TB wintering out - amigo rugs and other Qs please

[cob&onion]

My TB will be wintering out this year, basically shes been turned away for a year so no need to worry about clipping, shes had her shoes off so shes basically had the summer getting fat and lazy shes a lovely weight (maybe a tad fat ) but just the way i would like her going into winter.
During the spell of warmer weather she was naked, last night she was in her rain sheet but now the weathers suddenly gone colder i've put her in a standard MW without a neck.
She has a wardrobe full of rugs - a very thick under quilt, several different weighted stable rugs, numerous waffle/fleeces and a lovely proper newmarket blanket rug. She has a MW turn out which is a bit crap TBH but will do her for the next few weeks till it gets really cold and an amigo LW which has lasted 3 years and still good as new.

So am thinking an amigo again, what do you think to this deal/rug?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290614900...AX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1054

Also been looking at weethabeeta and saxon rugs, cheaper but whats the quality like?

Who has a wintered out TB? what do you put them in when its cold??

 

[Squeak]

I love the premier equines and my wimpy thoroughbred lived out last winter clipped and was very snug and didnt get rubbed in their buster trio. At the end of the winter it looked as good as new and if I ever needed another rug for inside or out then this is what I would get!

 

[ebonyallen]

All of my rugs are Amigo, I have this one, so I would say yes it is a good rug, had a few of mine for several years and they are still going strong.

 

[rhino]

I think it's a fantastic deal! They are great, durable rugs. Personally I have had bad experiences with weatherbeetas (find they don't fit the finer horses as well as chunkier ones); I have a saxon stable rug which is ok but not the greatest quality.

 

[Keenjean]

Saxons are like mini skirts! Would definitely not advise them, the fit is really quite awful, much better to pay the extra odd £10 for an amigo.

 

[Rose Folly]

My TBs, as and when I've had them, have lived out all year for the last 19 years.
I think personally you are starting rugging too early, and with too thick a rug. A horse who's carrying a good weight and isn't an oldie/poorly should, at present, IMO, be wearing a rain turner on a particularly nasty day or night, and still be naked for the most part.

The best advice I was ever given was "rug for the day, not the winter!" You wouldn't say to yourself "7th October now, so I'll put myself into thick polonecks from now until March". Ditto your horse. Let him grow a good winter coat, or the best he can, and then start rugging on bad nights, naked by day; then as real winter comes on a MW by night, LW by day; and finally, when we get to the depths, perhaps a HW by night and a MW by day.

I don't think it greatly matters what rug you have, and you say your horse has a wardrobe, so long as they are deep (i.e. come well below the belly line, almost to the knee if possible) and if possible have detachable neckcovers. The neckcovers are the best things ever because they make a rug so versatile.

One of my livery horses has Amigo rugs and his owner likes them. My personal choice is always Mark Todd, as they are very generously cut and, as said before, deep.

I think we all worry too much about how warm/not our horses are. Try not to second guess Nature. It gave your horse a designer coat anyway. Turning the wind and rain is far more important, and healthier, than cooking them. A vet came to see one of my liveries once and crossly asked why the horse (a chunky cob) was layered in rugs. He told me to tell the owner to get half them off. "He's a horse, not a teapot" was his parting shot. Your mare will be fine!

 

[Kenzo]

I made a purchase last night and bought a MW rug for my little TB mare, she’s been naked all year (well since spring time) I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a MW rug as most of the winter she’ll live in one her HW’s and under rugs etc when she’s clipped but needed something to tie her over in the meantime even if it’s just for the next few weeks, bought a JHL for £49.99 and it seems a nice rug, I’ve never had a JHL one before, apparently they are made by the same people that do the Mark Todd rugs but with a cheaper price tag.

Anyway it fits really nice, doesn’t have a full or half neck built in but it has the buckles there so you can buy a neck extender which I didn’t know until I put it on so that was a nice surprise, it has the straps at the front that alter but have the quick fasten clips attached to them.

I was trying to take photo of her last night in her new rug but she kept moving so they kept blurring, so not very unflattering photo of her but you get the idea of the rug! lol

Not sure how they size up but I opted for a 6'3'' (she's about 15.1) thinking I'd rather have it a bit big than risk having it pulling across her withers or not having enough room for an under rug etc , so there was plenty of room at the front to alter it (to make it smaller) but as you can see I wouldn't of wanted it any smaller as I like them to cover the bottom properly too.

Amigos are lovely rugs though, as it happens price wise I'd probably of been able to pick up a medium in an Amigo for just a wee bit more, see how long this one lasts.