Small clip and unrugged - who does this?

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CobsGalore

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My horse has a bib clip and is unrugged, and will likely stay that way all winter. He only has a waterproof sheet on when we have heavy rain/wind.

Who else does a small clip and leaves their horse unrugged? Do people think you are being cruel?
 
I do! :)

Nobody has said I'm being cruel, and I think it would be more cruel to rug and overheat. Pony is perfectly fine, warm as toast and seems quite happy. She does have a shelter to use and if she shivers or is obviously cold then I'll rug, but it's highly unlikely that I'll need to.
 
My Shetland is clipped and unrugged on veterinary advice- he sweats if its above freezing from September onwards. He's 22 now and has been clipped each winter for years, he currently has his neck , chest and shoulders clipped. Vet advised only brushing him with a rubber curry to remove mud to keep the oils in his coat, he's been out in blizzards and all sorts and been fine :)
 
Me too!
My cob mare has a sort of low trace/chaser type clip. Narrow strip up her gullet, shoulders and belly off. She'll be unrugged as long as its not slinging it down with rain or freezing cold blowing a gale. She runs very hot anyway, in the summer she sweats all the time, even with her odd hybrid clip she has at the minute she gets warm very quickly! She's perfectly comfortable out naked for now, she'll have a 100g t/o on if I think she's getting too cold any time soon though.
Planning on doing a blanket clip at the end of November, by then her workload will be increasing and it will be cold enough that she can be rugged up anyway :)
 
I was going to start a thread on the same subject but then spotted this one.

I've never clipped before as my horse has always been turned away/done very little work in winter, and she has always lived out without a rug (native cob type with very thick winter coat) but there are always people that try to tell me I'm cruel and that I should rug her, even though she is plenty warm enough and gets too hot if I do put her lightweight (no fill) rug on. She also tends to put on a lot of weight if she's rugged, which I don't want as I struggle enough to keep her weight down.

This year as she will be getting ridden 4 times a week, including having a lesson once a week and competing in dressage about 1/2 times a month, I have decided that I will give her a bib clip, but as this clipping malarky is new to me I was worried this time that when the 'over ruggers' start that they might be right.

Thank you guys, you've answered my question and put my mind at rest! :D
 
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