WARNING, MOAN - shetties and rugging

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howengold

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I am sick of it. I have 5 ponies, four are rugged, three because they are veterans and seem to struggle as soon as the weather starts todecline so we have a full wardrobe of rugs in all weights to work through, the NF has a light weight rain sheet on as her paddock has no shelter and is on the side of a hill and the shettie is naked.

Since the weather started getting chilly the oldies have been in 200gm rugs (no necks at the mo) and they have been stabled at night now for about a month. The NF and the shettie are out in the hill paddock at my friends 24/7. There is a low hedge which shettie is oftern tucked under in the rain but as its not really enough for a bigger pony she is in her waterproof.

Lately there have been comments about how I don't look after the shettie properly as he is unrugged and I have had to even explain to my 15 year old daughter that he is a shettie and doesn't need rugging. People are saying now he is being neglected as my daughters no longer ride him and its not fair.

I am so angry as he is now being paid for by my sister who has him for her daughter and he is ridden once or twice a week, he is fat and very loved and we often bring him up when my neice isn't there to make a fuss of him and stick him in the stable with a haynet and some treats while we ride, rather than leaving him out on his own.

Can people not understand that shetties are tough little fella's and they don't need wrapping in cotton wool.

this is him about a month or two ago
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and this is two weeks ago
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looks really neglected doesn't he....
 
It (quietly) makes my blood boil when people insist on rugging 'hairy ponies'. He looks lovely, and his own coat is far better for him than an artifial (sp?) one.

(I do understand about the old, clipped out, showing or hunting hairies that do require the odd rug.)

You know your pony best, stick to your guns, and ignore their silly comments.
 
I totally agree that shetties dont need rugging.
Hell if there was ever a pony designed to stand up to the winter elements its the shettie.
There is one at my yard and they do put a rain sheet on her in the height of winter as she has no natural shelter, but its personal choice for them, neither right nor wrong, its purely up to them I think :)
Just ignore the silly buggers, you know your pony better than anyone and there needs x
 
I feel your pain. I have been roasted for having my TB in a MW with no neck when he is clipped. Thing is I have a rare thing in a TB who is a good doer. He maintains weight superbly throughout winter - is only fed ad lib hay, pony nuts, and D&H just grass. He is never stabled. He is also a very hot horse & sweats profusely if too warm. He also goes in the field shelter if it's really nasty (he has 2 shelters to choose from).

May I say that your shetland looks in absolutely brilliant condition, and a perfect weight. Ignore these people. You know what it best for him. That is evident from the condition of him. Well done for doing what it appropriate for HIM!

Also agree with other poster that his own coat is designed to offer him vastly superior protection than a rug. :)
 
I totally agree, most hairy natives who are not clipped do not need rugging at all.

A few years ago a friend of mine kept her sec C in a field next to a housing estate. This pony was never clipped, but my friend was regularly reported to the RSPCA and the local horse 'rescuers' because she didn't have a rug on it.
 
I have 2 shetlands in my back garden- one yearling one two year old.
Neither will have rugs on if I can help it! unless either suddenly gets an invite to badminton or burghley I dont think Ill be doing any real hard work with them!!:)
My tb x may in the future be clipped and rugged for the work he will be doing,the little cob pony i have will also be clipped and rugged if needed.

Dont worry about what other people think- as long as your pony is getting the right kind of grazing,shelter and checked regularly thats all most shetlands want!
plus if i put a rug on either of the shetlands I can put money on the dozy tb x trying to pick them up of the ground with it! xxx by the way ur fella looks fab! xx
 
I have a 21 year old Shetland, she is lovely fluffy and double coated, doing fine, carrying extra weight and in no way suffering. I did for the first time ever stick a LW on her last year when I found her shivering at -18c but that was more to do with a bully not letting her get any shelter and hay than anything else, that problem was soon rectified.
 
Some people!

We have a Shetland x elderly mare - approx 25 years old. She has been with us for 4 years now (from the RSPCA) she came with a MW rug but in the time we have had her she has never been rugged. She has hedges to get her bum into and we also have field shelters.

She lives with 3 others who are all rugged. I've never had any comments about her not being rugged.

She doesn't do any work, except babysit the others in the field, and is fat despite being on restricted grazing all year.

She makes me laugh as in the winter mornings I often find her with frost / snow on her back yet part the hair and you can see her skin is dry.

Your boy is a picture of health and can hardly be called neglected!
 
He is so cute. Love him! People really are such wallies aren't they?

My 2yo TB wintered out naked last year before I had her. Even she managed so I'm sure you're Shettie is just toasty!
 
Our shettie is about 25 and has never had a rug on in her life!:eek:

She turns into a little furball with a coat of about 4 inches thick. Even in all the snow last year she was never cold - she had icicles in her mane and tail, frost whiskers and a layer of snow on her back! She has entry of shelter to choose from but is usually found in the middle of the field but always has plenty of hay.

She survives because she is built to! I think she actually finds the winters easier to deal with than the heat.:)

Ignore them as they have no idea how to look after a mini tank with attitude - sorry a Shetland:D
 
How ridiculous, how do people think that ponies like this evolved in the wild before humans decided to make rugs?!

Our shetland x lived out rugless full time last winter, even in the thick snow. During the month of snow last winter she actually PUT ON weight due to having more hay than normal!!
 
slinkyunicorn said:
Our shettie is about 25 and has never had a rug on in her life!:eek:

She turns into a little furball with a coat of about 4 inches thick. Even in all the snow last year she was never cold - she had icicles in her mane and tail, frost whiskers and a layer of snow on her back! She has entry of shelter to choose from but is usually found in the middle of the field but always has plenty of hay.

She survives because she is built to! I think she actually finds the winters easier to deal with than the heat.:)

Ignore them as they have no idea how to look after a mini tank with attitude - sorry a Shetland:D
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We have an elderly exmoor and a highland youngster and I think summers are far more of a trial to them then the winter. The exmoor always has more of a spring in her step when the weather turns colder. Neither of them have rugs and are both unclipped. The youngster is too young to be ridden and I just take the extra time to dry off the exmoor when she sweats along her neck and belly. They live out but have stables on our yard where I feed , groom etc. As someone pointed out, there is a school of thought that says you interfere with the coats natural ability to keep them warm and dry but flattening the hair and pushing the insulating air out of their coats.
 
lol sarah, love that yours put weight on in snow!

We have tb polo ponies and eventers living out withot rugs, and we have a couple dozen 4mnth old to 4yr olds out rugless so ignore those people, your shetty is very cute and will grow the hair he needs.

We had a shetland on the yard last winter- while owner was in between house moves then got stuck because of snow- and he was trace clipped and rugless- under vet advice- to help his weight problem before next spring, poor bugger but he survived
 
I don't quite see the point of rugging shetlands.
Have you ever been to the Shetland Isles?? They can live that far north with no feed all winter quite happily, yet a shetland down in say Kent, needs to be rugged to its eyeballs :?
I feel more sorry for shetlands rugged up sweating their little socks off!
 
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Tell them to google maps where Shetland actually is ;)

On thing I always try and remember is that if the snow can sit on their backs and not thaw then the aren't losing heat :) My number one 'tester' is to feel their 'armpit' - if it feels warm they don't need rugging... Try it peeps :)
 
slinkyunicorn said:
She survives because she is built to! I think she actually finds the winters easier to deal with than the heat.:)
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We actually had him in the summer last year as he got heat stroke, he really suffers in summer if it gets hotter than usual, they actually thought I was cruel keeping him in a big airy stable out of the sun that time....can't win really
 
Why do you listen to the 'no-nowts'?
There are 3 Shettie's near us who I noticed today are rugless, even though the weather is far from good. One of them wore a Boett-type rug in the summer. I'm sure he's happier today than at any time in the summer. Incidentally, our 4 much bigger horses are still out 24/7on the top of the Pennines and the only one wearing a rug is the elderly cob
 
People who think Shetlands need rugs on can't know much about horses so you shouldn't listen to them. He looks lovely and you obviously care for him a great deal. Just rest in the knowledge that you know best for your pony and you're looking after him better than they would be able to.
 
he looks fab, really fit and happy :)

have to say that i DO rug my shetland (he is in HW combo currently) but this is because his main job is a companion, which includes a travel companion and the first year we had him we didnt rug him, so as nature intended, he grew a HUUUUUGE coat.......which was fine until he went on the lorry and no matter that he wasnt rugged, and all windows open etc he got SO hot, sweaty and damp, and then because his coat was so thick we really struggled to get him dry in sub zero temps, so had a bit of a chilled and miserable wee man for a few hours.

every winter since i have rugged him well(but NEVER made him too hot i hasten to add), so he grows a *normal* rather than yak coat, and he can now travel in comfort with no sweating, and then stay dry and warm :)
 
Some people eh? Over-rugging is just as cruel and under-rugging IMO. People should keep their noses out!
Your boy looks a picture of health, ignore them! x
 
We must be very cruel. Our 7 welsh cob brood mares will live out on a mountain all winter with no rugs at all including a 25 year old mare. They are all as happy as larry, we do give them a bale of hay if there is prolonged snow on the ground otherwise it is as nature intended. On tip an old boy told me was to feel them in the rain, if their fur felt cold they are warm underneath because their undercoat was insulating them. He said be worried if they feel warm because they were wet through to the skin and losing heat.
They also do grow a fantastic coat in the summer having wintered out rugless, probably betrter than the showing youngstock who winter in with every creature comfort.
 
pec said:
On tip an old boy told me was to feel them in the rain, if their fur felt cold they are warm underneath because their undercoat was insulating them. He said be worried if they feel warm because they were wet through to the skin and losing heat.
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Very good advice!
 
Ive rugged my shetty this winter. Didnt want to. He lived out naked last winter with inky and they did very well, toasty warm infact but they got lice :( Think it was down to the thickness of the coats. However it ruined Inkys coat for showing at the start of the season so dont want that happening again. Inky was clipped in October so he has to be rugged but didnt want Ty catching lice and then passing them onto Inky. Thats the only reason. Id much rather leave them both naked!
 
That's a lovely Shetland. Hardly neglected! My native cob x pony is the only horse in a field of 11 that isn't being rugged daytime at the moment but that's more to do with being the only hardy and hairy happening native type out there. I'm only going to start doing rugs when I absolutely have to and he sort of tells me anyway. We had 2 hard icy frosts last week, he was out overnight for one of them and was absolutely fine. If anything it made his coat come into its own, totally fluff up and do the job it's supposed to do. I find with horses like mine and no doubt most Shetlands which have probably even thicker winter coats, when it's so mild it can make them a bit tired and uncomfortable if they get all hot and sweaty - mine gets so clammy at the moment as breaks out into a sweat just doing a short hack let alone when the boys are haring round the field like they do. He'll get a bib and belly clip next weekend as we have lessons which make him too hot and sweaty so will see how it goes from there and what the weather does. The only downside of not rugging at the moment for me is having a too wet and muddy pony to ride so there are swings and roundabouts.
 
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