Rugging

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classybutwild

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Hello im new here! I've been lurking a while but haven't posted, afraid of being branded a numpty but im gonna give it a go.

I have a 14'2 black welsh cob, because of the freezing temperatures here i have rugged him with 3 layers, first a fleece, then a stable rug and then his turnout combo on top.

Im worried i may have over rugged him, he is a good doer, but i felt sorry for him last night and put an extra layer on.
Does anyone else do this?
 
Is he clipped out? I put about the same on my clipped poor doer, i don't think they actually get too warm in these conditions!! -7 here last night!! But I would check him at intervals to make sure he isn't sweaty under there. If not then go for it!!
 
Is he clipped? If he isn't, does he have a thick coat? Does he need to loose weight?

My last horse was a good doer (cob), I didn't clip her and yet I still put lots of rugs on her thinking I would be cruel doing otherwise, she came out of winter too fat and got laminitis so badly that I had to have her put down! I'm not saying this was the only contributing factor but it did have some affect. Very hard lesson learnt!!

Roll on two years, my friend and now have a un-clipped shire x cob, came to us fat and with loads of rugs...... Farrier and vet said he would of got laminitis if he stayed in his last home. He has lost alot of weight since we've had him (nearly 3 months) with a combination of feed/exercise and NO rugs unless it's wet and windy as we don't have much natural shelter and then it's only a rain sheet. He looks so much better for it and has got a lovely thick coat of his own xx

If my friend and I waver I just think of amy and it hardens my resolve xx
 
My bib clipped TB x ID is currently in 2 layers, it was -10 here last night and he has his vest on, then MW then HW stable rug..he hasnt been out so had that on all yday and night before. If he goes out today...depends on ice etc then he will just have his combo put ontop. He is a poor doer in winter. But i dont want to rug too much yet as if it gets even colder and its likly to he wont fit through his stable door. He has got my old duvet waiting to be put on if it gets too cold as they are great for keeping warm and lighter than lots of layers!! He has them on when fully clipped
 
-6.7 here, my two Welshes, Section D and Section A are unrugged and were perfectly snuggy in their stables this morning and are now out naked. As for the others, had I realised last night it was going to be quite that cold I'd have put their heavyweights on, as it was they were all three perfectly warm, stabled, in their mediums and are out in them now - that's a hunter clipped 3/4 TB, a 7/8 TB who's getting on a bit and a full TB. The 3/4 TB is often too hot but I know the 7/8 TB feels the cold early, but whatever he was still warm and snuggy this morning.
 
Is he clipped out?
my 14.2 welsh cob cross has the same amount of rugs on, and he's in a night plus he is clipped. REMEMBER my friends horse almost past out about a mounth ago and wouldn't get up....he was to hot from being over rugged!
:D:)
 
My clipped out sj mare had a fleece, combo under rug & top rug, unclipped pony had mid weight stable rug. Today clipped one had heavyweight with neck to go out, unclipped is naked, with her thick coat she can keep herself warm & I don't want her to get fat & laminitic. Girl in next stable to me has a laminitic, he is unclipped & wore 3 rugs last night, has gone out on all the frosty grass today wearing a heavyweight & under rug, I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
 
My clipped native is out in a mediumweight rug; it was -10 here this morning and she was plenty warm enough. If it turns windy/blizzard conditions I might have a rethink.
 
That's a lot of rugs...

There's a couple of welsh cobs on my yard with nothing on (except of course the fur they grew themselves) and are still alive!!! Imagine that!!!

If they are being fed hay or actually HAVE grass in this weather then be careful. Digestion uses up alot of energy and if they can't lose the heat properly they will overheat and colic.
 
It was about -5 here last night. My boys are both good doers. One has a blanket clip and was wearing a thick fleece rug and a MW stable rug, the other is fully clipped and was wearing a LW stable rug and a MW combo stable rug.
 
tallyho! said:
That's a lot of rugs...

There's a couple of welsh cobs on my yard with nothing on (except of course the fur they grew themselves) and are still alive!!! Imagine that!!!

If they are being fed hay or actually HAVE grass in this weather then be careful. Digestion uses up alot of energy and if they can't lose the heat properly they will overheat and colic.
Click to expand...

Thats really interesting, I have always had cliipped ponies in winter before, but Kizzy is retired so just followed my instinct really, it did feel strange at first not rugging her, but she has a really thick coat & seems quite happy. She has a decent amount of hay & we've just moved to the winter grazing, so plenty of grass, so actually, from your post not rugging is exactly right then. I do if its very wet & windy, & in the stable because I think she can't move about & keep warm, so shall ignore the little comments & be glad that she's comfortable & I'm doing the right thing.
 
My old Welsh who is currently unrugged and very woolly is currently naked. When it gets cold and damp he will have heavyweight on. Same with the Section A, she's gots loads of fluff and is perfectly warm in these still crisp conditions but when it gets that chilly damp then if she's cold she'll be rugged.
 
wow, i would take them off before he passes out! horses are made to be outside- i could understand if he was an underweight TB. I would just go with the tunout combo if hes not clipped and maybe a fleece under that if hes clipped. remember horses dont feel the cold like we do!
 
I agree with Tallyho. Sounds like way too many rugs. I have a 20 year old fully clipped TB gelding. He goes out in the day with ONE turnout rug on - a heavyweight with neck admittedly, but I would NEVER put him out with more than that. At night I either leave just this one rug on, or if changing him into his stable rug (which I only ever do at weekends when I'm not rushing round in the mornings), then he will have one thin under rug under a heavyweight stable rug. He is as fat as a pig and perfectly happy.
One of the girls on my yard has a welsh sec D - unclipped. She puts an under rug on under a heavy turnout with a neck cover on - it wears this day and night and she wonders why it is constantly itching. I've tried telling her it's because it's too hot, but she won't have it!
 
Blimey! If unclipped, I would say no rugs. My Haffie mare is stabled at night and out in the day and very toasty with no rugs. Keeping her rugs off is the only way to control her weight in he winter. I also have a Trakehner mare, chaser clip, and she just has one heavyweight rug on at night (-5 last night) and a heavyweight turnout during the day when outside. I do think perhaps many horses are over rigged as e tend to think they feel temperatures the same way as we do. No one puts rugs on cows and they have about the same coat :)
 
My Welsh D would normally be in a light medium weight all winter but following laminitis in 2009 and trying to keep the weight off him I have been putting only a rain sheet on him if it is wet and cold...otherwise naked. I left his rain sheet on last night as it was minus 9 here and he is stabled. He was ok in the morning, luke warm I would say but still alive and happy to be out in the snow digging for grass. I have had to harden myself up to being skimpy on rugs in the hope that he will use more food to keep warm rather than putting weight on!
He os strip grazed every day and whilst I have given him a bigger strip with all the snow covering everything, he is still having to root around to find food and has not bothered with the small haynet left hanging up. I think they survive better than we think when it is cold...even minus figures and snow.
 
Wow that is a heck of a lot of rugs, especially for a native. My Section A is out 24/7 with access to shelter with no rugs on whatsoever. She has a thick coat and manages just fine. I doubt she'll get a rug on this year at all. My welsh x tb is also kept unrugged. Unless of course yours is clipped- then I'd say he did need a rug on but definitely not 3 layers. Natives are extremely hardy and can cope with the temperatures far better than we think.
 
I don't think its too many rugs assuming your pony is clipped out. I have one NF pony in 3 thick rugs too but she is very happy like this, walking about like a Michelin man. She is very fit at the moment, and is the slimmest she has ever been in her life, so without her usual layers of insulating fat. She was struggling to keep warm until we wrapped her up more and would stop every so often and give a shiver whilst being ridden yesterday (down to just an exercise sheet), so she is really feeling this cold weather. When it warms up again we'll reduce the rugs accordingly. Her legs and front of face/ears have not been clipped.

This pony is only 6 BTW, and has always been a very good doer. My other NF ponies are coping much better with the cold and wearing less, especially during the day when they are turned out.
 
may i just add- not sure where u are but we are in scotland so it freeeezing at the mo & when my mare is out (not today as we have horrendous thunderstorms and snowstorm!) she is wearing a lightweight with neck cover over a fleece- shes a 14 yo belgian WB and unclipped. I love my horse to bits and have to stop myself from spoiling her at times as overfeeding and overrugging because we think they look sad or whatever is not kind to them. Keep in mind he is a HORSE not a PERSON- i know its hard at times!
 
My TB is out 24/7 in a heavyweight with an under rug and he's just right. A cob is out in the same field naked, he's doing fine. I've seen him winter out the last few winters like this and he barely loses an ounce! If he was rugged up he would probably put too much weight on and become obese as he's quite large to start with.
You have to remember, horses don't feel the cold the same way as we do!
 
It was -11 here this morning, and my clipped poor doer was in an under rug, fleece, h/w turnout and a medium weight turnout all with full necks.

The clipped good doer had an under rug and a h/w turnout, both with full necks

And the hairies (including two very fine TBs) were out with one h/w turnout on each - all with full necks.

All were the right temperature every time they were checked, possibly a little cool to the touch which is how I like them - they have ad lib haylage which warms them up from the inside out!
 
Sorry peeps was at the yard, no he his isn't clipped, so will be taking your advice, and take some layers off!, he is in good weight not fat or thin just right for this time of year, i've turned him away for the winter so thought with him not doing much he may need it, but i think i may have tried to humanise him a bit, (slap on the wrist!) what do you all think? he is stabled at night, but i don't like to change rugs when they go in as i don't like to put cold rugs on at these temperatures. Should i leave the fleece on and his medium weight combo on? x
 
Arent Welshies bred to be out on freezing windy, wet, rainy mountainsides? Natives have a 2 layer hairy rug of their own, my NF has wintered out during the day with a small bib type clip and no rug for years, he is much healthier since I stopped rugging him, natives dont need rugging if they arent clipped.
 
My unclipped horses are still unrugged. The are always warm when I check them. They do live out but come in for a couple of hours during the day for a feed and check. Generally I think that if they are out at night they have a better chance of keeping themselves warm by both eating and moving about.

My clipped horses are rugged but only wearing one rug each.

I do think there is a tendency to overrug our horses. Years ago, if we rugged our horses, they were in a canvas New Zealand that usually leaked. It would usually have a blanket lining but no neck cover. Laminitis was virtually unheard of except for very small, fat ponies.

Unless a horse needs to put condition on I would rather they were too cold than too hot.
 
In the days when old new zealands were all there were, a vet told me that he saw more problems with rugged horses that those unrugged and that as long as there was natural shelter, hedges etc there was no need. Mind you there was no need for lots of things... 'balancers' were unheard of as it was believed that grass, hay and minimal 'straight' feed was all horses needed.
 
I think horses are like people in that some feel the cold more than others..e.g im happy at my yard in the minute in a thick pair of socks, a rugby top and a lets say m/w coat. My friend goes to the yard in 3 pairs of socks, two jumpers, a scarf, hat and h/w coat. Not to mention thermals underneith...I think every horse/person is different. Go and check your horse first thing in the morning, feel his skin, is he hot/ warm/ cold. And make your own decisions. I have a tbx mare out in a fleece and a m/w and shes very happy, trotting round and playing in the field and she always feels very warm. I think its better to under rug than over rug...maybe try a fleece and a thicker rug?

And think about this, how would you feel walking around all day with three coats on? I dont think it would be all that comfortable :/
 
Depends if he is clipped or not :)

My boy, has a hunter clip and is out during the day, in at night. Due to the weather ie. snow and temp of -5 at the yard, he has a MW turnout with neck, and last night I put a LW stable underneath.
He is just about right now :)

The fact that he has a white neck is why I use a necked rug!
 
My 14.3hh traditional cob has a blanket clip and has a 100g rug on, she is a bit overweight but seems to be the right temperature in it, it was minus 5 here last night. Before I had her she lived out with no clip and no rugs.
 
I spent the day worrying that my TB would be cold today! It hasn't got above -5 here in sunny oxfordshire! He was turned out in a 300g rug with nothing underneath and was very eager to be out this morning.
Well I came to get him in and it was like what was I worrying over because the little sod was having none of it and refused to be caught! So caught his lame best friend instead lol amazingly enough he marched me back in to the yard after that :D
 
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