Unrugging a horse

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mushting

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Hi, we have an 18yr old heavyweight cob 16hh that for the last 2 weeks has been stabled at night and out in the day in the day shes had a lightweight rug on and in the stable at night a fleecy rug. Before this she lived out 24/7 with a rug not sure what type.

Were moving livery yards to a 24/7 natural livery which is no shoes no rugs due to the fencing there I wonder if she is ok to go from wearing rugs to no rugs living out 24/7?

Thanks
 
that's a very odd rule, curious what kind of fencing it is? In 30 years of horses i've never heard of a no-rug rule? what if you ever need to clip her? what if she was ill and needed extra warmth?
 
There are stables if nessary but in the field she would be unrugged. She is fluffy but not as fluffy as a horse with no rugs Im wondering if she can grow a coat thicker if she needed it or of the time has gone for that to happen now. There is shelter aswell.
 
Personally I wouldnt unrugg a horse who has been rugged from sept until now.

So what stock fencing?? Barbed wire? Sheep square?? My horses have been rugged on this type of fencing for years yes the rugs sometimes get ripped at the front but thats my lookout not the YO's.
 
mushting said:
Stock fencing
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What sort of stock fencing? :confused3:
I can understand taking off shoes for the wide holed stock fence (but it still doesn't stop horses from putting their feet through the holes)
If proper livestock (close mesh) fence then shoes would not be a problem

Am at a loss why you would be denied rugs for any horse tho :confused3:
 
paddi22 said:
that's a very odd rule, curious what kind of fencing it is? In 30 years of horses i've never heard of a no-rug rule? what if you ever need to clip her? what if she was ill and needed extra warmth?
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I know of a few 'natural livery' places - they essentially have a very large acreage (talking estate land, or an entire old hill farm for example), often with a lot of natural shelter like woodland, and they turn the horses out in a large herd to live 'naturally'. This involves having no shoes, no rugs, and some places also do not supplementary feed i.e. no hay during the winter (depending on the acreage). Horses are also not checked daily, and many aren't handled for long periods of time.

This kind of livery is very cheap, and used more by summer riders who want to turn their horses away for the winter. Up here (NE Scotland) some places have rules about breeds they will allow e.g. native breeds only. There are certainly a few I know of, and I have a friend who did this with a horse that was field sound but unrideable.

If your horse is used to being stabled, OP, they will get a shock if you turn them out 24/7 in January. I know what my horse was like getting turned out full time in 2012 in October - and he was rugged, fed ad lib forage and hard feed, and had a stable for the worst of the weather, and to come in for a while to dry before riding etc. I would advise not stripping the horse of a rug if you do decide to turn it out full time in January.
 
Well, the weather has been mild inbetween the rain storms lately, so just choose a day with no rain and not cold for the first time. If they have shelter the horse should be OK, but it might drop a bit of weight.
 
khalswitz said:
I know of a few 'natural livery' places - they essentially have a very large acreage (talking estate land, or an entire old hill farm for example), often with a lot of natural shelter like woodland, and they turn the horses out in a large herd to live 'naturally'. This involves having no shoes, no rugs, and some places also do not supplementary feed i.e. no hay during the winter (depending on the acreage). Horses are also not checked daily, and many aren't handled for long periods of time.

This kind of livery is very cheap, and used more by summer riders who want to turn their horses away for the winter. Up here (NE Scotland) some places have rules about breeds they will allow e.g. native breeds only. There are certainly a few I know of, and I have a friend who did this with a horse that was field sound but unrideable.

If your horse is used to being stabled, OP, they will get a shock if you turn them out 24/7 in January. I know what my horse was like getting turned out full time in 2012 in October - and he was rugged, fed ad lib forage and hard feed, and had a stable for the worst of the weather, and to come in for a while to dry before riding etc. I would advise not stripping the horse of a rug if you do decide to turn it out full time in January.
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Yes thats it, but we would be checking her everyday we can also feed her etc aswell she wasnt stabled but has been the last two weeks
 
Have you considered her work load, the amount of shelter available in the paddock, the location of the paddock (eg. lee-side of a hill; near exposed coast??) what (if any) clip she has, etc. as all these will have a bearing on how comfortable she will be without a rug. Also some horses are happier out but cool, others like to be in the relative comfort of a stable. I am wondering what type of fencing the new paddock has? Sorry to just list a load of questions, hope your move goes well and your girl soon makes lots of new horsey pals.
 
I am not a fan of rugging however I would not now be taking a rug off any horse who has been possibly rugged all winter. When rugged, the muscle function of each individual hair atrophies (if you don't use it you loose it so to speak) Therefore if you take this horses rug off now, it will not, and can not use it's own thermoregulatory system to keep itself dry and warm.
 
Christmas Kia said:
Personally I wouldnt unrugg a horse who has been rugged from sept until now.
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This, its hard to say for sure on a horse I haven't seen, but if the horse has become accustomed to rugs the winter coat won't have developed as it might over the last few months being unrugged.
 
How bizarre. What happens if your mare struggles without a rug, or is footsore without shoes?

Why have you decided to make such a change in her management?

I also favour keeping horses rug less and barefoot, but I will always make exceptions if it is in the horse's best interests to so.

I would be giving such an establishment a very wide berth.
 
I'm moving house were looking for a livery yard closer and on our search discovered this one that were looking at now. We are able to stable her at night if we need to but I do like the idea of her being out with other horses. She has never had shoes that is not an issue Im just trying to find out if her coat will grow thicker from now as it gets colder.
 
At this time of year the coat is actually starting to change towards a summer coat, the days are getting longer which is what influences growth, so it is unlikely to get thicker to compensate for no longer having a rug, it is not the same as a clipped horse which will continue to grow it's coat. I would be reluctant to take a rug off now, the weather is due to get colder and she is not the youngest so may drop her weight if she gets cold.
I would keep her rugged, the yard cannot really insist on rules such as this when taking a new livery mid winter, it will do no harm to the other horses, pose no risk to your horse and if the rug gets ripped on the fence at least it is not her that is injured, take the rug off once the weather improves and she can go without next winter.
 
When are you moving? Could you possibly take her rug off when not raining where she is at the moment so she can grow some Winter hair? And slowly build it up with no rug when raining? I'm no expert though as mine is now 20 and has never worn a rug!;)
To people saying about the no rug/no shoes thing..it is a natural livery so as close to the wild horse as nature intended..(appart from no track system to make them look for their food..)
 
Personally, whilst I understand they have a policy and in general would respect them for that, to expect you to stop rugging your horse at this time of year is obscene and unfair of them, I can't believe you are even contemplating it. I wouldn't do it, and that's without even considering the bad weather front that will be making its way over from America soon.
 
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