Those with Horses living out...

Our two that are fully clipped out have had their rugs off the last couple of days but back on at night as still a little chilly for the hairless horses! They had been stabled at night but have been chucked out 24/7 now. The other 3 hairies haven't had rugs on for quite a time now although if it's going to be particularly cold or very wet the 27 yo TB will have a rug on as he doesn't have quite as much fat on his bones as the others!
 
Mules don't "do" rugs :D
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My WB is naked during them warmer days and rug on at nght when it's been colder i've left it on all day. He's not clipped and it's nice to get air to the bits that are moulting.I've changed him from a combo to a medium no hood as the nights aren't as bad now and he needs air to his hairy neck and missing mane!
 
My fat beast is naked, shes rather extreamly hardy and porky so shes nakedd 24/7 now.
Elderly mare has a mw at night and lw during the day.
New one came abit skinnier then I like so shes got a lw on at night and naked during the day if its warm.
 
doodleberry said:
thats exactly what i would say!!! sweat the bloody coat out saves grooming lol!!
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Really?! I think for horses it's far more uncomfortable for a horse to be too warm. I'd rather mine were chilly at odd times when they can eat hay to keep warm, than have them sweating. My old girl especially hates getting too hot. I'd far rather have them naked, and rolling/mutual grazing each other to get their coats off.
 
Shetland naked all the time, as always.

Old pony went full-time naked a few nights ago - was in l/w during night before that.

Appy was in l/w at night and naked during day in nice weather but just gone naked full-time.

ISH still in l/w at night but naked in day.
 
My NF is neck n belly clipped, out in a MW with neck but was naked today during the day as boiling.

Its dry and about 4 or 5 degrees at night here now, im tempted to put her out unrugged at night but worried as she is part clipped.

Opinions?
 
Brambridge04 said:
My NF is neck n belly clipped, out in a MW with neck but was naked today during the day as boiling.

Its dry and about 4 or 5 degrees at night here now, im tempted to put her out unrugged at night but worried as she is part clipped.

Opinions?
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If he is carrying any weight then i would keep him unrugged.
If he is on the lean side then maybe a light weight rug.
But then i am mean and nasty owner, as i don't stable my Arab, so probably not the best one to give advice. :D
 
Both mine have been naked for a couple of weeks and hopefully will stay that way unless torrential rain and cold for a few days.. love seeing the hairy patches on the grass !!

I would rather my horses be a little cold than too hot in their rugs..
 
I have a NF with the same clip but he was last clipped at end of November. He is out naked and has been since last weekend. It is very mild and he is molting which makes him itchy, so it nicer for him to be able to itch his sides properly using his teeth.

However I do not rug him heavily as he gets hot and is a good doer. I took him down to a a LW at the beginning of March just to keep the rain off and now he is naked so have gradually reduced his rugs, his field is sheltered though. I also think living out means they can move about more to keep warm whereas stabled horses can't do that so they need more rugs.

Brambridge04 said:
My NF is neck n belly clipped, out in a MW with neck but was naked today during the day as boiling.

Its dry and about 4 or 5 degrees at night here now, im tempted to put her out unrugged at night but worried as she is part clipped.

Opinions?
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not had a rug on all winter, snow/rain/ice and has a very hairy coat to show for it. In the last week its started to fall out!

Still overweight by around 40 kilo though
 
My horse has a clip that's growing out and he's out 24/7 with no rug. He's incredibly fat and i'm hoping he'll lose a bit of weight keeping himself warm but it doesn't seem to be working...
 
My TB (not clipped) had rug off full time last week. My IDxTB was naked last night in stable as too hot to put rug on.

I am going to put mine out 24/7 today :eek:Just hoping weather doesn't change!!!

I agree that it must worse to be too hot than cold at least they can have run around the field if a bit chilly.
 
I've been too soft with mine - when she was in at night she had just a sheet on or a l/w from feb - march as she came out in hives when it went weirdly mild in jan/feb whenever it was. She has been out 24/7 bar the odd night for the last 2 weeks and she has been naked in the day but have been putting a 180g on at night. Thing is she does need to lose some weight and only has a neck and belly clip so I dont think she needs it on at all.

When people say lightweight do they mean no fill? I cant see the point of having that on at all as it would flatten the hair and make them colder wouldnt it?

I dont have a lightweight other than a cotton sheet and a rainsheet so do you think I should just leave her naked when its 5 degrees plus? Think I have prob answered my own question!
 
treacle_beastie said:
When people say lightweight do they mean no fill? When I say LW what I think of is basically a rainsheet with partial fill, some of my Boarders have rainsheets which are basically just lined macs, useful for windy days or when we have freezing rain I cant see the point of having that on at all as it would flatten the hair and make them colder wouldnt it? They are useful in summer time when it is windy or wet just as an extra layer if you have a horse that gets chilly, I had an arab that was rugged with a rainsheet at nights in summer because if he got caught in rain (Wales, that happened a lot;)) he'd be tucked up, shaking like a leaf and miserable in the mornings, so they worked for him. I think of rainsheets as macs, good for shows etc too

I dont have a lightweight other than a cotton sheet and a rainsheet so do you think I should just leave her naked when its 5 degrees plus? Think I have prob answered my own question!
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5 degrees isn't cold in my book ;) but I appreciate temperature is relative, I'm used to -10C so 5C is practically tee shirt weather.

My rule is that if a horse looks cold/dislikes the rain/gets rainscald etc, etc then put a rug on, I don't care what time of year it is or what the temperature.
 
Puppy said:
Really?! I think for horses it's far more uncomfortable for a horse to be too warm. I'd rather mine were chilly at odd times when they can eat hay to keep warm, than have them sweating. My old girl especially hates getting too hot. I'd far rather have them naked, and rolling/mutual grazing each other to get their coats off.
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actually i agree that was a very lighthearted statement!! he has a lightweight on at the mo as i reckon its going to rain!! but yes i would rather they were too cold and that is very rare as its only us thats cold! was just reading all these posts in relief that people are actually not rugging there horses up to the eyeballs like you say they keep warm by moving around and eating x
 
I took the lightweight rug off mine the other day. He's out 24/7 and was chaser clipped back in October. I went up today to find him plastered in mud, feeling perfectly warm and looking happy. It'll be colder where he is than most places as it's quite high up and N Scotland. He's an Irish sports horse. He does have access to shelter and still getting hay.
 
My Lw is a rainsheet no fill, he wears it as after having been rugged for the best part of 6 months his coat his not as waterproof as it was before as it has not had time to build up grease etc and getting soaked makes him cold.

He has not been rugged at all though for the past week as there has been no heavy rain and he won't need to be from now onwards as the grease is building up so his coat will be more waterproof.
 
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