Rugs!

[**puddleduck**]

Hi ?‍

My girl is now 29 and is definitely starting to feel the cold a lot more than she used to. Up until a couple of years ago she was never rugged but now I’m worried that she feels cold whenever I put my hand down her rugs. As I’m not on a yard, I’m a bit out of touch with current fashions and trends and what products are out there.

I don’t have a huge budget to go out buying a full new wardrobe of rugs but what can people recommend that will keep her warm? She’s out during the day and in at night and currently wears a thick horseware wug stable rug at night and a horseware amigo turnout with neck during the day but I don’t feel they’re enough as she never feels toastie like she used to do.

 

[be positive]

She is better off being a little cool to the touch than 'toastie' as that is likely to be too warm and uncomfortable, if she looks well then she is probably fine, horses tend to generate heat internally from eating forage so ensure she is eating normally and monitor her weight rather than how she feels to the touch, I bet if you get your fingers down to her skin she is warm enough and her coat is doing it's job of insulating her.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

What amount of filling do the rugs have?

You could get a Horseware liner to go under your existing rugs or buy new rugs with more filling. If horseware rugs fit well then you could stick to that make.

I personally don't like my horses to feel 'toasty' as how I interpret that word is that they are too hot and on the verge of sweating. Warm but not toasty is what I aim for.

 

[**puddleduck**]

She is better off being a little cool to the touch than 'toastie' as that is likely to be too warm and uncomfortable, if she looks well then she is probably fine, horses tend to generate heat internally from eating forage so ensure she is eating normally and monitor her weight rather than how she feels to the touch, I bet if you get your fingers down to her skin she is warm enough and her coat is doing it's job of insulating her.

She doesn’t eat as well as she used to ... being minus a few teeth to blame for that. She is still a fairly decent weight for winter, she’s slim but not ribby or anything. She’s ended up shivering in the field a couple of times so has obviously got cold but think that has possibly made me get a bit paranoid and want her to feel warmer than perhaps she needs too as definitely don’t want her to end up shivering again.

 

[**puddleduck**]

What amount of filling do the rugs have?

You could get a Horseware liner to go under your existing rugs or buy new rugs with more filling. If horseware rugs fit well then you could stick to that make.

I personally don't like my horses to feel 'toasty' as how I interpret that word is that they are too hot and on the verge of sweating. Warm but not toasty is what I aim for.

I’m not sure what her stable rug is, it’s thick though. Her turnout I think is 200g.

I definitely don’t want her to end up sweating or anything. She came in from the field shivering a couple of times earlier on in Autumn and I think that has got me paranoid that I want her toastie now, so that I know she’s warm enough and she won’t ever end up shivering.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Oh I agree, shivering means she's definitely not warm enough.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

These are the liners. Expensive I know, but cheaper than a new (quality) rug and you can use it as required with the rugs you already have. You don't have to use the velcro on the neck (so you can use it with the wug if you like) but definitely use the clips at the rear of the rug (onto the metal loops the fillet string attaches to) to stop it twisting.

https://www.tackshop.co.uk/shop/for-the-horse/horse-rugs/liners-under-rugs/horseware-liner/

 

[be positive]

She doesn’t eat as well as she used to ... being minus a few teeth to blame for that. She is still a fairly decent weight for winter, she’s slim but not ribby or anything. She’s ended up shivering in the field a couple of times so has obviously got cold but think that has possibly made me get a bit paranoid and want her to feel warmer than perhaps she needs too as definitely don’t want her to end up shivering again.

The wet weather in autumn caught many out as they had not grown a decent coat so don't feel too bad about the shivering, my much younger horse shivered one day but has now grown a proper coat, if they are kept dry by their rug, have access to some shelter during the day and come in at night most are fine, my 29 year old, that I lost this spring, hardly grew a winter coat but rarely needed a really warm rug unless there was deep snow which really seems to chill them to the bone when they are older.

 

[welshpony216]

what size is she?

 

[**puddleduck**]

The wet weather in autumn caught many out as they had not grown a decent coat so don't feel too bad about the shivering, my much younger horse shivered one day but has now grown a proper coat, if they are kept dry by their rug, have access to some shelter during the day and come in at night most are fine, my 29 year old, that I lost this spring, hardly grew a winter coat but rarely needed a really warm rug unless there was deep snow which really seems to chill them to the bone when they are older.

I think that’s what it was, I’ve owned her for 21 years now (and my other mare for 22 years until we lost her summer 2019), so not new to horse ownership but it’s the first time ever that it’s happened and I felt awful. It happened twice in one week and hasn’t happened again since but I’m constantly checking her temperature multiple times a day now ? and not convinced she’s warm enough. I brought her in from the field after 2 hours yesterday as she felt cold to the touch, whereas really she needs to be out 7-8 hours or she stiffens up.

 

[**puddleduck**]

what size is she?

She’s a 15hh TB x cob, she generally wears a 6ft rug occasionally needs a 6ft 3” depending on fit x

 

[**puddleduck**]

These are the liners. Expensive I know, but cheaper than a new (quality) rug and you can use it as required with the rugs you already have. You don't have to use the velcro on the neck (so you can use it with the wug if you like) but definitely use the clips at the rear of the rug (onto the metal loops the fillet string attaches to) to stop it twisting.

https://www.tackshop.co.uk/shop/for-the-horse/horse-rugs/liners-under-rugs/horseware-liner/

That sort of price is fine- just don’t have hundreds to kit her out in loads of new rugs, they deffo look like a good idea as can use it under any of her current rugs ? thanks

 

[Goldenstar]

I do love a rug .

 

[TGM]

Are you feeding her any sort of hay replacer to make up for the hay she can't eat because of her poor teeth? Either short chop type (like Readigrass) or a mash (eg soaked grass nuts) if her teeth are really bad. Horses generate heat when they digest fibre, which helps keep them warm. If she is eating less hay because she has poor teeth this might be why she is finding it harder to stay warm like she used to.

 

[**puddleduck**]

Are you feeding her any sort of hay replacer to make up for the hay she can't eat because of her poor teeth? Either short chop type (like Readigrass) or a mash (eg soaked grass nuts) if her teeth are really bad. Horses generate heat when they digest fibre, which helps keep them warm. If she is eating less hay because she has poor teeth this might be why she is finding it harder to stay warm like she used to.

She has a bucket with hifi senior, spillers fibre nuts and spillers senior super-mash in twice a day all soaked and she demolishes it in about 10 mins flat ?. She seems to manage to eat the grass well during the day but as to how much goodness is in it at this time of year ?‍ But She only manages a very small net of haylage at night now though. Her poos are good and she is holding a decent weight. She’s a lot slimmer than she used to be in her younger days but we always had a battle to keep her weight down, you can easily feel her ribs but they’re not visible through her winter coat and she has a decent covering on her hips, spine etc

 

[Jellymoon]

Are your rugs still keeping her dry do you think? Just wondering if they are quite old they may have lost their waterproof-ness? if that’s a word! You could get them reproofed, or buy a new turnout to sling over the top so the old rug becomes the under rug. A 6ft3 100g could go over your 200g and be nice for this time of year.

I often layer turnouts, but I like well-fitting, lightweight ones like Amigo. I regularly layer a 100g and a 200g, which saves me from needing to buy a 300g. I prefer layering turnouts to using liners, which I find don’t fit that well and pull a bit. Also, you can’t use them for anything else, whereas a 100g turnout is a very useful item.

I also don’t change them when they come in, they live in their turnouts, so they hang on to the heat they have already generated and are not having to warm up a cold stable rug. Also, if it’s been raining, if I take the turnouts off, the lining ends up getting damp, so horrible cold rug to go back on in the morning. Better to stay on the horse.