Stupid question-how to tell how warm your horse is?

[Ben2684]

As above really. I have always thought my horse was a ‘warm horse’ he’s a 17.3 ISH and looks like a giant chunky TB.

I’ve always been cautious of over rugging and rule of thought has been that if he has plenty of grass/haylage he is more than capable of regulating his body temp to a point.

My yard owner text me tonight to say he wasnt eating his hay and looked sad in the corner of his stable. She thought he may be cold. Now he has just been clipped but wasn’t overly hairy. He was out today in a no fill and checked at 3 when I left and he felt warm.

I went up to the yard at 19.30 ish and he was happy in his stable, naked and felt comfortably warm to the touch everywhere (ears, Belly, elbows back and bum) so I left him naked and chomping his haylage.

How do you tell how warm/cold/hot/just right your horse is?

Picture of said beast as he’s rather handsome

 

[Wheels]

Is he fully clipped?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

To answer your question, I usually tuck my hand behind the horse's elbow to feel the skin.

I would have expected a stabled horse with hay available to eat it to keep warm. It's not as if he had to go a long way to get to it. The temp here certainly didn't drop last night, although it is expected to do so tonight.

 

[Ben2684]

Yes he is, but he still felt comfortably warm this evening at 19:30

 

[Ben2684]

I think I’m just being paranoid and not just trusting my gut!

 

[be positive]

I think they can regulate their temperature and eating will generate heat but I would not fully clip and leave a horse without a rug however little hair he had before it was giving some warmth, especially over the back and loins, if he were at livery in my yard and I had felt he was cold I would probably have put a rug on then sent you a text, at 3am it will be far colder than at 7.30 pm.

 

[Auslander]

One of the main ways they keep themselves warm is by piloerection - where the hair stands up, rather than lying flat, which traps warmth. Clipping removes this option, so even if they didn't have a thick coat before clipping, there's a significant decrease in how warm they can keep themselves - so a full clipped horse will need a rug overnight, even if it's just a thin one

 

[Nasicus]

Maybe he was just having a snooze in the corner for a bit? Could always plop a fleece or stablesheet on him overnight if worried

 

[HashRouge]

I personally wouldn't leave a fully clipped horse without any kind of rug - he might be okay at 19.30, but it will be a lot colder at 3.30! However, I don't think your YO's description of "looking sad in a corner of his stable" sounds like anything other than a horse having a doze! He probably wasn't cold at that time - but remember that the temperature will drop considerably during the night.

 

[TheMule]

I'm all for not rugging/ using the lightest weight possible when necessary, but I would always use something on a newly clipped horse as you've taken away a major part of his insulation system.
He's still going to feel warm, maybe even more so since you are feeling directly onto his warm skin, but he will be losing more heat to the environment.

 

[asmp]

A recent article going around, written by a vet, on what rugs you should put on your horse depending on the temperature stated that feeling behind the withers under a rug was the best way to tell if a horse is warm or not. (Not that helpful if there isn't a rug on a horse though!)

I wouldn't leave a horse who is fully clipped out without a rug at night either - if it was very warm I would have just put a waffle or fleece on in the stable.

 

[AandK]

I personally wouldn't leave a fully clipped horse without any kind of rug - he might be okay at 19.30, but it will be a lot colder at 3.30! However, I don't think your YO's description of "looking sad in a corner of his stable" sounds like anything other than a horse having a doze! He probably wasn't cold at that time - but remember that the temperature will drop considerably during the night.

Agree with this. My gelding is a hot horse, fully clipped he would have a sheet on at the least. Temps drop the most early morning, so just because he is warm at half 7, does not mean he will be 5hrs later.

 

[ihatework]

Unless it’s part of a fairly serious weight loss plan, or it’s unseasonably hot, it’s pretty unfair on a horse to remove its main insulation system and then leave overnight unrugged. It’s been very mild but last couple of days noticeably cooler.

I always find that clipped horses always feel warmer to the touch, I presume mainly because they are not insulated by their fur

 

[only_me]

Definitely should be rugging a horse who is fully clipped.

On Saturday i put a 50g turnout on overnight my non clipped horse who lives out - it was incredibly wet all day and to drop down a lot overnight, it’s 3*C atm in mornings. He was comfortable but it came off the next morning.

Imo no fills are worse than nothing, they stop the hair from lifting ie. normal warming mechanism but they have no fill so don’t provide the warmth that the horse can’t. Far better to put a 50g on!

 

[kimberleigh]

I wouldn't leave a clipped, stabled horse in overnight without a rug - unless middle of summer!

In the day, in the field, in nice weather then yes no problem...they can move around and have the sun on their backs.

At night, unable to move much, when temps drop considerably in the middle of the night compared to evening time then they will get cold.

If you're concerned about the horse being too warm in a rug when you leave then ask the YO to pop a rug on during last checks of the day and at least then the horse wont get cold overnight

 

[Leo Walker]

I always find that clipped horses always feel warmer to the touch, I presume mainly because they are not insulated by their fur

This, Theres nothing to trap the heat so they feel much warmer than they actually are. My fully clipped little cob has been naked 24/7 while its been unseasonably warm and has been fine. Any rain or wind and shes had a 100gm on. I screwed up yesterday as temperatures dropped dramatically and she was cold. She felt cold to the touch, so was really easy to tell. Shes in a 200gm with a neck now and a close eye is being kept on her.

 

[flying_high]

Definitely should be rugging a horse who is fully clipped.

On Saturday i put a 50g turnout on overnight my non clipped horse who lives out - it was incredibly wet all day and to drop down a lot overnight, it’s 3*C atm in mornings. He was comfortable but it came off the next morning.

Imo no fills are worse than nothing, they stop the hair from lifting ie. normal warming mechanism but they have no fill so don’t provide the warmth that the horse can’t. Far better to put a 50g on!

Shows the local variation! It was 13 degrees at 7am this morning, and didn't drop below 11 over night here last night. Surrey.

 

[indie1282]

I wouldn't leave a fully clipped horse overnight without a rug. Even a summer sheet would be fine.

 

[AdorableAlice]

But - how do you tell if a horse is warm or cold. That is what the OP asked. We all have differing thoughts on which rug and when to use it, but how do we decided if the horse is too warm or too cool ?

I have two fully clipped out horses stood side by side in stables now. One is in a light stable rug and feels cool, the other in a summer sheet and feels rather warm.

 

[only_me]

I put my hand under their elbow and base of ears and go from there. If they are v hot/sweaty/uncomfortable looking then too warm.
If they are tucked up/cold under elbow/generally “off” then I’d say they are cold.

A lot of it is knowing your horse and their behaviours

 

[Horsekaren]

I struggle with this also.
I can tell if my horse is to hot / cold with a rug on, my understanding is that their withers shouldn't feel warmer than your own skin, so when you put your hand under the rug and they feel toastie they are in fact too warm.

With a clipped horse i honestly have no idea as they are always warm to touch as the heat is being lost, is it a case of if they arnt cold they wont feel overly warm to touch?

 

[Darbs]

Even if a horse does get a bit cold overnight for a couple of nights, (assuming its not below freezing) then what is likley to happen? Also I would assume that a properly cold horse would naturally start shivering.

My personal veiw is that horse that is slightly too cool is better then slightly too hot.

This time of year with higher daytime temperatures, cooler nights and rain thrown in as well it is difficult to get rugging and clipping correct. My vet (who I trust) is adamant that over-rugging is far more of an issue than under-rugging, even when taking being clipped into account.

Our Welsh pony needs to loose a little bit of weight and she was clear that a blanket or trace clip and nothing more then a waterproof 0g rug should be the plan for the winter, unless it gets bitterly cold. (I did read an aritcle about letting them shiver for long periods to loose weight, but I couldn't go that far).

 

[Ben2684]

It has been around 9/10 degrees overnight here the past few nights. I will err on the side of caution and pop a thin sheet on him.
Thanks for the advice

 

[ZondaR]

To answer your original question, my horse shivers when he is cold. There is a noticable trimble in his large muscle groups, shoulders and hind quarters. Also I was always told to feel the base of the horses ears to gauge the temperature.