Turnout and Weights Of Rug For Winter? (TB)

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Holzdweaver

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My TB is wintering out this year and i seem to have developed an addiction to rugs, even more than usual! Or rather worrying about if i have enough of them! xD

Yes, im a huge worrier, it will help set my mind at ease if i could have somebody experienced tell me if i am doing right, or if im not, why not! Im also a big planner lol, i like to know what im doing and when hehe :)

Situation:
He wont be unhappy out, i doubt very much that he will be waiting at the gate to come in, usually he doesn't want to and as he weaves and boxwalks while in, and cant wait to get out in the morning, i think he will like being out, if he doesn't disappear under all the snow!

He wont be on grazing as such, in a paddock yes, but the three summer grazing rotation paddocks are to be left so they dont get churned up and so in spring they will have a headstart with growing.

He will be in a paddock more than big enough for him to have a gallop round in if the mood takes him, but has a bit of rough ground too and is the main gateway so he can destroy it to his hearts content.

At the front of this paddock, just off from the gateway, He has a floor Hay feeder, placed in the middle of rubber matting so he wont be stood in mud while he is munching his hay, the rubber matting itself will be cleaned off twice a day and brushed. He will be fed good quality haylage twice a day(already started feeding once a day in addition to his grazing as grass losing nutrients), put into a small holed net and attached into the feeder, not to restrict his hay as such, but so he will eat it over a longer period of time, so he isnt stood waiting.

He is fed on Alfa-A, Sugar Beet, Oats and Barley(one small scoop of each). With added oil, MultiVit, black sunflower seeds and garlic. Will be increased in winter if he needs it.

Do you think this will work? is it adequate? i can see it working in my head but sometimes i overlook simple things lol

Now onto rugs...
In the depth of winter, like in the snow when its really cold, he will be wearing his 250g full face turnout hood with a 400g 1200d Extra deep Turnout rug. At the moment he has his 200g standard m/w on like usual at this time of year, and when it starts going below 0 degrees is when i move up to his full neck 300g rug.

Now i have plenty of underugs, 100g, 150g, 250g and 400g. If he needs more i can go upto a 400g underug under his 400g turnout, but im pretty sure this will be too much for him and he wouldnt be able to move lol... xD

He wont be clipped like last year as he will be wintering out, id like to clip but i feel mean clipping him then leaving him outside in the cold. He doesnt grow much of a coat but i will be working him too and dont want him to sweat up badly.

Any thoughts/opinions/reccomendations/Feedback etc??

If you read this and think 'OMG, That poor horse!' Please say! and why you think that too... I only want the best for my boy and as a natural worrier i always worry whether im doing the right thing for him.

Sorry for my rambling and thank you to those patient people who have read it all hehe xD
 
I think that sounds reasonable. You know your Horse best and if you think he would be happier out then go for it. My Horse is also an outdoor Horse! You seem to have the right rugs and as long as they are wateproof (nothing worse then a wet soggy Horse) you won't need anymore.

Feed sounds ok to me, but I am not brilliant with different types of feed so I'm waiting to be corrected :p

The haylage in the net sounds a good idea to me and that's what I would do too. Eating warms the Horses up, so if your Horse is feeling a little chilly then make sure there is enough forage to allow him to warm up. You may need to add more haylege though as I know my girl, even with a small holed net would still eat that pretty quickly.
 
Thank you, Its good to know everyone doesnt think im being mean to him or anything xD

Oh yes they are definitely waterproof, as he doesnt tend to destroy his rugs like my last mare, which means i dont buy new rugs very often, in summer when he only has a lightweight on or nothing, i get all my winter rugs and hoods cleaned and proofed ready for the next year, much cheaper than buying new ones every year like i used to have to do lol. :)

He does have quite a lot of haylage in his nets too, i give him one in the morning now as the grass is slowly going down and not growing back, and it is pretty heavy and not as full as id fill it in winter, I give it to him at 7.30am and by 5.30pm he is scrounging the dregs which he has dropped out of the feeder xD

He does of course still have grazing and leaves his net to go and graze, but im pretty sure that when i fill it full (if i can lift it) he will have enough to last him till i get back from work, or maybe an hour earlier but then will give him chance to clean up those bits he drops :)
 
Am giving my TB another go this year at wintering out, she wintered out till December about 2 winters ago but didn't cope as she went into winter poor and as a 3yr old.
Now shes grown 2 inches and has filled out big time :) she is also semi-retired/having a long break till spring so won't be in work.

I have a HW TO with full neck, a MW, several HW stable rugs, fleece blankets, woolen blanket and an under thick combo quilt if she needs it.

At the moment she is in her MW and will stay in it until it gets much colder. Will then pop her HW on and when it gets colder still will have the other rugs to layer.

She will be fed twice per day - sugar beet & happy hoof with her supplements in.

Will leave a large round hay bale out for her and the other 2 to pick at when they want it.

I will invest in some rubber mats around the hay bale to save them standing in mud.

They will then move to winter grazing come Jan to let the field rest till April.

Thats my routine, hope it helps?! :)
 
Holzdweaver said:
Thank you, Its good to know everyone doesnt think im being mean to him or anything xD

Oh yes they are definitely waterproof, as he doesnt tend to destroy his rugs like my last mare, which means i dont buy new rugs very often, in summer when he only has a lightweight on or nothing, i get all my winter rugs and hoods cleaned and proofed ready for the next year, much cheaper than buying new ones every year like i used to have to do lol. :)

He does have quite a lot of haylage in his nets too, i give him one in the morning now as the grass is slowly going down and not growing back, and it is pretty heavy and not as full as id fill it in winter, I give it to him at 7.30am and by 5.30pm he is scrounging the dregs which he has dropped out of the feeder xD

He does of course still have grazing and leaves his net to go and graze, but im pretty sure that when i fill it full (if i can lift it) he will have enough to last him till i get back from work, or maybe an hour earlier but then will give him chance to clean up those bits he drops :)
Click to expand...

Then it sounds like you have everything covered :)

Do you have a shelter? We don't have one as at the back of our fields there are loads of trees that overhang and create a natural shelter.
 
No i dont have a man made shelter, but there are trees making a natural windbreak along one side of the field and a few stout bushes along where iv placed the matting :)
 
You sound pretty well prepared to me.

My TB lives out all year round and loves it. If you're not clipping you may find you don't need quite as many rugs as you think. My lad was unclipped last winter and even when we had 2 foot of snow on the ground and it was dropping below -10 at night he was only in a 200g with half-neck. I find that if it's dry they cope really well - it's only when it's wet that the heavier rugs have to come out. A couple of years back we had a really wet winter and he was in a 300g with full neck for quite a while. TBH with the amount of rugs you've got he'd probably be fine clipped - a low trace would help him stay cooler when worked but would be easily compensated for by a slightly heavier rug.

As for the feed - plenty of forage is the most important thing. It will help him keep warm as well as keeping the weight on. Mine is getting 1/2 scoop chaff and 1/2 scoop sugarbeet at the moment. He'll go up to a full scoop of each with some linseed added around the end of nov, depending on how he's looking. He's a fairly chunky type and holds his weight quite well but I do think fibre is the best way to go. TBH the most important thing is to just see how things go - keep an eye on his weight and check how warm he is regularly to give you a feel for the best rugs to use. I'm sure you'll both get on fine. :)
 
'OMG, That poor horse!' :p

Please read the thread about full face neck covers.

Here is my TB a couple of winters ago at age 18. I know that you may clip your horse, so naked wont be an option. I just want you to see that a TB is just a horse, not a super special delicate ponio. :D

Melodysnow.jpg


She was out 24/7 and only fed hay, although it was adlib.

When I moved her to Wales, I did start to rug her as the weather is wetter and cold + rain + wind, is what causes problems. She could happily cope if it was just cold. :)

Horseshayfeeder.jpg


So left to right. Arab 200g Rhino Wug, Anglo-arab 350g Amigo (she grows hardly any winter coat) and the TB in her 200g Rhino Wug.

The key IMO is lots of forage. Ad-lib hay is ideal, plus any extra hard feed required.
 
I truley believe living out is best for most horses, my ish mare & her foal will be living out 24/7, mummy is rugged as of last week in a m/w full neck due to very heavy rain & wind & i will add a under rug later in the year if she needs it. Little foaly will be naked for as long as she is coping with the cold (her coat is soooo thick) so im sure she will be naked for a while, if & when she needs it she will be rugged in a m/w like mum. They will have big bales of haylage each week or 2 as needed & fibre based hard feed.

As other have said the wet/cold is the problem most horse cope with dry cold fine unrugged. You are always better to under rug rather than over rug your horse so long as he has lots of forage, love & attention he will be fine!!
 
* Goes to hunt for Full face hood post *

But... he is a super special delicate ponio! :D hehe

Im going to see how it goes with him i think, im now pretty sure i have more than enough rugs to last him forever and a day, and im contemplating buying big baled haylage and just putting it straight in the field for him to nibble on ad-lib, but as he is on his own in the field (he has horses next door though) im pretty sure it will go off before he has chance to eat it all, and as i have a limited muck heap i dont think i could deal with all the waste it will create.
 
With regards to rugging, I tend to feel the horses skin (inside of their back legs) and feel if they are warm or not, then rug accordingly...as much as possible anyway!
 
Thank you for the link, Iv had the same trouble with full face lycra hoods, they slip and turn and ride up into eyes, so i dont use them anymore. I use the padded ones with the straps and i have never had so much as a slippage, the one i use it connected to the rug and has three elasticated straps which attach in the same place as the neck cover does, when he has his head down, the whole thing comes forward without leaving a gap at the back or riding up at the front. and when he has his head up it goes back into the original position, he has been stretched over a fence as far as he could possibly go to reach some hay which had blown over and he had no trouble at all, it just moves with him :)

Iv even gone up once before and he had somehow managed to get the two velcro tabs (which keeps it shut round his jaw) wide open, and it still hadnt moved or rubbed xD

I usually check between his front legs but would make more sense to check the back, il do that in future :)
 
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