Moomin1
Well-Known Member
That's the point - unless they are ill, underweight or elderly they shouldn't be needing it in august temps (unless there's some sort of freak weather dropping down to very low temps)
The weather is getting cold!!
- Thread starter delaneys
- Start date
That's the point - unless they are ill, underweight or elderly they shouldn't be needing it in august temps (unless there's some sort of freak weather dropping down to very low temps)
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
Mine are all oldies. Two of them are just fine without any help at the moment but the eldest (25) will shiver violently if she gets even slightly damp.
I guess the other thing is that they mostly still have their Summer coats and the temperatures are unusually low for the end of August so I guess some will need a bit of extra help.
I guess the other thing is that they mostly still have their Summer coats and the temperatures are unusually low for the end of August so I guess some will need a bit of extra help.
Suelin
Well-Known Member
Elsbells
Well-Known Member
It's definitely colder and the change has come quick therefore catching nature out of step and this includes the horses.
I light rugged my mare for the first time lady night, we'd just come back from an endurance ride, she was warm but the weather was all over the place. She's been begging to come in this last week funnily enough and although she's only 13, fit and healthy she doesn't do cold and wet, so I rug rather than bring in which keeps her happy and I'm happy.
She'll be clipped in a few weeks so what does it matter?
I light rugged my mare for the first time lady night, we'd just come back from an endurance ride, she was warm but the weather was all over the place. She's been begging to come in this last week funnily enough and although she's only 13, fit and healthy she doesn't do cold and wet, so I rug rather than bring in which keeps her happy and I'm happy.
She'll be clipped in a few weeks so what does it matter?
3OldPonies
Well-Known Member
Going to get colder next week...back down in to single figures at night. Time to watch the oldie like a hawk!
Me too - not the youngster (26 yr old), but the oldie (36) will be wearing a light rug overnight as soon as we drop to single figures. At his age he deserves a little molly coddling.
Merrymoles
Well-Known Member
Argghhh - another rugging debate!
All horses are different! Some do better with rugs, some are happy as larry without.
I'm in the 'no rugs' camp but my horse is noticeably lofting his coat at the moment so it is obviously chillier. Part of the reason I don't use a light sheet is that I feel that it stops the coat lofting, which is nature's way of coping with lower temperatures.
He is one of five horses on our yard and all have excellent grazing. All the geldings do pretty well unrugged and continue stuffing their faces even when the rain is coming in sideways until it's very chilly but both the mares struggle with lower temperatures and stand and shiver. One has a particularly fine coat and, while the other, a Welsh D, should technically be fine, she is a complete wimp and hates being cold and wet.
I occasionally decide to rug my fieldmate's horse if it's particularly foul as he is 21 and I have her permission to do so but mine generally stays naked unless I decide to clip or we are into minus temperatures. The great majority of us do what we believe is right for our own horses and there is really no "right" answer. So much depends on the way they are kept and what they are required to do.
All horses are different! Some do better with rugs, some are happy as larry without.
I'm in the 'no rugs' camp but my horse is noticeably lofting his coat at the moment so it is obviously chillier. Part of the reason I don't use a light sheet is that I feel that it stops the coat lofting, which is nature's way of coping with lower temperatures.
He is one of five horses on our yard and all have excellent grazing. All the geldings do pretty well unrugged and continue stuffing their faces even when the rain is coming in sideways until it's very chilly but both the mares struggle with lower temperatures and stand and shiver. One has a particularly fine coat and, while the other, a Welsh D, should technically be fine, she is a complete wimp and hates being cold and wet.
I occasionally decide to rug my fieldmate's horse if it's particularly foul as he is 21 and I have her permission to do so but mine generally stays naked unless I decide to clip or we are into minus temperatures. The great majority of us do what we believe is right for our own horses and there is really no "right" answer. So much depends on the way they are kept and what they are required to do.
thewonderhorse
Well-Known Member
I put a rain sheet on my Welsh D when its raining as he is a major wimp and hates the rain. He is always more relaxed with a sheet on.
I also put a rug on my liveries old girl as she was shivering and tucked up on saturday.
The rest (a mix of natives), were fine so they stayed naked.
Each horse is different and i rug accordingly.
I just hope this winter is not a wet one. The cold i can cope with but the constant rain last winter was horrendous.
I also put a rug on my liveries old girl as she was shivering and tucked up on saturday.
The rest (a mix of natives), were fine so they stayed naked.
Each horse is different and i rug accordingly.
I just hope this winter is not a wet one. The cold i can cope with but the constant rain last winter was horrendous.
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Janovich
Well-Known Member
The cooler temps of late have brought about the time for casting the summer coat and starting to put up his winter one! He's usually one of the first one's on the yard that starts changing coats with being a traditional cob!....so he's getting ready for Autumn. I love the fact that he's now dropping weight as he's an EMS boy and already has much more of a cheeky air about him and a spring in his step now the temps have dropped a bit. I love him when he's like this...
My teenager turns back into a 4 year old and start frolicking about and having mad doo's when he's turned back out of an evening after being in during the day!
He'll be clipped (usually around mid October) when his coat is well and truly through and I have a yeti in the stable! Clipping is the option for us through the winter months as he sweats at the sight of a saddle and is such a hairy mammoth I wouldn't be able to exercise him adequately without having a hair cut! He's not molly coddled rug wise and pretty much donned a hunter clip and a no-fill amigo turnout last year, with a 100gsm insulator attached for a couple of months when it turned cool when needed.
Each to their own,..! the above is how my boy's pretty much looked after through the autumn/winter months according to his own personal needs, medical condition, amount of work he does and indeed turnout - which is all year round but in at night and out during the day when the clocks go back.
Watch out for the Lami season guys and all these lovely sunshine and showers days are the 'devil in disguise' for our lami prones out there!
My teenager turns back into a 4 year old and start frolicking about and having mad doo's when he's turned back out of an evening after being in during the day!He'll be clipped (usually around mid October) when his coat is well and truly through and I have a yeti in the stable! Clipping is the option for us through the winter months as he sweats at the sight of a saddle and is such a hairy mammoth I wouldn't be able to exercise him adequately without having a hair cut! He's not molly coddled rug wise and pretty much donned a hunter clip and a no-fill amigo turnout last year, with a 100gsm insulator attached for a couple of months when it turned cool when needed.
Each to their own,..! the above is how my boy's pretty much looked after through the autumn/winter months according to his own personal needs, medical condition, amount of work he does and indeed turnout - which is all year round but in at night and out during the day when the clocks go back.
Watch out for the Lami season guys and all these lovely sunshine and showers days are the 'devil in disguise' for our lami prones out there!
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lornaA
Well-Known Member
I live in south west Scotland and the weather here has turned a lot cooler. The weekend just past has been very wet and windy and a lot cooler. Certainly looks like winter is on its way.
Doormouse
Well-Known Member
Mine is rugged and out at night. He is rugged because 5 days ago he came in clearly cold and unhappy. He feels the cold, he is old and the cold gets him down. Am I so wrong to rug him? Should I just carry on and let him be cold just in case I am spoiling him?
RunToEarth
Well-Known Member
Agree. New trend in Lincolnshire appears to take fly rug off and put new Zealand on, it's mad.
JennBags
HHOSS Wonder Woman
According to some, yes this is precisely what you should do. How dare you treat your horse as an individual?
Similarly to another poster, I would not have dreamt of rugging my previous hporses at this time of year, but the one I have now really feels the cold and becomes incredibly sharp & spooky so he gets a sheet on at night. The temperature drops to around 9-10 at night here and we have no shelter in the field; for him it is too cold and he drops weight and becomes unrideable.
Strangers on the Internet have no right to dictate to others whether they should or should not be rugging their horses.
RunToEarth
Well-Known Member
See I think you have to take forum life with a pinch of salt at times. I'm fairly more open minded in recent years, having three horses with three very different rugging needs, as you would expect from three very different horses, I'm quite confident in my judgement of what they need on, and so far they seem relatively unscathed by my gram fill choices.
However, I'm relatively impatient when it comes to the numerous amounts of "what rugs should I put on my horse" posts on here, which leads me to think that people really need to take a rain check. I'm not a world beater and never have professed to be, but as a minimum care standard for horses, people should really be capable of deciding which rugs to put on, or maybe that is just me.
JennBags
HHOSS Wonder Woman
I agree rte, I'd not ask strangers on the Internet what rug I should be putting on my horse when they know neither my horse nor the weather/temperature at my yard.
No one was asking for opinions on this thread though, and some very forceful posts were made decrying others for the choices they make for their horses.
No one was asking for opinions on this thread though, and some very forceful posts were made decrying others for the choices they make for their horses.
Moomin1
Well-Known Member
And? OP is welcome to do whatever she wishes with her horse. Doesn't stop me having an opinion on the ridiculous rugging regimes of some.