reported for cruelty - but my Welsh D was un-clipped and un-rugged even through the bad winter when we were down to minus 12 degrees - even in his stable at night he had no rug on. And to make it worse, I turned him out every day to wade through the snow up to his knees and dig for grass!!!
If I laid a hand on the top of his winter hair it was cold....BUT...underneath the hair at skin level he was nice and warm.
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Praise the lord :D my Welshie is 22 and doesn't wear one either
 
AngieandBen said:
But I have to......................I hate rugs, my horses hate rugs, a healthy, at a good weight unclipped horse does not need a rug on day or night whether they are 2 or 32 years old.........and breathe :D
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Can you come and tell this to my yearling please? I'm pretty sure if I didn't make her she wouldn't even go out her stable door when it gets below 5 or theres a spit of rain!

When it comes to rugging its each to their own and what their horse needs. Leave them to rug however they want as long as the horse is happy.
 
How do you know they are happy?

I'm pretty sure your yearling wasn't born with a rug on

I'm not saying no one should rug, I'm just saying people are becoming too damn soft! and obsessed with overugging
 
It becomes silly when common sense walks out the door.

My 3 warmbloods have very fine coats and have no real winter coats to speak of. Have not had to clip them yet and 2 of them are in competition work. At the moment they have 100gm turnout out with no neck piece but am contemplating putting their neck pieces on. This is purely for my convenience as they are out through the day and in at night and are usually plastered in mud when they come in. The Fjord has a rainsheet on and that's all he'll be getting until the temepratures really start to drop. Then he'll get a 100gm turnout and that's only because he's getting on a bit. :p and there's no shelter in their fields.
At a nearby yard where the majority only see a paddock for 30 mins a day :mad: and have inside stables, in September a couple of them where already rugged up to the eyeballs because ' they feel the cold'. :rolleyes:

I gauge what they need from feeling under the rug and the base of their ears and have only had to up to a thicker rug once when the Fjord didn't feel warm at all to touch. Added an extra 100gms and he was soon toasty warm.

We often get temps down to -15 or lower in January and February but the warmest rug I use is a 350gm on a fully clipped horse which is out through the day and in at night in barn with 1 side fully open and then that is only for the time that it is really needed.

In my teens I had a beautiful 3/4 arab, 1/8 TB pony that i never dreamed of rugging even though we lived very close to the Pennines and the winters were wicked! She had the most amazing winter coat I have ever seen. Downside was that she sweated up too easy and as she was a strawberry roan was a nightmare to groom in the winter.
 
Sounds silly to me ...
mine are unclipped and out in rain sheets to keep them dry and clean for riding :D

One will have a 'bib and some belly'clip and stay in a rain sheet as she is a little heat machine, if she gets cold she can have her 100g weight on. The other will have a chaser so then have a warmer rug on. But then mine are hardy natives!
 
mturnbull said:
Can you come and tell this to my yearling please? I'm pretty sure if I didn't make her she wouldn't even go out her stable door when it gets below 5 or theres a spit of rain!

I've had more than one like that! Unfortunately when they get here (at the top of the Pennines), they have to toughen up! They go out unrugged except in the very worst wet and windy weather. The Westphalian was brought up in Europe and really would prefer to stay inside with plenty to eat in inclement weather. However she has a good thick coat and she hasn't come to any harm yet.

When it comes to rugging its each to their own and what their horse needs. Leave them to rug however they want as long as the horse is happy.
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Unfortunately many people can't tell whether their horse is happy or not - hence the epidemic of over-rugging!
 
My guys, a TB and a Welshie, are currently wearing fly sheets as we have midgies here at the moment when the sun comes out!! Otherwise it's just a lightweight rain sheet to keep them clean and dry. My Welshie has a neck and belly clip too.

I like to keep my heavier rugs until they are actually needed, i.e. when it is frosty all day and there is no heat in the sun at all.

I've heard lately in our area there have been a number of horses going down with colic due to overheating so you have to be careful. If a horse is cold it will just move around more whereas if it is too hot due to too many rugs then they can't get away from it until you take them off.

I suppose it's up to the individual but we have to remember that they are outdoor animals not used to central heating like us softies so we feel it much colder than they do!!
 
I'm terrible just full clipped for happy hacker and cannot wait for the real winter to begin as she has a full neck stable rug this year. Oh she's welsh cob X. She's out in a no full now and a thin fleece at night, although had stable rug last night as just newly clipped.
 
When my horses are shaking in the rain I don't think I'm rugging for myself. I don't subscribe to the toughen up theory. It's been demonstrated over and over again to me that horses can and do get sick and they most certainly can get hypothermia.

Having said that, 500 grams of rugs are ridiculous. A woman here had her horse outside last week in a med turnout with a 300 gram liner underneath. He wore the same inside. Gee, wonder why he was sweaty. Unclipped are in mediums at night, lights by day unless it's going to bolt all day. When clipped they get a liner. They don't need much more. This constant wet beats a horse down. I don't have shelters. They come in at night out of all the wet. To be honest I am a minimal rugger because I have 5. Yup, they have to go around in their mud colored rug in the barn. What a sin. They get cleaned up though so not too worried.

Terri
 
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