UNBELIEVABLE!!! RE- people who don't wrap their horses up 'cosy warm'

Sorry, don't have enough time left in my life to read all the posts, but was the horse in question shivering? If it wasn't obviously cold, why would anyone be concerned?
 
I have two little Shetlands that were out in -6 ish, but when it got to -13 we brought them in, they have 6 inches worth of fur, so I guess it's like a rug anyway! haha.
The thoroughbred on the other hand wears a fleece and a heavy weight if its below zero during the day and has a heavy weight indoor rug for at night when she comes in and is below zero. I always find the rug on top pulls the bottom rug and rubsthe chest and restircts their movment, so I would never put more than a fleece and a heavy weight on.... the TB is also clipped, so her heavy weight is REALLY heavy weight haha :)
 
sam the wonder horse said:
dawnwarren1969
[/URL][/IMG] does he look poor
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Fwiw, no he doesnt look like hes under the table at mealtimes :D he looks pretty well covered in this shot, even if its not with a rug lol :eek::D
 
lol wow how did horses cope before rugs lol my lass as been nude all winter(and as been for many years in winter) and is perfectly fine - a good fine winter coat fed to the weather conditions and a native and I use the winter to controll her weight as nature intended (OMG I hear people cry how cruel how mean lol).
But when had the big lad - TBX - I would turn him out on a crisp cold frosty day with no rug to let his skin breath and let him have a good old roll - you will be surprised how well horses cope in cold weather without rugs and in fact often better to under rug than over rug - I stopped and asked myself am i rugging my mare for my satisfaction or her well being (and yes if she needed a rug I have a very large wardrobe of them lol :) )
 
Yes, I KNOW I have the option not to read this . . . and tbh I haven't read the whole thread, but . . . aren't we well and truly done with this yet? Yeesh.

P
 
Winklepoker said:
My horse is wearing so many rugs - most of you would lose hair over it!
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Erm, see I find that pretty horrid. OVER rugging isn't comfortable for the horse. Imagine having tonnes of thick layers put on you that you have to live in day in day out! Your horse is probably TOO hot which IMO is worse than being a bit too cold! Horses can make themselves warm up if they're out by moving around, they can't cool down though...

My horse is trace clipped at the moment but I chucked him out without a rug yesterday (wasn't minus temps but even so, if its a bright day why not if its just for a couple of hours). They love to have a good roll rugless!
 
MagicMelon said:
Erm, see I find that pretty horrid. OVER rugging isn't comfortable for the horse. Imagine having tonnes of thick layers put on you that you have to live in day in day out! Your horse is probably TOO hot which IMO is worse than being a bit too cold! Horses can make themselves warm up if they're out by moving around, they can't cool down though...

My horse is trace clipped at the moment but I chucked him out without a rug yesterday (wasn't minus temps but even so, if its a bright day why not if its just for a couple of hours). They love to have a good roll rugless!
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Agree with this. I am nothing short of DISGUSTED at seeing some horses out today with combo rugs and some of them in mediumweights/heavyweights. It's 18 degrees here and to me it's barbaric. My mare is clipped and she's been naked for three days now!
 
I think we need to refer this thread to Papa Frita for some good advice.... perhaps there's a series of video's, books, special halters etc that could assist us in knowing how much rug to use ;)

ONE great thing that has come out of this rather long thread- I'm seriously going to pack away the rugs for good. I don't want my horses "toasty"! I want them comfortable, not sweaty. I live at the southernmost tip of Africa, for goodness sake, AND the creatures sleep in at night anyway :)
 
I know this is an old thread... and I haven't read it all, but really!

We've just come through three weeks of very cold weather (-20C over night and -10C during the day)

The horses on both yards where I keep my riding hrose and my foal aren't rugged, in or out.

We will put a cooler on, if the horses have sweated up during exercise, until they dry off, but then they come off again.

If horses have access to forage, then it is perfectly OK for them to be out in cold weather with a bib or low trace clip.

If the horse has a blanket or hunter clip, then a cover might be needed if the weather is damp, but if it is sunny and turn out is only for a couple of hours...

I always amazes me in the UK, how many blankets people pile on the horses, even hardy breeds and natives.
 
Yes Ancient hacker..
Papa Deutsche does have a head collar in her website that changes colour to indicate how many rugs you need to put on . It comes with an easy to read colour chart and retails at £782.04...
 
Agree with this. I am nothing short of DISGUSTED at seeing some horses out today with combo rugs and some of them in mediumweights/heavyweights. It's 18 degrees here and to me it's barbaric. My mare is clipped and she's been naked for three days now!
You're lucky, it's nowhere near that here, it's pissing down and not warm, my guys are still rugged, albeit light fills
 
one of mine is not rugged in winter, but my other one is.she is very fine and doesnt really get a good winter coat so she was rugged however my other one has a very very good winter coat and resembles a mamouth so have not rugged him, tbh if i do he sweats so much even in a middle weight. i refuse to clip as i think (my opinion ) that it is pointless to clip and rug if they are ok to go rugless with a good winter coat. he is actually on a diet at the moment because he has put on so much weight over winter i had to buy a new gullet bar for my saddle and a larger girth and he is now only on hay rather than hay and hard feed.

he is happier without his rug on and if i try to rugg him he tries to pull it off anyway he can afterwards (unless it is his summer sheet)

my mare however is opposite she is a bad doer in winter she is fed 4 times a day (little and often) and hay and has had a full neck turn out on, when it was -7 the other day she had her middle weight and the full neck on while fat boy was rolling in the snow. i suppose it depends on the breed. x
 
To be fair though, a lot of it depends on how naturally warm your horse is anyway.
My TB gelding struggles to keep himself warm, therefore is only trace clipped and even with that he had a wetherbeeta heavyweight on, and a newmarket 'thick' fleece on underneath.
Where as there is a TB next to me, with exactly the same clip who naturally keeps himself warm, so needing lighter rugs.
I agree though, if my horse kept himself warmer id rug to suit him, ideally i'd love for him to not need to be clipped and have no rugs but in an ideal world, its not going to happen!!
 
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