too many rugs??!!

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catherine22

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I have just read worried1's post in CR and it got me thinking. A lot of the horses on my yard have upto 5 rugs overnight sometimes more (when its icy) i have always thought that surely this cant be good for them (which the post confirms!)

How many rugs does you horse have on at a time? (mine at the most has 2 middleweight stable rugs hes hunter clipped) which seems perfectly adequate and I always leave him without a rug when I can

Just thinking out loud really, what are your thoughts?
 
i have had to put 2 on abby at night and 3 one day when she was out, i dunno if i was right in doing this but she was so cold i had to
 
it depends how cold it is! hunter clipped tb mare is turned out in Fal goliath with hood, nothing underneath. at night she wears cotton sheet, old quilt rug (about 2" thick) and goliath on top, if it's cold. if warmer (as last night was here) she's in goliath only.
at the moment she has magnetic rug on and thermatex on top, i'll check in a while to see if she's warm enough.
i think 5 rugs is ridiculous, and must be so uncomfortable for them.
 
Goodness, five rugs on one horse?!?! Ludicrous. Poor things must be weighed down. Surprised they haven't got sore withers and shoulders...

Also it defeats purpose, as the weight will squash all the air out from the underneath ones, and a layer of air is a really good insulator, so surely better off with a maximum of two good ones?
 
thats what I thought, I only knew coz I had to turn one of the out the other day, he has a vest, fleece, fullneck fleece,full nech quilt, normal neck quilt, then another full neck quilt and 4 stable chaps.
surely thats excessive even for a cold horse?

another one has a cotton sheet, fleece, 2 quilts and NZ overnight
 
Did that to my little boy once. Too many layers to play in the snow! He looked like a star fish bless him. went outside, couldn't move and fell flat on his face!
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I have a part shire that never wore rugs till i bought him, he was turned out all year round and was as fat as 6 horses glued together!
However i have him fully clipped (head and legs) and he has had 4 rugs (HW stable, MW stable, under rug with neck and fleece) on in the past, he seems to really feel the cold. I am always worried that im over rugging him.
When i moved to my new yard, YM said she was amazed at how cold he got, hers ex pointers were sweating up in MW stable rugs and my boy felt cold in his under rug with neck and HW stable. So its not just me being over worried, other people agree that he needs rugging up.
He also loses alot of condition in the winter, and i dont see the point in shovelling food in only for him to waste it on keeping warm.
He is never over hot, never has sweat on him, so i dont see why the number of rugs he has on matters.
 
I can't imagine ever having to use more than two, considering the heaviest rugs I've seen have been anything up to 600g. Two of those and any horse would be set to trek across the Poles!
Personally I much prefer using thick rugs until I can't get a single rug warm enough, then start again with just a sheet for an under-rug until it gets thick enough that the horse is warm. The Anglo Arab I used to share was always a chilly billy and stressed her warmth off, but was always fine in her 350g Fal and a 300g Horseware under-rug with neck.
 
yes that does sound a bit much

Daisy usually has just one rug on, even when she has a hunter clip. Having lost a little weight around the shoulders her mw was pinching so she is currently wearing a mw stable rug and a no fill turnout.

The most that I have ever put on was three rugs on my friends chilly little NF when she came in soaking wet and shaking
 
Mine either has a MW amigo or a heavyweight Rhino plus. It would havve to be exceptionally cold for me to even consider putting 2 on. He's a TB with a trace clip and is always warm.
 
Have just gone and put another rug on Ellie because she was cold - she has four on now. Clipped right out, cotton summer sheet on first, then a Rambo fleece, then a half-neck Witney, then Masta quilt. None are overly bulky, and I have a nice cosy horse now! I think how many rugs differs according to different horses.
 
buster is hunter clipped and he has mark todd outdoor lightweight, middle weight and heavy weight all with neck attachments. he uses the lightweight when its just going to be wet and not to cold he uses the middle weight when its cold but not freezing and and the heavy weight when its less than about 4 or 5 degrees

in the stable he has a weatherbeeter medium weight which he has on when the temp is more than 5 degrees and a mark todd heavy weight for when its really cold. these also have neck attachments.

in the summer unless it it pouring down (then he has his lightweight turnout on) he has a fly sheet or nothing and if he has to be stabled atall during the summer then he wont have a rug on either!

i have never put more then one rug on unless he comes back from work really hot and i put a fleece under his normal rug to soak up the sweat!

but my honest opinion on him is that he just totally spoilt and he has one of those 'butter wouldnt melt' faces so he would make me feel very guilty if he wasnt totally happy!
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Crikey my cob for the last 2 winters has been fully clipped out wearing a full neck Taka HW and when really cold a quilted under rug and lived out!! she is a beast!! this year ive only took her throat out and have had to go buy her a lighter rug as she was sweating!! but due to the amount of rain recently she has been coming in at night for the last few weeks so is really miserable as hates coming in....
 
Blimey! I must be lucky my horse doesn't grow a winter coat as such, he doesn't really need clipping had a trace last year not bothered this year, he has on a quilted stable rug at the moment but if it's going to be really really cold e,g, hard frost then he will have a Mark Todd under rug with neck too. He does seem to be a warm horse though I give him a good check before I leave yard to make sure he's warm enough and he's always toasty in the mornings!

During the day he's been having on a MW turnout with a thin neck cover just to keep him clean more than for protection and that's it! Again if it gets really cold then he has a HW turnout, think I only used it about 3 times last year.
 
i have one h/w turnout on my welsh d who is out 24/7.
my cob wears a h/w when out in the day and 1, l/w with a m/w on top in the stable.
my 3 yo welsh c wears a m/w in the stable and the same when out!
 
Just wondering out loud here, but do you think we sometimes put more rugs on our horse because WE are feeling the cold?

Of course a clipped horse needs rugs to replace all that hair, but I am thinking how I would feel wearing several fleecies, a puffa jacket, a barbour or two, and a scarf - I'd seize up! So maybe hot people put on fewer rugs, and people who feel the cold put on more!

I'm a hot person, and mine only wear one rug, and I even take that off during the day if the sun peaks out! They just love a good winter mud roll, then I get them in before sun dips and put rug back on. None got full clips, mix of trace and blanket. I have never yet found one shivering in the morning...

Just an idea....will wait to be shot to pieces now...
 
I dont feel the cold, i was born in three feet of snow and i think it set me up for life! My horse on the other hand currently has on an under rug with neck and a HW stable rug on top, he has needed more in the past.
As i said before other people have commented that it surprised them as he actually does need them on, so its not just my opinion.
 
I have two clipped TBs and both wear one rug and thats it! Never found either of them to be cold, one is in a 360g high neck, the other in a 300g combo, they are out 12 hours a day in all weathers.

Too many rugs is wrong IMO. Try putting 6 jackets on and see how uncomfortable you feel after a while.
 
I would never personally put on more than 3 rugs and that would be on a seriously cold night (for down here at least) -4 degrees or lower... I keep an old wool day rug to use as the bottom rug on really cold nights.
 
Diva was wearing a lightweight weatherbeeta with a mark todd heavyweight and neck cover and was clipped right out.
During the day she wore a thermatex and lightweight weatherbeeta. In the field she wore a heavyweight Taka.

She is now wearing a sheet during the day, a lightweight at night and a lightweight turnout when she has a leg stretch.

She is MUCH happier already and doesn't feel that cold.
 
Mine are in overnight, and are wearing-

Solo (bib clip,TB,feels the cold)
HW Pessoa stable rug
300g Underrug

Red (fully clipped, bar legs/head)
HW Slumberdown
180g Masta quilt

I layer more under if it gets colder- they both drop conditon off too quickly to be risking them getting cold.
 
some people rug A LOT.

Mine wears 1 underrug and 1 stable rug. She is hunter clipped and in 24/7. if it is non-icy she will go down to a stable rug over a fleece.

Others at the yard have up to 4 rugs on unclipped horses
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and one girl started ruggin in October, unclipped horses, 2 rugs each with necks... Poor things were melting.
 
the thing is, i am trying to work out how you could put on 5 different rugs - because if you had say 2 MW silk lined rugs like a weatherbeeta or masta on that doesnt work?! it doesnt keep them any warmer than just the 1 as it doesnt insulate the heat.

the most rugs ever on my ponies back has been 3. that was when it was really cold she had a fleece, duvet (13tog) and a 300g WB full neck rug.

i prefer to use as little rugs as possible but she is fully clipped and has to be kept warm so if she needs 2 on she has them on. all her rugs fit well so not really a problem.
i think putting 5 rugs on a horse must be so uncomfortable for them, when ii wear 5 tops up the yard i nthe cold i feel like the michelin man i cant get comfy!
 
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