Thoughts on bugrugs and horse weight

[PJB]

I am interested in other people's thoughts about bugrugs and whether they are adding to the problem we have with overweight and obese horses and ponies - and the EMS and laminitis that seem to be an increasing problem.

First, I should say that I am not against adding something unnatural when we take something natural away - e.g. rugging a clipped horse or one with a thin coat - bred for warmer climate - or elderly horses; using flymasks if flies are causing eye problems or (in one of my horse's cases) putting a fly mask on in hot sun to protect a pink nose from sunburn; giving minerals and vitamins to compensate for restricting their grazing to a few small acres - all well and good imo. However, I don't use a bugrug because I think flies are a natural part of a horse's environment - we don't use bugrugs on cattle or other livestock... why on horses?

I watch my two and they move much more because of flies than they do when just eating grass when there are no flies around. Their twitch muscles are flicking almost constantly and they often swing their heads around or stamp their feet to rid themselves of a particularly persistent insect. They do it naturally and calmly and I often think I am more bothered by the flies, on their behalf, than they are. I wonder if our understandable anthropomorphism (we love our horses) could be doing them harm in that their (natural) response to dealing with (natural) flies is being thwarted by the human desire to rid our animals of what WE think is upsetting to them. Could the unintended consequence be that they don't use the muscles that evolved for them to deal with it as they should, and the energy they should be using is turning into fat?

I see so many horses that are either overweight or kept on tiny starvation areas in order to keep their weight down ... and lots of horses out in bugrugs and masks that prevent the need for almost all the movement they would naturally use to avoid flies.

Thoughts?

 

[twiggy2]

You have raised a good point and one i hadbt given any consoderation to previously

 

[Nari]

I think that when we take away their ability to move areas then we have to compensate. In the wild the chances are a horse would stay away from areas where flies are bad (unless there was something there they particularly wanted), when we restrict them to a few acres we take away that ability.

 

[Burnttoast]

As far as I'm concerned, every tail swish is a calorie (or fraction thereof) used. If either of them needed protection they would have it but apart from summer fly cream on their sheaths in case of flystrike they don't. We're lucky that we aren't in a bad area for flies, though, and they have a track round 4 acres with a high bit that catches the breeze and some good shady places.

 

[PJB]

I think that when we take away their ability to move areas then we have to compensate. In the wild the chances are a horse would stay away from areas where flies are bad (unless there was something there they particularly wanted), when we restrict them to a few acres we take away that ability.

That could be true to some extent ... but they can move around, even in a small paddock, and they should always have access to shade. By putting rugs on, we also take away their ability to choose - they cannot remove them if they are uncomfortable. It wouldn't explain why the same is not deemed true of cattle either - they have the same restrictions on movement but farmers don't rush out to rug them in the same way.

 

[Cloball]

I have known horses come up in huge welts and reactions to fly bites which if it is where the saddle is would most likely cause discomfort and reduce our ability to exercise the weight off. That said I don't use a fly rug on mine, she hates her fly mask and is currently sporting a swollen face where something has bitten her.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I agree OP, I think anthropomorphism is the root of many ills in the horse world. Far too many people try to keep their horses' weight steady throughout the year and yet they have evolved to lose weight over winter and gain in the summer. No, we don't want them to become obese in summer, or skeletal in winter but we shouldn't try to eliminate seasonal fluctuations.

 

[PJB]

I have known horses come up in huge welts and reactions to fly bites which if it is where the saddle is would most likely cause discomfort and reduce our ability to exercise the weight off. That said I don't use a fly rug on mine, she hates her fly mask and is currently sporting a swollen face where something has bitten her.

I agree about that - but an animal that needs a mask/bugrug for veterinary reasons is a different matter.

 

[PJB]

I agree OP, I think anthropomorphism is the root of many ills in the horse world. Far too many people try to keep their horses' weight steady throughout the year and yet they have evolved to lose weight over winter and gain in the summer. No, we don't want them to become obese in summer, or skeletal in winter but we shouldn't try to eliminate seasonal fluctuations.

Thanks - yes, I agree with you. I think one of the big problems with weight issues (bugrugs or no bugrugs) is that seasonal fluctuations are seen as a problem. Maybe there is also an issue with the normalisation of horses that are "well-covered" and that any horse showing even a hint of rib is seen as being underweight, even at the end of winter. I think manufacturers (and their marketing departments) take advantage of that of course!!

 

[ycbm]

This would have been a great discussion to put in Tack Room, I've only just spotted it. Welcome to the forum.

 

[ycbm]

It wouldn't explain why the same is not deemed true of cattle either - they have the same restrictions on movement but farmers don't rush out to rug them in the same way.

I'm not sure cattle is a good comparison. Farmers use pour on repellent (lots of us also use it on our horses) but in general they won't do anything that doesn't have an impact on milk or beef yield. And you can't rug a herd of 100 dairy cows, though I would love to see someone try

 

[PJB]

I'm not sure cattle is a good comparison. Farmers use pour on repellent (lots of us also use it on our horses) but in general they won't do anything that doesn't have an impact on milk or beef yield. And you can't rug a herd of 100 dairy cows, though I would love to see someone try

You are right and I am really using the example to point out that horses and other animals have evolved to deal with flies and that efforts to "protect" them to the extent we do might actually be resulting in harm. In the case of overweight horses (and EMS and laminitis that seem to be on the increase), maybe the natural twitching, stamping, tail-flicking and head swinging is healthy... and the flies bother us more than they do the horses.

 

[criso]

Mine are very sensitive to flies but it doesn't manifest as moving around much. Where there's been a field shelter, they've put themselves in there and not moved till later, no shelter and they stand at the gate asking to come in. In the winter they are much livelier and play and move more.

We can't compare to the wild as in the wild horses would naturally move to areas or higher ground where there were fewer flies or more of a breeze. You notice in the summer hacking that there are areas with a lot of flies, horses given the choice would avoid these areas but even a largish field won't offer the difference in environment to let the horses get away. They might come down to water to drink but not stay there if the water attracted flies however we have troughs which they can't get far enough away from

I also wonder if there are more flies around yards as we create environments that are attractive to flies, lots of water, muck heaps, lots of horses in a concentrated area.

 

[Squeak]

I have actually in the past not used fly rugs so that the horses choose to go in to the field shelter rather than stuffing themselves with grass for the entire day and it did work well.

However I do normally use a fly rug. I think along the lines mentioned by Nari that potentially the areas we're making horses to stay in, aren't necessarily where they would have chosen in the wild and some places are far worse for flies than others. I also have had horses get lumps on their stomachs from continuously kicking at them and cut their legs from where they've caught them when they've be stamping. I also worry about the effect on their joints from continuously stamping on hard ground. On the flip side them using their heads is probably the equivalent of a carrot stretch and so in moderation a good thing.

 

[PJB]

In a way, that is what I am saying. In the wild, horses will move away from flies which takes energy. When they are moving around, by which I include tail swishing etc., they are eating less and moving more. There is so much about reducing the amount our horses eat to keep their weight down these days and yet by "protecting" them with bugrugs, they graze more and move less, naturally. Maybe flies are not as big a threat to their health as excess weight and they (flies) might be less stressful to our horses than the use of grazing muzzles or restricting them to tiny turnout areas as so many people do these days.

I am really interested in other people's thoughts and comments - which is why I posted this here - and I do own a bugrug which I have tried on both of my horses... I just decided not to go down that route to keep them happy and healthy for the reasons I state. I could be persuaded otherwise!

 

[PJB]

I have actually in the past not used fly rugs so that the horses choose to go in to the field shelter rather than stuffing themselves with grass for the entire day and it did work well.

However I do normally use a fly rug. I think along the lines mentioned by Nari that potentially the areas we're making horses to stay in, aren't necessarily where they would have chosen in the wild and some places are far worse for flies than others. I also have had horses get lumps on their stomachs from continuously kicking at them and cut their legs from where they've caught them when they've be stamping. I also worry about the effect on their joints from continuously stamping on hard ground. On the flip side them using their heads is probably the equivalent of a carrot stretch and so in moderation a good thing.

I do accept that other people may have a much bigger problem with flies than we have here. One of my two had three weals from bites this year but they went down over a couple of days. The other doesn't seem sensitive to them. I fully accept that owners will use bugrugs for veterinary reasons and if one (or both) of mine started to suffer from injury because of flies, the bugrugs would be out in a flash. I do think this is different from simply using bugrugs as a general part of horse care and when I drive past fields where every horse is in a rug all summer, I suspect that is the case rather than individual need.

 

[criso]

In a way, that is what I am saying. In the wild, horses will move away from flies which takes energy. When they are moving around, by which I include tail swishing etc., they are eating less and moving more.

I'm not convinced they do. Given freedom they may move to a different area, somewhere higher or where there is a breeze, fewer flies and then stop there and graze. And i wonder whether a tail swish makes a difference.

They would move much more in the winter covering ground looking for food and expend more calories than they can find.

In the wild horses will put on a lot of weight very quickly in the summer so flies are not having an effect to keep them slim. The difference is they lose so much over the winter, that they can afford to gain this weight and will lose it coming out of winter much thinner than we would be comfortable with.

 

[JBM]

I have fly rugs for all my horses but mostly just use the masks.
The only time I use the fly rugs is when the horse flies get very bad as they really annoy my lot as we are near both a forest and a river.
They’re never usually that bad but this year for a few weeks they were mad.
The rugs are very helpful to keep the horses happy for the farrier instead of them trying to get away from horse flies while the poor farrier tries to trim their feet

 

[PJB]

I have fly rugs for all my horses but mostly just use the masks.
The only time I use the fly rugs is when the horse flies get very bad as they really annoy my lot as we are near both a forest and a river.
They’re never usually that bad but this year for a few weeks they were mad.
The rugs are very helpful to keep the horses happy for the farrier instead of them trying to get away from horse flies while the poor farrier tries to trim their feet

Mine are good for the farrier but that is a good point.

 

[JBM]

Mine are good for the farrier but that is a good point.

Oh mine are usually very good! But some of the horse flies were mental with the size of them.
I jumped when they bit me! So don’t blame them either

 

[PJB]

Regarding flymasks. I do use flymasks, particularly on one horse who has a pink nose - to protect him from sunburn - but he likes his flymask and will come up to me when I take it out. The other walks away and clearly hates his and I rarely force it on him. I never leave them on overnight because I understand that they work like a two-way mirror. For the horse to see clearly through the mesh, it must be lighter outside the mask than inside. I was talking to someone who said she leaves flymasks on overnight and her horses were fine. I wondered if I was being over cautious.

I did an experiment..... looking through the dry flymask during daylight... no problem. Looking through a wet mask during the day, the water fills the mesh and seriously compromises the vision - like looking through glasses smeared with grease. Looking through dry flymask at night, like looking through very dark sunglasses (though I accept that horse's night vision is different to ours) and looking through a wet flymask at night, I was completely blind and even a horse's superior night vision would not appear to help it and the water fills the holes in the mesh. The general advice is not to leave them at night, unless there is a veterinary reason, but there isn't much about leaving them on when it rains.

Again, I am interested in people's thoughts.