Rugs. How many does a horse REALLY need?

One each lightweight stable rug, lightweight turnout and a fleece for sweatiness, plus a rug bib against rubs.

A posh thermatex and show sheet for parties and that's it.









Trouble is... I have five and they all have the above and comply with my one on, one off and one in the wash motto!
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My show cob has:

4 x WB Combo fleeces (he's grey! All that washing!)
2 x WB fleeces
2 x WB Thermo-cell combos
2 x WB Waffle weave sheets
1 x WB LW T/O
1 x WB LW Combo T/O
1 x WB MW Combo T/O
2 x WB Taka Combo HW T/O
2 x Mark Todd LW Stable rugs
1 x MW Mark Todd Stable rug + Neck cover
1 x WB HW Combo Stable rug
1 x WB Under rug combo
2 x MT exercise sheets - one fluorescent and one fleece one!

Erm...think that's it!
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What do they REALLY need?

Erm, none. They don't really need any rugs, they have been blessed with nice thick coats. They only REALLY need rugs so we can b*gger around with them
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Each of mine only has one rug each, always have. That is apart from one cob who has sweet Itch, so also gets a fly rug.
 
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What do they REALLY need?

Erm, none. They don't really need any rugs, they have been blessed with nice thick coats. They only REALLY need rugs so we can b*gger around with them
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I think that goes for natives, cobs etc. But not many TB's would do well rugless imo
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I have done a fair amount of stream lining recently so do not have much anyway.
Minimum i could have i reckon is 1 stable rug, 1 heavy turnout, 1 light turn out, so 3 may be the minimum i could do with
 
6 turnout rugs and 4 stable rugs, 1 cooler and 1 ponysized travel rug all shared between 2 TB, 2 ponies and 1 ID cross.
Mainly it is the TB who wear them though! Others grow their own thick coats. I dont do clipping!
 
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Depends a bit what they are doing (retired horse would need less).

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My oldie has more than the others, got to keep his old bones warm
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I just meant you probably wouldn't need an exercise sheet, cooler, travel rug, smart rug for shows etc
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My mare went through her first winter with me with one MW turnout, which she wore overnight in the stable if it was really cold, and during the day in the field if the weather was crap. On dry days she went rugless and came out of winter looking better than she went in
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By last year I'd purchased a lot more rugs and ended up sneaking around behind my YO's back taking off the extra rugs she'd put on
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My horse lost a lot of weight and came into spring looking rubbish - IMO the more rugs you own, the more chance that you get the rugging wrong!
 
My mare feels the cold easily but also can overheat easily so she is an absolute nightmare to rug! Hence I have 2 rugs in every weight going to ensure she has options! She lived out last year so I ended up buying more rugs to cover the extreme cold snap we had here. My gelding arrived with a bigger wardobe than I already owned hence I now have 98 rugs! I'd love to think I can get away with only 3 or 4 but it wouldn't work in my management system with the horses I own now!
 
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