Rugging =$

floradora09

floradora09

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Any ideas about rugging? Bramble's a native pony living out 24/7, trace clip. Good condition atm, but want to keep it on! Having two big feeds a day etc etc

At the moment he's got a medium/w high neck rug with a hood (so he's covered completely!) at night and just a light rug during day if it's warm enough. Is this ok? And when do you reckon I should start layering up! Have also got:

Heavy/w turnout rug (no neck, but will have rings put on)
Fleece combo
Light under rug
Medium under rug

Thought that my next moves would be to stick the light under rug on, then add the fleece combo, then when it's flippin' freezing do some swapping about and lots of layers!

Your opinions? Thanks! xxx
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He'll be far more comfortable in one good rug, rather than several layers. And as for weight - well go on how warm he feels.

Are you feeding good quality hay/haylage in the field?
 
Native Ponies are tough cookies - I think if you use that lot, you will be seriously over rugging, especially as how he only has a trace clip. He still has half of his coat on.
Star is a Dales cross, and is currently wearing a rain sheet with no neck. the closest she's come to her MW is to try it on to check for fit.

Keep an eye on the weather - it's been really mild of late.
 
Well it's a fairly high trace, he's 20 and struggles to put weight on once he's lost it. Not haying atm, but think it's fairly good quality...? Sorry should have made that clearer to start with!
 
Yeah, will speak to YO about haying... you see there's four of them in the field, soon to be five =(, so got to sort out with everyone else if they're happy to hay etc etc. Sometimes it would seem easier just to keep at home! Thanks for all your help =)
 
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Yeah, will speak to YO about haying... you see there's four of them in the field, soon to be five =(, so got to sort out with everyone else if they're happy to hay etc etc. Sometimes it would seem easier just to keep at home! Thanks for all your help =)

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If the horses are wintering out - then they'll have to start being hayed at some point......
 
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He'll be far more comfortable in one good rug, rather than several layers. And as for weight - well go on how warm he feels.

Are you feeding good quality hay/haylage in the field?

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It is actually far better to layer rugs if you are going for warmth - if they fit correctly then they should be no more or less comfortable. The layers trap air which the body heat warms up, more layers = more layers of air = warmer.

I am quite surprised your native needs this much feed and rugging though, has he always been a poor doer? I'd also hesitate to say you 'need' to hay if they stay out all winter - it depends on the weather and the amount of grass IMO.

As a comparison, my fully clipped TBx (fully clipped including head and ears!) is on two normal feeds a day and is living out in a (4yo so probably not as 'fluffy' as it used to be!) MW rug with a neck cover at night - neck cover only left on in the day if it is rainy. He is toasty warm and holding his weight well. He is not getting any hay in the field which has lots of grass in it. I've just got back from my night-time check and feed and he was snug and warm.
 
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It is actually far better to layer rugs if you are going for warmth

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Until a few years ago I would have agreed with you. However, modern fabrics, and the mechanics of many rugs now mean that you totally negate their properties by adding layers underneath them.

Unless of course you are using rugs such as the Duo, which are designed to have laayers popped underneath for additional warmth.
 
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It is actually far better to layer rugs if you are going for warmth

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Until a few years ago I would have agreed with you. However, modern fabrics, and the mechanics of many rugs now mean that you totally negate their properties by adding layers underneath them.

Unless of course you are using rugs such as the Duo, which are designed to have laayers popped underneath for additional warmth.

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That's just not true, even with modern fabrics - you don't negate their properties at all. I promise you all my very high tech outdoor clothes have a darn sight more modern fabrics than my horse's rugs, and they are designed to be layered. There is not one person who does outdoor stuff seriously who does not layer, and there is a good reason for it - it keeps you warmer. Please explain how you think modern fabrics and the mechanics of rugs mean they should not be layered, because I'd like to know why they have not passed this technology on to the guys who go high altitude mountaineering who I know!
 
Keeping my ponies at the same yard as B-09 (and being the YO's daughter) I know that because the weather hasn't got particularly cold yet, we haven't been haying. It's been wet, yes, but mild, and we are not nasty people who starve ponies, we're just saving it for when we need it.

Plus, having a mother run the ard, it's tricky to let someone hay, because they have a poor doer, because the politics of middle aged women with horses that they think are children is very complex. Plus half of them have no sense, and the real fatties get laminitis and wonder why!

I think B-09, that you'll have plenty of rugs over the winter to keep him warm, just because he has a trace, he shouldn't do any worse than how he did last winter. He's tough, he'll be fine! Plus, we;ll all be moving fields soon, to the better qulaity stuff, for when (and if) the new one comes
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Hope this helps!
 
Thanks Golden_Match_II! It's a tricky one when there're other people sharing fields- yard politics! =P I'll just keep an eye on him and bear in mind not to over-rug, as I'm more likely to do that than under-rug! Thanks to everyone else also.
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As for the layering, I would also say it's better to layer, but that's my opinion, and don't want an argument! :P

xx
 
SC, i can totally see your point about layering for people, i'm right with you, but when it comes to horses which roll, gallop around, etc, i don't like layering), and i've found that a HW Fal Goliath with full neck, on its own, is warm enough for a fully clipped out TB to live out in 24/7... (with a shelter too, to be fair.)
layers can move, rub and catch against each other, wrinkle, etc. i want a satiny smooth layer next to my horse so it will slide over withers, shoulders and hips in particular, but if an underrug is slippery like that, it can make the outer layers slip more, and not self-right... hope that makes sense!
 
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SC, i can totally see your point about layering for people, i'm right with you, but when it comes to horses which roll, gallop around, etc, i don't like layering), and i've found that a HW Fal Goliath with full neck, on its own, is warm enough for a fully clipped out TB to live out in 24/7... (with a shelter too, to be fair.)
layers can move, rub and catch against each other, wrinkle, etc. i want a satiny smooth layer next to my horse so it will slide over withers, shoulders and hips in particular, but if an underrug is slippery like that, it can make the outer layers slip more, and not self-right... hope that makes sense!

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That's an entirely different discussion from whether or not it is warmer to layer and whether or not layering negates the properties of modern fabrics or not though, isn't it?

My horse lives out perfectly fine fully clipped in a MW weatherbeeta with neck, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be warmer with layers.

My experience has always been that layering hasn't caused any of the issues you've mentioned - but then I've never had a problem with rugs slipping at all, let alone if layered, so perhaps I am blessed with a horse which is the perfect fit for rugs? In terms of the slipping, well, say you put a fleece under a TO - the slippy bits at shoulder under the fleece are by the horse, check, but the top of the fleece is still, well, fleece, so it isn't slippy at all.
 
fair enough, but when i've put a fleece under a turnout rug, it's always ended up in the mud! the Fals seem to work really well on their own, and definitely to be warm enough. also, with loads of layers i worry that the horse will get overheated, at least with just 1 layer you can get a bit of air in there to stop the horse feeling too hot... well, that's how i see it anyway!
meanwhile i'll stick to loads of layers for me though...!
 
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