Shropshire weather - to rug or not rug a wet horse tonight ?…

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AmyJoy99

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Am I a bad mommy! ?? sigh..
I had the farrier this morning and he was saying people kept asking him at another stables which rug they should put on? My horse is in out in field 24/7 so already he was getting gently watered by the morning showers but it was muggy. He has a belly clip and throat etc and has not had a rug on the last week because its much warmer. It rained on and off all day and was out with no rugs. I was able to use a friends stable to give him his nighttime feed ( gave him extra ), and debated about thatching/ trying to get dry and put a lightweight rug on - all the other horses out have no rug on.. what to do!

In then end I felt he was getting chilled in the stable and was better to be out moving around, made sure his ad lib hay was near the bit of shelter under a hedge / and tree - and left my boy in the rain… trying to remind myself he has a fur coat on… its 15C at 9.30 pm so its not cold but it has rained all evening.

If he had been dry at the beginning of the day I would have put his lightweight on but seeing as he was already wet - I figured its best to let him be a horse and weather it out?

Hope that was ok?
 
I have a blanket clipped tb and a very thin skinned ISH who is in full summer coat, out tonight with no rugs, they were absolutely soaked through when I fed them earlier but were both very warm and happy left naked, yours will be fine.
 
I am just over the Shropshire border. I clipped out my Cushing's mare very recently. She was out today unrugged in all the rain, and was bouncing up and down this evening squeaking at me telling me off for being a bad mother. She is now tucked up in her stable with a rug. She is still giving me the evils.

To be fair, she does have a field shelter, which she happily uses, but she was still cross.
 
thanks everyone ! that helps to know I am not a bad mommy! :) And I understand the cushings horse needs a little extra care :)
 
..... the rain has woken me up. It is absolutely hammering it down. I feel bad. At least it might have washed the mud off, but I hope they have stayed warm.

Am going to yard to bring in in a minute. The others are rugged so hope mine are still talking tto me ;)
 
I'm in NE Shropshire and my two (WBx and rangy TB) were out naked yesterday. When I went to get them in for their tea they were both shivering so rain sheets on overnight and left on today. It's been a nightmare this year knowing what to do - I bought the Amigo system with liners and there are jut too many permutations lol
 
Seeing as its going to rain on and off all day most likely, I brought him in to give him breakfast and check him over.. and I rubbed down with a towel, thatched him with straw with a fleece warmer on, took that off, then decided to put LW on him still with some straw ( figuring it will fall out as he moves around). He's not tubby, he's a new boy that when he came to me you could see a rib or two - so I thought a little TLC today won't harm either.. The if we want to ride later or tomorrow he won't be really wet. He wasn't shivering when I saw him, but he did like the TLC :) He had eaten his new patch of hay in the corner that has the tree for shelter so I am glad he likes that spot.
 
I am on the Shrops/Wales border and I have two naked youngsters out in the rain and my riding horse is actually wearing her fly rug, but can walk in and out of her stable- fly rug because between downpours the midges are driving her crazy!
 
Not Shropshire, but I am so pleased to see this thread and the comments!

I turned my three out 24/7 last week. One has sweet itch so is used to being rugged all the time through the summer, so I've previously had to be very conscious of the weather forecast and put the right rug on! I've finally found a product that works and he's now naked, but I have been so worried about him the last couple of days as hes been constantly wet - not something I'd usually care about as my other two are never rugged, but he's not used to it! Got wet on Monday before I got there and hasn't dried since so had no choice but to stay naked... Turns out he hasn't melted yet!! Having a naked pony is so much easier!
 
Welsh D who has lived in rugged all winter is now on 24/7 turnout. He is naked in the rain as it's warm and he gets too hot in his rug. He has COPD so being hot makes his breathing worse, so I figured I'd rather him be slightly cool and wet than hot, sweating and puffing. He has plenty of blubber to keep him warm so I'm not worried!
 
I have to say that even after all these years of horse ownership I always get confused about whether to rug or not and whether to put a rug on when they are sweaty to cool down - would you only do this in the winter for instance???

Its always compounded by the fact that the indoor barn where the horses are stabled has the doors either pulled partially too or completely shut in the winter and usually shut if there is wind or heavy rain, so the temperature can fluctuate hugely.
 
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I'm in SW Shropshire and the horses didn't go out overnight until last Friday as it's been far too cold. They had 3 nights out, rugged, and 3 days in, unrugged, before the weather fell apart again and I had to put the rugs back on for day and night. Today they are in again without rugs as it is warmer. The rugs are hanging up dripping liquid mud.

Oh, don't you just love the weather in an English / Welsh spring.

Note.. horses in for part of the day as grass is always late here and so they still need hay which for some reason they will not eat in the field.
 
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