shivering horses in august.. rugs + stables already!

charleysummer

charleysummer

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well today was the first time i've had to rug and ive now decided to put her in for the night as she was shivering and i won't sleep knowing shes out in the cold- anyone else stabling/rugging their horses that have lived out until now? can't believe it when is not even september yet
 
It's meant to be down to 7 with us in Leeds tomorrow night - awful! We've had lightweights on at night for the last 3 nights as really been horrible. I used to have a TB mare who shivered end of Aug when there was dew on the grass - she had to come in then, what a delicate flower!
 
charleysummer said:
well today was the first time i've had to rug and ive now decided to put her in for the night as she was shivering and i won't sleep knowing shes out in the cold- anyone else stabling/rugging their horses that have lived out until now? can't believe it when is not even september yet
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Yep I noticed my mare was shivering and tucked up over the weekend with all the rain, so shes had a lightweight turnout on but still out as shes got far too much energy!, shes back to her normal self now, must say its getting rather nippy at night!! :(
 
i get the feeling it's not going to be a mild winter, my girl is a mix of sports/tb and native conny type so shes a good doer, but then also feel the cold! bless her (: i felt really really awful when i went up today and saw her shivering- rushed her inside asap and now shes in the stable with a belly full of feed :)
 
Woke up to find find a very wet and sad looking foaly and mum in my field this morning, they have been in all day and are staying in tonight too!! Horrid weather!!

My horses do have a field shelter but they don't seem to realise they can use it to keep dry and only use it in the summer to get out the heat!! :rolleyes:
 
lol, im glad im not the only one! Ive been mocked by horsey friends for being one of the mollycoddling lot! my girl is TBxID, shes got very fine hair and as a youngster hasnt really filled out much yet so is very narrow, I dont want her loosing weight so put the rug on her... Im really not looking forward to a freezing winter! brrr lol
 
not rugging our TBx yet, although thought long and hard about it - her belly is a bit fat, there is shed loads of good grass, and she has hay and feed on the yard, so thats whats keep her warm......I hope!!
 
my fine tb like horse (french trotter) isn't rugged 'till around october poss november and even then he is only rugged in a lightweight stable throughout the winter.
I hate seeing horses rugged up.
 
My dutch warmblood mare is very fine skinned and she has been rugged in a lightweight turnout on and off for the last week as has my TB x Con. Both are in again tonight and seemed very pleased to be coming into their stables again.

I too can't believe that my horses are in during august! I thought I was so organised and had bought most of my winter supply of bedding and hay etc, but having to bring them in so early makes me wonder if I will have enough to see me through now.
 
niagaraduval said:
my fine tb like horse (french trotter) isn't rugged 'till around october poss november and even then he is only rugged in a lightweight stable throughout the winter.
I hate seeing horses rugged up.
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Me too but if i see a horse shivering and losing condition then im afraid its got to be done, I was told that winter is pretty mild in certain places in france though, are you one of the lucky ones that gets a mild winter? :)
 
niagaraduval said:
my fine tb like horse (french trotter) isn't rugged 'till around october poss november and even then he is only rugged in a lightweight stable throughout the winter.
I hate seeing horses rugged up.
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That,s as maybe. The actual temperature is not that cols really but the constant rain and wind are what horses hate the most and we been deluged with the stuff of late. I would much rather put a lightweight rug on a horse and bring it in for a few hours or a night then risk it getting a chill or standing shivering in a field. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, if my horse 'tells me' she needs a little bit of extra TLC, be it a rug of extra food to keep her happy and healthy, thats what she gets and she's not molly coddled!
 
my pony was imported from holland and has always had quite a fine coat, and when she is clipped in the winter she will be wearing her big thick rug with a full neck, the warmest one i could find in the tack shops! eughh and then you have the snow :( i think i'm going to invest in some type of hoof boot to keep the snow out this year- to avoid any bruising
 
With our torrential rain over the last few days, my boys have been in over night twice this week, in fact they were in for 22 hours one day as it was so bad.

They're out again tonight, clad in their rainsheets, and the forecast isn't too bad here for the weekend so fingers crossed. I'm still going to keep lightweights on them overnight though, as I'd like them to keep condition. There's certainly a nip in the air, and being so damp makes it worse.

Here's hoping for a lovely Indian summer! ;)
 
Mine were cold this moring so doubled their short feed and the shivering stopped. But have decided to bring the 2 mares in early Sept as my old mare has finally put weight on and I don't want her to lose it as I had decided if she didn't put weight on through the summer I'd have pts,but I had to pick a hot and dry summer with no grass,but she has put weight on in spite of,so not taking chances;););)
 
My ISH has been rugged up on and off with his lightweight. He only begins to shiver if it heavy rains for a long period of time. He also likes to stand in the middle of the field feeling sorry for himself instead of standing under the thick trees where its a bit dryer. I am such a mollycoddler!
 
My mare was shivering last night when I went up to see her, this stopped after she was fed and allowed to graze on some longer grass. She was too wet to put a rug on. I spent all night listening to the rain and worrying about her.

So, tonight she has a rain sheet on and I will be able to sleep :)
 
Welllll, mine has been coming in at nights all the "summer", BUT he's a sweet itch so that's really to protect him from the dawn and dusk midgey times - but he seems quite happy with it and looks to come in every night.

He's changing his summer coat now - every time I groom him its coming down like confetti - so shall need to think about what do we do, clip, or what. If clip, what clip, and if not ..... prepare to face a horrid hairy mammoth with lots of feather and mega long coat - yuck! So its the clippers I think!!

Lots of the other horses round here have lightweight rugs on at night - there's only one or two that haven't and they're mares with foals at foot, or youngsters.
 
My two fat cobs are out 24/7 naked! Hoping they'll loose some weight, they have trees for shelter but don't seem to use them so I guess they're not that cold. My seven year old cob lived out 24/7 when I got her and had never worn a rug, she was clipped last year and still only had a 100g rug on when it was minus 12. I will clip them in October (trace clip) then they can start coming in at night and having rugs on.
 
My tb has been rugged for the past 3 nights and during the torrential rain. He is still living out, plenty of shelter in the field. Temps with us are dropping below 10c at night next week, so will probably move on to his light-medium weight with neck cover. Otherwise he will just shiver and drop weight off!
 
My 30yo tb and cob both came cantering across the field when i whistled this morning always a sign they are either cold or hungry! normally i whistle and they look up and carry on eating, TB had a lightweight on so wasnt wet Cob was rugless cue guilty mummy! but both were dithering so she stayed in for a few hours snuggled in their thermatex, they have gone out with amigo mw rugs on tonight.
 
all off mine are in 250gm combos in the day and either 200 or 250gm combos at night when in. even the shetland is in a fleece or a MW!!! madness.

only good bit about all the blasted rain is that my fields are growing like crazy again, so should have plenty of grass for the winter.
 
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