weanlings; to rug or not to rug?

[4April]

I desperately am seeking advice with my 9month WB x TB filly.
She lives out on poor waterlogged grazing with two older horses at the moment with some shelter. Hay and haylage is not provided often. When I can I am feeding her a bucket of readigrass and third of a scoop of topspec conditioning flakes.
She has lived out so far rugless, but I have noticed some rainscald and she has lost a lot of weight. I have bought a weatherbeeta medium turnout, should I rug up when it get cold and rainy again? I would like to do some in hand in summer and she is losing a lot of weight. Stabling is not an option. Is it ok to carry on bucket feeding and attempting to rug up??

 

[Enfys]

If she is losing condition then YES get a blanket on her asap.

Some of mine are blanketed, some aren't. It all depends on how the individual does. If it will benefit them then I have absolutely no hesitation in wrapping them up.

Apollo:

 

[perfect11s]

Yes keep the rain off .. cold isn't too bad but wind and rain realy knocks them about,
plenty of hay or haylage is a must to help them deal with winter, mine were never rugged but stabled at night and on ad lib hay a small amount of of hard feed/hi fi and and kept in on the realy nasty days , so hay and keep them dry ...you need to sort this and soon.......

 

[jenni999]

Can I ask why, if your horses are on such poor grazing, you're not feeding them hay regularly???

Also, if your filly already has rain scald you need to be careful putting a rug over it if you haven't treated it...

 

[AmyMay]

Can I ask why, if your horses are on such poor grazing, you're not feeding them hay regularly???

Yes, this is exactly what I wondered.

Ad lib hay and a bucket feed daily (if feed is required).

You will also need to treat the rain scald before just chucking a rug on - so you'll need access to a good dry stable.

 

[Maesfen]

Echo the others but rainscald will go if it's untreated, it just takes months instead of weeks.
However, if you do rug, make sure she is totally dry before you do otherwise you will set up more bacteria. Also make a point of taking her rug off on dry days (whenever they come about, it never seems to stop just now) so that her skin can breath. Personally, I wouldn't wash it off but absolutely plaster it in something easy like zinc & castor oil cream and keep doing it until the scabs soften up and drop off (but I'm a patient person so can wait for these things, a lot of people want instant action)
Her health comes from within so make sure she has a good balanced diet, something like Suregrow would be excellent for her as she's trying to grow and repair herself in not ideal conditions, it will be hard for her. Ideally move her somewhere where she can be stabled at night with regular feeding and forage, irregular is not good for a baby.

 

[scarymare]

No, never

Mine are out 24/7 in Aberdeenshire. They are just too stupid and if they do get caught up in the rugs, they haven't got the bodyweight to snap stuff so you are asking for panic and injury.

Ad lib haylage, good mineral lick and feed if you must (but you really shouldn't need to if haylage good enough). I'm going through 2 big bales per 6 days for 2 adult mares, yearling and weanling so that is what I mean by ad lib.

 

[Ladylina83]

I rugged mine

He also lost quite a bit of weight , make sure you take it off often enough though so that you can see how shes getting on underneath !

I feed him Sure grow and a Youngstock mix + lots of hay

 

[pip6]

Be careful about rugging rainscald, you will need to check it reguarly & treat it as it will spread in a cosy moist environment. If you want to keep them unrugged the key is haylage/hay. Regular & plenty of it. It is burning this fibre that keeps them warm. I have a 2 & 3 yr old (wb/tb & tb) living out 24/7 unrugged, look lovely weight & if I try to rug them get too warm. It's the food in their bellies that keeps them like this. Neither have had an ounce of hard feed this winter, they don't need it. They do have a morning & evening large haylage feed.

If yours is dropping weight he will need the hard feed & regular haylage. If you can dry him thoroughly then treat the rainscald & rug as well, at least until his weight stabilises. There is variation between horses, my arabs would never survive unrugged, but keep him warm from the inside & it will help himfeel better & maintain weight.

 

[Alexart]

I would never rug one either, mine are out 24/7 with access to a dry barn and add lib haylage and vitamin licks and I've never had a problem, never needed to feed hard feed or rug.
A bit of weight loss is normal at the end of winter and ideal really with a weanling - you should be able to feel their ribs easily and sometimes see the last one, BUT they should not loose topline, if hips/shoulder blades are sticking out and there is a hollow down each side of her spine then she is under weight, have you got a recent pic of her?, she is also run down if she has rain scald so not a good thing for a growing baby.

What worries me is you have her on poor quality waterlogged grazing and aren't bothering to provide hay or haylage add lib to make up for it - which is essential not just for keeping the weight on and keeping their guts in good working order but the breaking down of the fibre creates heat and is what keeps a horse warm - I hope you haven't kept the poor baby like this all winter?!!
Also what worries me is you are saying that "when you can" you are giving her hard feed - how often is "when you can"? If you are unable to feed at least twice, preferably 3 times a day for a baby, if they really need it which it sounds like yours does now, then personally I think you are wasting your time feeding her hard feed and you're increasing the chances of giving her colic, plus having a gut full of forage slows down the hard feed in the gut so they can absorb more from it.

For any horse really they need to have access to a good dry shelter and add lib hay/haylage 24/7 in the winter if the grazing is poor or non existent - I know most people still don't have a clue what add lib means - but basically as much as they can eat and there still being a good bit left when you bring more, then all they need is a vitamin lick/supplement. These are BASIC requirements for a growing baby - not an option - if you don't provide the basics you can't expect them to do very well can you?!! I would be more worried about providing the basics rather than wether she will be fit to show in the summer - which by the sounds of it and if you continue keeping her as you are doing now then the answer is most likely no, especially given her breeding, a native pony weanling MIGHT just be able to cope with these conditions but not a TB type. Really good quality spring grass along with worming will help to put weight back on but it will still take a while if she has dropped alot of weight.

Putting a rug on her is not on its own going to miraculously cure all - rugging a cold animal that can't generate heat through lack of forage and that has used up all its fat reserves to survive is not going to make her put weight on on it's own, although it will help to keep her dry and stop her using up quite so many calories to keep warm. Be aware not all weanlings cope with a rug - they often destroy them faster than you can say cheese and as you are by the sounds of it not checking on the horse on a regular basis ie. at least twice a day, then to prevent injuries I would not try, plus you need to treat the rain scald first, as others have said rugging rain scald isn't a great idea.

To be totally blunt either find a better place to keep her where you can bring her in to treat the rain scald and keep her dry until it heals and feed her properly to enable her to gain weight and grow, or find someone else who can provide the basic care she needs - not what you want to hear I know but if you don't have the facilities/time to keep a horse properly then don't have one.

 

[BigRed]

I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree with Alexart. Why are you keeping this young horse in such an unsuitable way. i cannot believe there aren't any better places for her. Young horses can live out un-rugged, but they need to be fed properly and need some shelter.