Rugs or No Rugs????

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twilightstar

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Hi Everyone

Right I know I might get abuse for this question but I need someone else’s opinion besides my sister’s.

I and my sister are having a debate about whether the horses should have fleeces or lightweight rugs on or not when they come in for the night, she thinks it’s still too warm still to put anything on them where I beg to differ.
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So what do you think?? Is it cold enough yet? Are you putting fleeces or rugs on them? Or do you believe I’m mothering the horses too much and there’s no need for rugs yet?
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Any advice would be helpful
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My ISH is still out with no rug, that said he will start wearing his rain sheet this week as the temperature has dropped significantly. When he is in however he will be naked as its nice and warm in the stable and he'll be out of the wind and rain.
 
Mine are still out in the field 24/7. My oldie has a lightweight rain sheet on and my hairy is naked! Mind you if they were stood in a stable all night, not moving around I might be tempted to pop a fleece on. It was 3.5 degrees this morning when I got in the car at 7.30am, so quite chilly overnight I think.
 
depends on the horse i would say - whether its clipped or not etc.
my horses live out but i have 2 horses that are clipped and are currently wearing MW turnouts at night and LW turnout in the day. My other 2 are hairy beast and unclipped so are rugless at the moment and probably will be throughout most of the winter.
 
The temperature at night seems to vary a lot at the moment (at least in Shrops where it varies from 8C one night up to 14C) so I think it depends on the night and the horse. If he seems OK last thing in the evening and first thing in the morning then he is probably OK overnight.
 
My two natives when they come in are naked, but D the tbx was having his waffle cooler on when he first came in. Now the weather has changed he's now in his med/light stable rug as he feels the cold really easily and drops weight quickly otherwise. I wouldnt worry what other people think, you know your horse best and if you think he should be in a rug put him in one. This debate could rage on forever otherwise!!
 
My two boys are native so will be unrugged all winter they grow nice fluffy coats and i,ve never seen them shiver. My cob mare used too be clipped so she would be rugged but is now in foal so will have just a light/medium rug depending on the weather. I suppose like above posts read it really does depend on individual horses and how they cope with the cold and wet. : )
 
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Depends on your horse's breed, is he/she clipped, but I would think it's cold enough. Just a guess as I have a cob so don't rug him up yet.

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I have got a warmblood and a lipizzaner, Neither are clipped, Im getting the feeling i am mothering them to much lol
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2 of my 3 are unclipped natives- they are rugoless and will remian so until the weather becomes arctic (hopefully not!)

The other one is still rugless, because although he loses weight easily when cold, he is getting hairy and has sweated up in a fleece overnight- (he is naked thru the day unless raining)......so until I can get around to clipping him he will stay naked. And scruffy- can't wait until I get chance to get the clippers out.......
 
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My two natives when they come in are naked, but D the tbx was having his waffle cooler on when he first came in. Now the weather has changed he's now in his med/light stable rug as he feels the cold really easily and drops weight quickly otherwise. I wouldnt worry what other people think, you know your horse best and if you think he should be in a rug put him in one. This debate could rage on forever otherwise!!

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Lol your right this debate could go on forever!! lol
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The thing that makes me laugh is my Lipizzaner yearling the whether doesn’t really affects him, where my 17.3 warmblood is a completely different story! He’s a women in mans clothing
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He feels the cold really badly and loses weight really quickly so if anything he going to start wearing a fleece during the night.

You right tho about the part “I know my horses best” so I should go with my gut instincts!

Thanks everyone for the advice so far!
 
I have a warmblood with hardly any coat and who's a sensitive wimp and he has his fleece/LW stable rug (may turn into MW tonight) on at night and his MW turnout during the day!

However he had his LW stable rug on this morning and when i went to see him his hair was on end and he was very cold!!
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I know what you mean - I have a TBx yearling who has the thickest coat ever already and is toasty warm always with no rug, and a WB who is not clipped but still out 24/7 in a lightweight TO day and night. His coat is nowhere near what the yearlings is and he would be cold without rug. I have been trying to decide whether to put him in a MW overnight but again wondering if I am being too soft lol!
 
All three of mine are still out and unrugged, i have a tb x warmblood who's not yet back in work after weaning so until she is and clipped.. no rug then I have a warmblood x and welsh weaned foals neither have rugs on and won't for a while yet... They have nice fluffy coats and a good layer of fat on both!!!
 
Our working horses are (lightly) clipped and have midweights on in the day and a thin stable rug under their midweight at night as they are still out.

The babies have light weights with thin stable rugs underneath as they're growing so fast I'm too mean to buy midweights, they can make do!
 
my two have rugs on just light weights out in the feild and when in they have cooler fleeces on think of it this way its cold outside but they can run about and keep warm in the stable they cant move to keep warm so surely they need some pjs on neither of mines are clipped ones a wee welsh sec A and my other is a 16.3 irish draught i feel bad if im cold which mean they could be too
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Mine vary, it's just so difficult at the moment as the temperatures are varying so much. Generally my TB (23) has been out during the day and in at night naked, unless it's been wet, when a LW was put on, but when I got home about 6pm last night he was obviously a bit chilly, so I think we'll be moving into lw/mw rugs during the day.

My rescue mare is wearing something lw overnight in bed, such as a fleece or lw stable rug, depending on what she's destroyed on the previous evening (!!) and is in a mw turnout with neck during the day.

Today however I think I'll need to go and change her rugs over in a little while as it's warming up quite quickly.

The ponies are naked and can like it or lump it!
 
my TB and my ID x are both in at night with lightweight quilted rugs on.
During the day they are now out with just their rainsheets on

Neither are clipped - although my IDx will be clipped by the end of October.

My shetland is naked day and night - and out at night, but then she is a little pork pie who doesn't seem to feel the cold and I doubt i will rug her unless it starts snowing
 
It started to rain here about lunch time and my boy, a 20 year fine coated TB was out all afternoon in the THUMPING rain with no rug on. I was very shocked when I got to the yard at how distressed he was. I seriously wondered if he was going to colic.
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He had to stay out last night
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, but he was dried off, had a fleece, his heavy turnout and the hood
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on last night but was still none too warm this morning.

When I do start bringing him in at night, which will be very soon, he'll probably be naked for the first night or two, as he gets very cross and charges round the stable getting hot and sticky until he gets used to the new routine, then he'd have a light stable rug, increasing in weight as the winter comes on. Whilst he's still out he will be rugged up every night from now on and has been for about two weeks.

In answer to your question, it largely depends on the type of horse and weather conditions.
 
Have you clipped yet?

My IDxTB is still out at night, in during day, unclipped (and rapidly turning into a woolly mammoth, I've never seen such a hairy horse!!) and unrugged. He looks well, is happy and is warmer than all of the unclipped horses of similar type at the yard who've had rugs on for a few weeks. He will be rugged when stabled from the weekend though as I'm going to clip him.

If your horse feels warm then I wouldn't rug, though they can get colder in the stable than outside as they can't move around to keep warm like they do when out.
 
Two of mine are out 24/7 naked but one will get a sheet on in the next few days as temp has really dropped and where meant to get more rain.
My gelding is out with a lightweight with slight fill through the day and a thick fleece over night in stable.
 
Our beasts are still 24 x 7 out naked but they are young, very hairy (yak like gypsy cob and clydie) and have plenty of hay.

The old ponies, though hairy are having no fill rugs on at night to keep the wind and rain off as we have little natural shelter.

If it was my old TB, she would be in a LW rug and maybe a MW on the chiller nights as she really felt the cold and her coat was so fine it was useless at keeping her skin dry.

Maybe rug the WB and leave the youngster for the moment as sounds like that one has a coat to cope.

I have always rugged by the individual horse and not the weather/other people's opinions, I like mine to be warm at the base of the ears and inner thighs and not have a standing coat or shivering. I personally hate to see horses overrugged when it is warm. Some of the show people should try wearing what they put on their poor animals in summer.
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My 2y/o is currently out 24/7 unrugged. I did put a rug on him earlier in the week but I felt it was too mild so it came straight off again. I'm not one for having lots of rugs to choose from so mine stays naked as long as possible and will then have (prob a medium weight) on for the worst of the weather - nov - feb ish.
 
Depends on the horse.

My TB hates rugs with a passion, always feels warm and is a little overweight.
He's out all day and comes in at night and had been completely naked though he's one of the few that still is.
Yesterday it poured with rain and when i got there he had just come in. He was soaking wet but not in the slightest bit cold and perfectly happy.

I will have to rug at some point as the field is fairly exposed and windy but I am going to wait till he starts showing signs of feeling cold or dropping weight.
 
Depends on the horse.

Missy whose a cob x TB is already clipped so she's having a fleece on at night and a no fill rug during the year.

Josie's not in anything and she's an ID x TB, quite a big girly and doesn't need anything at all on yet.
 
Hi, are they miserable/cold/tucked up/starey coated in the morning? If they are put a blanket on, if not then leave it a bit longer.

Not knowing your horses it is hard to say for sure and every horse copes differently. As a matter of interest does your sister think that there is a certain temperature when they should be rugged at?

One of mine is rugged at night because she's a skinny old mare, but nothing else is, it isn't really cold yet, only about 4C at night but up to about 14C during the day. The bays and sorrels are fuzzy, the mini is already heading towards yakdom, but my palominos are still in their thin summer coats
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