Thoroughbreds ... to rug or not to rug ...?

HumidClimate

HumidClimate

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Now having decided to go to a DIY yard and leave my 8 year old TB out for most of the year do I rug him or not? ... he was left out last year at the Polo yard he was on and got mud fever and rain scald so I thought it would be better to rug him ... I would be very interested to know what you do with your thoroughbreds .......
 
It really depends on alot of things...shelter, horses weight and condition, coat etc.
My tb lives out all year round after buying him as a poor doer. He copes brilliantly. I leave his rug off as long as possible to ensure a good fluffy coat and really only like to put it on in persistant wet and cold.
Mud fever and rainscald are usually something to do with the soil type so he may not necessarily get it with you but you could always start off with a rainsheet and take it from there. Convenient also for keeping him clean and dry to ride.
 
My TB lives out all year find they do better out all the time.....I will leave her rug off as long as I can so she grows her own coat and then will rug later on in the year.....when ice and snow covers the field they aren't wandering around so much eatting so get cold. Might put a rain sheet on every now and then, until i rug properly, but only if major rain is due. Just to keep her back dry.
 
Mine is naked during the day and gets a rain sheet at night at the moment, if it’s rainy during the day he gets a rain sheet then too! He’s a ‘former’ poor doer who currently looks fabulous, he gets a token about of hardfeed to eat his calmer.

His field mate OTH gets large buckets of coarse mix, build and gro, sugarbeet, chaff etc, he’s stabled at night with two rugs and is turned out during the day in a m/w with neck.

Oddly enough my horse is by far the bigger of the two!

I always err on the side of under rugging mine as he’s a warm little chap and he gets utterly vile if he’s over rugged, totally understandable really!
 
Personally, I would never leave a TB unrugged over winter. Particularly as this year feed prices are going to go through the roof. I'm making sure mine stay really toasty this year, as the last thing I want is my horse dropping off just because he's cold.
 
Both my TB are rugged well during bad weather - one is a wimp and one is an oldy - but they have always been moddy coddled and I have no reason to let them down now :). They get lots of hay / haylage and not much hard feed and keep their weight well but I have learnt with them that if I keep them warm they keep their weight. I got the old boy back off a loan home in a sorry state in December last year and he picked up quickly even with the bad winter - they are all different - you will see what works for yours :)
 
Mine is rugged up. Don't want it to develop 'fluffy' coat though! He is in work and does some WH etc though, but even with a horse out of work/light work a would rug it up as TB's tend to be thinskinned and get rainscaled etc as you have mentioned, also they are not desingned to cope with with winer like we have just had!

(Rumour has this winter is going to be as bad... NOOOOOOOO!!!!)
 
It sounds like you should rug him. I would also suggest that you get some Muddy Marvel barrier cream to put on his lower legs to prevent mud fever.

Muddy-Marvel-Barrier-Cream.jpg


It's brilliant stuff. I put it on my chestnut mare 2 or 3 times a week in wet or muddy conditions and she hasn't had mud fever since I discovered this product! :) Just make sure that the legs are dry and I apply it generously (she looks like she has four short white socks) and in a downwards motion. Make sure that you get it in the hollow between the pastern and the bulbs of the heel.
 
We have all of our Tbs on the stud unrugged all year, yearlings, broodies and babies. I have to remind myself of this when I go to own yard and put my HW rug with neck on my nativeX pony :D LOL!
Our Tbs do marvellously. Never seen rain scald on them but they are not over groomed as the oils need to be in the coat to protect from that type of thing.
 
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