Unusual TB???!!!!

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chestnutmarelover

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I have a tb who could do with abit more weight on but nothing too much to worry about, he's out in a 180g combo and because the weather has turned colder with nasty winds and rain I keep worrying he's cold & needs a thicker rug........but he is always, no matter how cold out, really warm and toasty!! Is this normal for a breed that is normally so woosey?! I have never owned a horse with such a thin coat (and he's clipped!!) that doesn't feel the cold!! :)
 
In my experience TB's if allowed to can become pretty hardy, I have 2 that are unclipped and up until monday were both in lightweight turnout rugs, I have relented and they're in medium weights now as we have rain forecast all week and I find that makes them colder.
Horses have their own internal heating system so if they're allowed constant access to fibre they're very good at staying warm.

eta - i've had a few TB's off the track and on year 2 of living out they've al grown 'yak' coats!
 
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My Tb is out 24/7 and only has a 100gms turnout (no neck) on, she's always toasty. I save her combo rug for when it urns really wet and nasty (or snowy), but all the time she is a good weight and warm, she'll keep the 100gms on.
 
My tb is in a lightweight rug (100g fill I think) no one ever believes me that he’s so warm, he gets really grumpy if he’s too hot though so I’d rather er on the side of chilliness, he’s been perfectly happy out in 2-3c on the top of a Cotswold hill in his lightweight rug so no need to change just yet. No one on my yard believes just how warm he is but he maintains his weight so well over winter that I must be doing something right!
 
I'm not alone then!!! He's not a poor eater but will only eat roughly 3 slices of good quality hay at night (yes I do give him more he just wastes it :( ) and fortunately still has grass to graze in day. I'll just think myself lucky he not a woose (wish he'd tell my wbx mare its easy to stay warm!!!)
 
A TB I had for a while kept himself surprisingly toasty! I found he was a lot hardier than their reputation had left me to believe :p
 
Mine is out naked. He has grown a lovely winter coat and even last year in the snow he was quite happy without a rug. He only had a lightweight rug on when the temperature dropped to -15C.
 
My TB girl was really 'hardy' when she was younger. She was retired aged 8 due to injury problems. I therefore decided to try her without rugs as figured if she was OK it would be more 'comfy' for her. She was stabled at night in the winter though (otherwise I would have rugged her up at night) but out every day and out all summer. I had no problems with her being cold other that around the end of March through to April when she would shed her winter coat and then if we had a bad spell she would need rugging up. Other than that she did great unrugged, always warm and a good weight. Once she got to 17 I needed to start rugging her up more and now at the age of 24 she's really well rugged up and not as 'hardy' as her younger years but she always suprised me how warm she was when younger. I used to feel guilty on livery yards when all the other horses were rugged and some people I think thought she should be rugged up but I think it was the best for her and she was always happy and fine! Lucy x
 
If you think about it alot of TB's broodmares are out, unrugged 24/7.

I used to have a TB who got a bit nippy if he was cold so I always had him well rugged, but he was also always on a diet as he was always podgy.
 
The only horses where I work that wear a rug are the ones in sales prep, they are all TBs. Dennis my favourite two year old never grows thick coat, he keeps his summer one all year round, even last year when it was really cold. He never loses weight either. Amazing considering my own Connie has a Rambo on and is looking decidely woolly!
 
With all the fancy 'new' rugs on the market I suspect alot of people buy them to 'keep up with the jones' regardless of whether their horse actually needs it!! (yes I know there are many horses that NEED these super duper rugs before anyone starts!!!) Long gone are the days of a jute rug & surcingle and the heavy green new zealands :)
 
maggiesmum said:
eta - i've had a few TB's off the track and on year 2 of living out they've al grown 'yak' coats!
Click to expand...

That's mine though he doesn't live out.
Winter 1 - virtually no coat, he came from france and was in training for 2 years
Winter 2 - standards have slipped a bit, better grow some coat. We then had allergy problems and the vets advised not to use rugs in case they were making the problem worse
Winter 3 - One TB x Wooly mammoth. So I clipped it all off and then he was packed off to Exmoor.

He is actually quite a hot horse and despite being clipped is always in a lighter rug than the others in the yard.
 
My 23 yr old has just gone into med weight rugs - she is in at night and out all day...she doesn't like the rain more than anything else and has had a winter coat of her own for a while now and gets woolier than her neighbour a chunky, solid cob...
She stays suprisingly warm and toasty and I have already thought if I have put her middleweight on too early!
She also eats the amount of hay she wants and leaves the rest which if put on the floor she may eat the next day but I always can tell when I have overfilled her nets...she has two at night in different parts of her stable to keep her moving a bit even when in! Just started giving her a bit more hard feed but not on to anything major yet...our grass is better now than it has been all year!!
 
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