Rugs...in July?!

[Bobthecob15]

Is anyone rugging in this weather?! We've been using a 0g because of the rain but considering a 50g as its getting down to about 8 overnight...add in the rain and its chilly! Anyone else?? EDIT horse is a fine ISH and isn't carrying much extra weight, she was cold the other day in the persistent rain naked!

 

[Sealine]

No, I refuse to rug in July. My horse is carrying plenty of weight and there's plenty of grass in the field so he'll be fine.

ETA: There are plenty on the yard who are rugging which is up to them but for me and my horse it's a no.

 

[Surbie]

No. My horse has sweetitch. I live for windy days when he can have a naked day. And 8C is perfectly fine for a healthy horse to stay unrugged.

Does your horse have any issues that mean they need rugging?

 

[rextherobber]

Me too - with the one with a muscle myopathy and the elderly TB, but otherwise not.

 

[shortstuff99]

Yes mine are rugged as they've been feeling the cold. One of mine ties up if she gets wet so she has to have one on.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

yes intermittent, I am using 0G

 

[chaps89]

The fat one no, absolutely not. The other one gets really cold in the rain, she had a rain sheet on last night, it rained all night and she was hovering head to toe this morning so she’ll get her thicker one on next time the weathers forecast like that.

 

[spacefaer]

I rug if they're cold, I don't rug if it's warm, regardless of the date. I rug according to the individual.
When the rain is relentless and the wind is cool, as we've had the last few days, absolutely my horses have waterproof rugs on. .
One of the older retired ones is channeling his inner polar bear so he's not rugged ATM. The other isn't very well and is not moving much so he has a 100g overnight.

 

[J&S]

My old mare had a rainsheet on in the worst of the rain, fat pony certainly not!! Have had to rearrange fencing since the rain as it has really brought the grass on.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Yeah i have used a 0g quite a few of the rotten wet days…
Including yesterday…. I refuse to let him stand in a field with no rug on getting eaten by flies… alternatively I dont want him standing in a soggy soaking fly rug

 

[PSD]

Mines fat so no, I refuse to rug. However a few on the yard are rugging because the horses aren’t coping being so wet. One of the mares was moping round the gate shivering…where did summer go

 

[EnduroRider]

One of mine wore a 100g with neck last night and has come in shivering this morning. It's tricky as clearly he needs to be kept warmer overnight (he doesn't have any spare weight to lose) but when I'm turning out at 6pm-7pm it is still quite warm

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I used a rain sheet night before last for the one and only time as it was forecast to rain all night and my field doesn't have any shelter, it's also on the side of a hill. If it's showers then I won't rug, and he definitely doesn't need one unless it gets down to 0 degrees or less as he is a very hot horse.

 

[Miss_Millie]

No, horses self regulate their body temperature and are more likely to overheat in a rug than get cold in the rain. We have been having heavy rain with temps still in the mid to high teens, even I have felt too warm in a rain coat.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Mines fat so no, I refuse to rug. However a few on the yard are rugging because the horses aren’t coping being so wet. One of the mares was moping round the gate shivering…where did summer go

We have it for three days again… apparently

 

[Peglo]

Yeah we have been rugging. Wind and damp last night and 10 degrees this morning so likely to have been colder overnight. Ponies are in 0g and horse in a 100g. The wind when it’s northerly just goes right through them.

 

[Barton Bounty]

It was only 7 here this morning

 

[equinerebel]

Yes, my older mare had a 50g on Saturday - Sunday as the rain was relentless and she was shivering. She was clearly miserable and I'm not going to let her stand there shivering out of any principal. Once it had stopped, she went back into an Aussie allrounder, which she lives in for the rest of the summer.

 

[webble]

Yes I have had a rain sheet on on certain days, our fields are quite open and we have had localised flooding plus Kiki is pretty nesh

 

[fankino04]

My own seems perfectly fine ( plenty of fat to keep her warm), the skinny EMS pony is in zero fill but pretty much hides in her shelter anyway, and the fat recently diagnosed cushings pony has been a bit shivery without a rug so although I want him losing weight he's got a rain sheet on too to stop him feeling too cold, totally depends on the horse.

 

[Widgeon]

The fat one no, absolutely not. The other one gets really cold in the rain, she had a rain sheet on last night, it rained all night and she was hovering head to toe this morning so she’ll get her thicker one on next time the weathers forecast like that.

Same here, some of ours have rugs on because they're wimps, but mine doesn't - although it does mean that I'm even more restricted in when I can ride. There was a break in the rain yesterday afternoon but he was plastered in wet mud - literally dripping off him. So I would never judge anyway who puts a lightweight rug on for their own convenience!

 

[NinjaPony]

Mine has been in his waterproof fly rug for several days now. He hates getting wet and this is a good compromise.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Yes using a 0g most days now. Ridiculous weather!

 

[Annagain]

Nope, even Arch at 29 has got plenty of fat on him and at this rate Wiggy won't see a rug until January at the earliest!

 

[exracehorse]

It depends on the individual horse. I have four and one struggles when the weather turns and it suddenly drops in temperature and there is heavy rain, it was 12 degrees in Suffolk this morning and torrential downpour. Joker was shaking so I put a medium weight on. I got caught out a few years back with him, he’d tucked himself up because he feels the cold and I had an emergency vet visit with colic. Beau has a rug on too. His very old and not carrying much weight. He was shivering too. The other two were soaked and quite happy. I never rug them. It will hopefully brighten up this afternoon and then I’ll remove the rugs from the two boys.

 

[HelenBack]

I've been rugging my TB on the odd night when there's been consistent heavy rain forecast. Just a 0g rainsheet but it's got a 1200d outer so still feels quite thick and it can still be quite warm when I put it on in the evening. I worry that he;s too hot in it but I worry that he'll be cold and fed up without it and it's cost me a lot of money to put weight on him so I don't want him shivering it off again! Might have to go and look at one of those waterproof fly jobbies, as if I haven't got enough other rugs already!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I rug if they're cold, I don't rug if it's warm, regardless of the date. I rug according to the individual.

Absolutely this. Basic common sense and good horse husbandry, you'd think, but the number of people who refuse to put a rug on their horse because of the date on the calendar .

Be flexible, folks.

I've one who who has a muscle myopathy and has to be kept warm, one who now at 22 sometimes needs a rug in summer, and a warm one who is unlikely to need rugging but would be if needed.

Three horses with different requirements, all sharing the same field, and being treated as the individuals that they are.

 

[Annagain]

Absolutely this. Basic common sense and good horse husbandry, you'd think, but the number of people who refuse to put a rug on their horse because of the date on the calendar .

Be flexible, folks.

I've one who who has a muscle myopathy and has to be kept warm, one who now at 22 sometimes needs a rug in summer, and a warm one who is unlikely to need rugging but would be if needed.

Three horses with different requirements, all sharing the same field, and being treated as the individuals that they are.

The first year Arch was retired he went all winter without a rug then spent most of May in one. We had an exceptionally warm April so he lost all his winter coat then in May it turned really cold, wet and windy.

 

[wiglet]

Yes, Ive been rugging - my mare is 22 now, not carrying much weight and feels the cold. She hates getting wet so it its cold/wet or windy or a mixture of these, she gets rugged.

 

[Bobthecob15]

OK glad we're not the only ones then!